Durand Durand

The NFL draft brough us one Syracuse draftee who we expected to see taken and one draftee who was a bit of a surprise.  Tony Fiammetta went to the Carolina Panthers in the 4th round as noted earlier and Ryan Durand went in the 7th round to the Tennessee Titans. Durand just barely missed being Mr. Irrelevant, although I don't think he would have rather the Titans passed on him so he had a shot at it.

Even as a 7th-rounder there's hope that Ryan will be able to eventually make an impact for the Titans. The Titans did also draft Tulane OT Troy Kropog in the fourth round as well.  It remains to be seen how Durand's shellfish-eating prowess will be able to help the Titans, but I'm sure they factored it in somehow. 

So what of the Orange who didn't hear their named called on draft day?  Well now the mad scramble to get yourself invited to camp begins.  For Curtis Brinkley the scramble is already over, he's been invited to join the Chargers.  Brinkley, for his part, is extremely upbeat about not being drafted:

"I expected the worst anyway," Brinkley said.

The power of positive thought!

We'll keep an eye out over the next couple days to see if safety Paul Chiara, kicker Pat Shadle, linebacker Jake Flaherty, defensive end Vincenzo Giruzzi, defensive tackle Nick Santiago and safety Bruce Williams all get invited to camps as well.

• How did the Big East in general fare in the draft?...Brian Bennett
• Tony Fiammetta interviews with the Panthers...Panthers.com
• Ryan Durand Q&A...TitansOnline.com
• Panther's post-draft conference...Inside The Pathers
• Pather fans are pretty happy with the Fiammetta pick...Cat Scratch Reader
• Professionally Orange...Superman Wear Rob Long Underoos