Oliver ineligible for '07, will enter supplemental draft
 

Oliver ineligible for '07, will enter supplemental draft
By Mark Schlabach
ESPN.com
Updated: May 17, 2007, 6:02 PM ET

Georgia senior cornerback Paul Oliver has has been declared academically ineligible for the 2007 season and plans to petition the NFL for entry into the supplemental draft this summer.

Oliver started 15 games last season and was fifth on the team with 57 tackles and had three interceptions. His stock rose after shutting down Georgia Tech's Calvin Johnson in the season finale last season. Johnson had only two catches for 13 yards in the Bulldogs' 15-12 victory.

With Oliver out, the Bulldogs are expected to start sophmore Bryan Evans and either senior Thomas Flowers or sophomores Asher Allen or Prince Miller at cornerback. A Georgia coach said Thursday that safety Rashad Jones also could move to cornerback to replace Oliver.

The Bulldogs, who won their last three games to finish 9-4 last season, already faced the arduous task of replacing starting ends Quinton Moses and Charles Johnson, safety Tra Battle and linebacker Tony Taylor.



Some other tid bits

Paul Oliver - 6-0, 201, 4.38, Georgia

You'll like this: Oliver completely shut down Calvin Johnson in 2006, holding the nation's top receiver to two catches and 13 yards. Showed character by coming back to school, stating that graduating was important to him. (So much for that)

Oliver is an ideal-sized defender who combines terrific man coverage and ball skills. He was tempted to declare early, but his decision to return for a senior campaign should pay off with him being the top-rated senior cornerback. He has the ability to turn and run with most receivers, and his long arms and height (6 feet) keep taller receivers from being able to push him around or out-jump him.

He was projected as a first rounder next year by most sites I have read.

Makes you think. Hmmm. I doubt we will pull the trigger here. I doubt he would make it through the 2nd. depends on his football smarts and not the classroom. duh. If we did that would be the end of the CB questions. Bye Thomas and good bye Craft.

nice find ScottF

This guy had first round potential for next years draft...i wouldnt mind throwing a 3rd rounder in the ring for him.

Yeah we looked at this guy but didnt draft him

Forgive my ignorance, but is that how the supp. draft works? You gotta give up a pick in next year's draft that corresponds to the round you picked in the supp draft?

I doubt anybody is going to throw a 1st rounder at this guy. If he is there in the 2nd round we will have to look at him very closely, because our 2nd round pick is going to be very late this year, hopefully the last pick in the round. I don't think he will make it through the 3rd round to us again. Kid sounds good on paper but they all do. Payton will have to interrogate him to see why he dropped out, what caused this to happen, how many times his mother yelled at him and for what;) , and be satisfied with all the answers. If this kid is of good character, then pull the trigger, as Jim Mora said "can't have enough good cover corners". Maybe quoting Mora is not such a good idea

Now if only a DT would drop out of school...

Then again this kid went to a major college program, so they probably will skip him. If he went to Tugaloo, then they would be all over him.

I'm curious to see what sort of NFL player Oliver becomes. He came to Georgia highly-touted but took awhile to catch on. He went from an average nickel back to a pretty solid corner towards the end of his junior year, but I wouldn't call him a "shut down" type by any means. He got a lot of credit for shutting down Johnson, but it's worth noting that Tech QB Reggie Ball had a history of seizing up against Georgia, and he had a pretty bad game against UGA last year. I seem to recall the best defender against Johnson being Ball's arm. Then again, that was an issue for Johnson's entire career. Oliver also played a solid game against Auburn and VT.

That being said, UGA has pumped plenty of DB's into the NFL over the last decade with decent success, so there's a decent pedigree that can be assumed. But I don't know about a 1st rounder next year...this time last year Quentin Moses was the #5 prospect in the country.

you kiddin me? sean payton select a defender from a big-name school? proposterous