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Three More Gridders Taken on Saturday
April 30, 2016 06:51 PM | Football
With the 113th pick (4th Round) of the 2016 #NFLDraft, the @ChicagoBears select WVU Linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski pic.twitter.com/cUdNWW02oa
— WVU Football (@WVUfootball) April 30, 2016
With the 153rd pick (5th Round) of the 2016 #NFLDraft, the @Eagles select WVU Running Back Wendell Smallwood #HailWV pic.twitter.com/lA73fh3rS9
— WVU Football (@WVUfootball) April 30, 2016
With the 159th pick (5th Round) of the 2016 #NFLDraft, the @HoustonTexans select WVU Safety KJ Dillon #HailWV pic.twitter.com/wpLPrlfPjZ
— WVU Football (@WVUfootball) April 30, 2016
Three additional West Virginia University football players were taken in today’s NFL Draft, which concluded earlier this evening in Chicago.
Linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski was selected in the fourth round (113th overall pick) by the Chicago Bears, running back Wendell Smallwood was the 14th pick in the fifth round (153rd overall) by the Philadelphia Eagles, and safety KJ Dillon was taken six spots later in the fifth round by the Houston Texans.
Previously, safety Karl Joseph was the Oakland Raiders’ first-round choice (14th overall) on Thursday night, while cornerback Daryl Worley was the Carolina Panthers’ third-round selection (77th overall) on Friday night.
Kwiatkoski had a stellar four-year career with the Mountaineers, producing 303 tackles of which 28 of those were for losses, 14 pass breakups, six interceptions, 5 ½ sacks, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in 48 career games.
The Bethel Park, Pennsylvania resident earned first team All-Big 12 honors during a senior season in 2015 when he produced 86 total tackles, 10 tackles for losses, three sacks, seven pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
The Bears moved up four spots to take Kwiatkoski.
Smallwood had a breakout junior season in 2015 when he rushed for 1,519 yards and scored nine touchdowns to earn second team All-Big 12 honors. The Wilmington, Delaware resident had eight 100-yard rushing performances, including four straight against Big 12 teams TCU (113), Texas Tech (163), Texas (165) and Kansas (115).
His 1,519 yards were the most by any back in the Big 12 last season and it represented the fourth highest rushing total in school history. Smallwood, who opted to leave school with a year of eligibility remaining, rushed for 2,462 yards while scoring 12 touchdowns in 38 career games.
Dillon, meanwhile, became the anchor of West Virginia’s secondary when Joseph went down with a season-ending injury during the Tuesday practice prior to the Oklahoma State game. The Apopka, Florida resident finished the season with 54 tackles, 6 ½ tackles for losses, eight pass breakups and a pair of interceptions while earning second team All-Big 12 honors.
Dillon had a career-best nine tackles, including one for a loss in West Virginia’s home victory over Texas Tech, while also managing a pick-six in the Mountaineers’ home win over Iowa State.
In 48 career games, Dillon accumulated 164 tackles, 17 tackles for losses, 21 pass breakups and five interceptions while forcing and recovering a fumble. Dillon is one of four players in West Virginia’s 2015 starting secondary to go in this year’s draft.
The five players picked in this year’s NFL Draft represents the most in coach Dana Holgorsen’s five seasons at WVU, and are the most in any year since Don Nehlen sent six to the league back in 1999.
Overall, Holgorsen has had 17 players taken in the NFL draft, including four in the first round.
Update: The following Mountaineer players have signed free agent contracts following the conclusion of today's NFL Draft: DT Kyle Rose (Cleveland Browns), S Shaq Petteway (San Diego Chargers), CB Terrell Chestnut (San Diego Chargers), OT Marquis Lucas (Buffalo Bills) and LS John Depalma (Philadelphia Eagles).
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