NFL draft: Former Badgers must wait at least until Day 2 to be picked

Former University of Wisconsin football players will have to wait at least one more day before learning where they’ll play next.

After the first round of the NFL draft Thursday, staged virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, former Badger stars such as Jonathan Taylor, Zack Baun, Tyler Biadasz, Quintez Cephus and Chris Orr are still available after the first 32 selections.

Taylor and Baun are expected to be some of the first names called Friday when the second the third rounds take place. Taylor is pegged by ESPN as the 10th-best remaining player in the draft, while Baun is ranked the 13th-best remaining player.

Biadasz and Cephus have a shot to be drafted later Friday, but they and Orr may need to wait until Saturday (rounds four-seven) to be selected.

LSU’s Clyde Edwards-Helaire was lone running back selected in the first round, taken with the 32nd pick by the Kansas City Chiefs. Edwards-Helaire’s selection marks the second consecutive year that just one running back was picked in the first round. Georgia’s D’Andre Swift and Ohio State’s J.K. Dobbins join Taylor as the top running back prospects remaining in the class.

Taylor amassed 6,174 rushing yards in his career at UW, the most by a Football Bowl Subdivision player in three seasons. While Taylor is ranked behind Swift, Dobbins on ESPN’s best-available list, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. said on Thursday’s broadcast that the gap between them isn’t large.

The Chiefs, who won the Super Bowl in February, were linked to running backs with the final pick in the first round, and chose Edwards-Helaire, who had a breakout season as a rusher and a receiver for the College Football Playoff-champion Tigers.

Baun — an intriguing prospect at linebacker after posting 12½ sacks last season for UW — may have dropped from his late-first-round projection because teams aren’t exactly sure how he’ll fit their schemes.

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Throughout the draft process, the Brown Deer native has been doing field drills as an inside linebacker, despite playing outside linebacker for the Badgers. He doesn’t have prototypical size to be an outside linebacker in the pros, and most analysts see him as a situational pass-rusher. Teams may not have wanted to spend first-round capital on an in-between player, even if Baun’s versatility will be an asset for teams down the road.

Baun also submitted a diluted urine sample at the NFL combine, which may have affected his draft standing. Baun told the league the diluted sample was due to consuming too much water in an effort to keep his weight up, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported teams believed him and didn’t think it was an issue.

Inside and outside linebacker were interesting spots to watch in the first round Thursday. Three inside linebackers were taken in the latter half of the first round — Oklahoma’s Kenneth Murray (23rd by the Chargers), Texas Tech’s Jordyn Brooks (27th by Seattle) and LSU’s Patrick Queen (28th by Baltimore). LSU’s K’Lavon Chaisson, picked 20th by Jacksonville, was only outside linebacker picked. Clemson’s Isaiah Simmons, a hybrid linebacker and defensive back, was picked eighth overall by Arizona.

A record 15 players from the Southeastern Conference were picked in the first round.

Thursday’s first round saw a run on wide receivers that may help Cephus’ chances of being drafted Friday.

Six receivers were drafted in the first round, all of whom went in the top 25 selections. Cephus was never going to crack the top tier of this wide receiver class, considered by many analysts to be one of the best in history, but he remains an option for teams who chose to wait. Cephus was tabbed the 32nd-best receiver left in the class by ESPN.

Ohio State cornerback Jeff Okudah — who was selected third overall by the Detroit Lions — said at the NFL scouting combine that Cephus was the best receiver he played against in his college career. Cephus tallied 10 catches for 179 yards in two games against Okudah and the Buckeyes last season.

Biadasz, an Amherst product, dropped in draft projections due to injury concerns after having hip surgery last summer and shoulder surgery this offseason. Just one interior offensive lineman was drafted Thurday — Michigan center/guard Cesar Ruiz was picked 24th by New Orleans — while six tackles were picked. Five of those tackles were chosen within the first 18 picks.