Wake Forest Athletics
Deacons Await Saturday's NFL Draft
4/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 24, 2009
Curry Bio 
| Smith Bio | Arnoux Bio | Swank Bio | Vaughn Bio
A number of Wake Forest football players could receive first job offer this weekend when the NFL holds its annual draft.
The draft is scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m. EDT Saturday at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The first two rounds will be held on Saturday while the third round will start at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning.
The draft will be carried live on ESPN and on ESPN Radio stations across the nation. The NFL Network will also provide coverage.
Wake Forest's Aaron Curry appears to be one of the top five players available in the draft. Curry, a strongside linebacker, impressed the scouts with his athletic ability during February's NFL Combine in Indianapolis.
The Detroit Lions will make the first selection of the draft and will be followed, in order, by St. Louis, Kansas City, Seattle and Cleveland. Most mock drafts have Curry being selected by either the Chiefs or the Browns.
Curry would be the first Wake Forest player selected in the first round pick since Calvin Pace went to the Arizona Cardinals in 2003. Pace was the 18th player picked in the first round.
Only three Demon Deacons have ever been selected in the first round. Elmer Barbour, a blocking back, was the 10th player selected in the first round in 1945 by the New York Giants. Norm Snead is the highest-drafted Deacon in history. He was the second player taken in the first round in 1961 by the Washington Redskins. Snead went on to play with the Philadelphia Eagles for many years.
Each team is allowed 10 minutes to make its selection during the first round. The allotted time falls to seven minutes for the second round and five minutes for all subsequent rounds.
Cornerback Alphonso Smith is also considered a first day selection. Smith was the only Atlantic Coast Conference player to earn consensus All-America honors in 2008. Smith had seven interceptions on the year and finished his career with an ACC record 21 picks.
Wake Forest has never had two players selected in the first round of the same draft. The two highest draft picks that Wake Forest has ever produced occurred in 1989 and 1951. In 1989, quarterback Mike Elkins was a second round pick of the Chiefs and linebacker David Braxton was a second round pick of the Vikings. In 1951, tackles Jim Staton (Redskins) and Bill George (Bears) were each second round selections.
A number of draft experts also are forecasting that safety Chip Vaughn could be taken in the draft. If that should occur, it would mark the second consecutive year that Wake has had three players selected. In 2008, defensive end Jeremy Thompson was a fourth round pick by the Packers, wide receiver Kenny Moore was a fifth round selection by the Lions and center Steve Justice went to the Colts in the sixth round.
At the Combine in February, linebacker Stanley Arnoux turned in the second-fastest time of all the linebackers in camp. Wake's fifth invitee to the Combine, placekicker Sam Swank, also turned in an impressive performance in Indianapolis.
Should Arnoux or Swank be selected, it would mark the first time since 1956 that Wake Forest has had four players picked in the same draft. Back in 1956, quarterback Nick Consoles and back John Parham were selected by the Eagles, guard Gerry Huth by the Giants, and tackle Bob Bartholomew by the Browns.
Curry, Smith, Vaughn, Swank and Arnoux were all part of Wake Forest's signing class from 2004. Coming off a 5-7 season in 2003, the Deacons signed 18 players in February of 2004. Rivals.com ranked it the 95th-best recruiting class in the country, behind Temple, Arkansas State and Louisiana Tech.
However, of the 18 players who signed with Wake in 2004, 14 stayed throughout their career and 13 became starters. Along with the aforementioned, that class produced fullback Rich Belton, wide receivers D.J. Boldin and Chip Brinkman, defensive end Anthony Davis, defensive backs Kerry Major and Kevin Patterson, fullback Antonio Wilson, and linebacker Chantz McClinic. The only member of the 2004 class that did not redshirt was defensive end Jeremy Thompson. Thompson was a fourth round pick of the Packers in 2008 who recorded eight tackles in Green Bay last fall..
