McCann Drafted
April 30, 2006 07:48 PM | General
April 30, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Apparently the Detroit Lions have a thing for West Virginia football players. On Sunday the Lions made West Virginia cornerback Alton “Dee” McCann their fifth selection of the 2006 NFL draft, taking the Greene County, Mississippi, resident with the 10th pick of the sixth round (179th overall).
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| Cornerback Dee McCann picks off a pass at Rutgers last year. He was taken in the sixth round of Sunday's NFL draft by the Detroit Lions.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
McCann becomes the third Mountaineer player drafted by the Lions since 2000, joining former Detroit linebacker Barrett Green and current linebacker James Davis.
McCann is one of four defensive players selected by Detroit this year. The Lions drafted Florida State linebacker Ernie Sims in the first round, picked Nebraska safety Daniel Bullocks in the second round, and drafted Tulane outside linebacker Anthony Cannon in the seventh round.
McCann is now the seventh Rich Rodriguez-coached West Virginia player to be taken in the draft and extends the streak of WVU having at least one player selected in each of the last four years. The NFL draft consists of just seven rounds.
McCann took first-round draft pick Pacman Jones’ spot in the starting lineup in 2006 and responded with a solid season, intercepting four passes and making 56 tackles. McCann appeared in nine games as a junior in 2005 after transferring from Jones County Junior College in Mississippi.
According to Detroit Lions.com, the organization likes McCann’s size (5 feet 11 inches and 194 pounds) and believes he can become a contributor both in the secondary and on special teams.
“They just told me to come in and work hard and get better every day,” McCann told Detroit Lions.com earlier today.
“I just have to work on my off-man coverage,” McCann said. “We played a lot of man-to-man in college. That’s the thing I have to work on most.”
Several other West Virginia players are expected to sign free agent deals, including offensive lineman Garin Justice, safeties Mike Lorello and Jahmile Addae, and cornerback Anthony Mims.
The two-day event took place in New York City on Saturday and Sunday and was televised on ESPN.
