Up Close: Louisiana spices up this year’s NFL Draft

The NFL Draft has become the sporting event of the spring. Football fans from around the country and here in south Louisiana have speculated which players will go to which teams. Raceland resident and nationally-recognized draft expert Mike Detillier sees this year’s draft as a coming out party for Louisiana talent and an affirmation of LSU’s National Championship.

SportsNet: What is the story of this year’s draft?

Mike Detillier: The real story of this draft is not who will be picked first, like in years past, but about the amount of players from Louisiana colleges and former Louisiana high school players that will be selected this weekend. It’s unbelievable.

SN: How so?

MD: Glenn Dorsey from LSU, a native of Gonzales, will be the highest Tiger defensive player ever selected in the draft. But the number of potential draft picks that this team has cranked out is remarkable and most of them are natives. The Tigers will have nine players picked in rounds one through seven. You can’t pay for this type of recruiting publicity.

SN: Everyone knows about Dorsey. What other players will be picked in this year’s draft off LSU’s National Championship roster?

MD: There are at least eight other players that will be selected: Craig Steltz, Early Doucet, Matt Flynn, Jacob Hester, Chevis Jackson, Luke Sanders, Ali Highsmith and Jonathan Zenon. All of these players drafted … it’s unheard of in LSU football history. It’s a credit to the recruiting that LSU does and the professional preparation that the coaching staff strives toward. But more importantly than the accolades for the Tigers, it is a testament to the quality of football being played in Louisiana. Don’t forget last year four LSU players went in the first round alone. That goes a long way in helping local high school players stay in the state to play football, but it also helps in national recruiting.

SN: Louisiana football talent is really that deep?

MD: You bet it is. There is a left tackle named Chris Williams who played his college football for Vanderbilt and he will be taken in the first round. He played high school football at Capitol High School in Baton Rouge, went basically unnoticed by one of the top schools across the country and is now a number one draft pick. That tells you something. A local kid, Darius Renard from Hahnville High School who played college football at West Virginia, is going to be a mid-round draft choice as a punt return specialist and slot receiver. His former Hahnville teammate, Craig Turner, who went to Southern Illinois, is one of the elite kick returners in college football and is someone that the Saints will take a long look at.

SN: Will there be other players from the Terrebonne-Lafourche area selected in this year’s draft?

MD: Kareem Moore from Nicholls State will go. He’s a guy I have always liked. He only played one year of high school football but he has a great instinct for the ball and is great in run support. I’ve told many scouts that they’ve missed the boat on this kid. He also returns kick. Seattle, Kansas City and the Saints have all brought him in for a look. I think you’ll see him taken in the fifth or sixth rounds as a safety. So he’ll be the second player picked in the draft from Nicholls in the past two years.

SN: Mike, one final question. Being a draft expert is a tough business. So who would win in a cage match featuring Mike Detillier and ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr.?

MD: (laughing) I’d win that one. Mel has the hair but I’ve got the size. A heavyweight beats a middleweight every time.