• Video: Suh after the NU spring game:
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LINCOLN — One of the agents for Ndamukong Suh said the former Nebraska defensive tackle will understand Thursday night if his name isn't called first at the NFL draft.
The Suh camp doesn't have to agree with it, Eugene Parker said, but it has been discussed and part of the education process.
“He's the best player in the draft. The Rams just have a need for a quarterback,” Parker said. “And the consensus is that if you have a need for a quarterback and there's a guy that you feel is a franchise quarterback, that tends to trump any other position.”
St. Louis appears to be leaning toward Sam Bradford with the No. 1 overall pick. If that happens, it would be the 10th time in the past 13 years that a quarterback was taken first.
Parker said it would drop a gift into the lap of Detroit at No. 2 or Tampa Bay at No. 3. And although Suh would like to be No. 1, Parker said he isn't consumed with something he can't control.
It also would only add to the stress of an already huge week for the 2009 Associated Press college player of the year.
“For him now, it's just a matter of waiting to find out for sure where he's going,” said Parker, who represents Suh with Roosevelt Barnes for Indiana-based Maximum Sports Management. “That can be somewhat of a challenging process because you're just not exactly sure.
“What we try to do is just prepare him for what he's getting ready to face and what the steps are. But he's a very mature guy, so he can handle himself in most situations.”
Does Suh believe that he's the best player in the draft?
“I don't know,” he said Saturday. “There are a lot of great players. I think this class is a very elite class, especially with defensive linemen and quarterbacks and DBs and so forth. It's a very defensively heavy draft class, and I'm very proud to be part of that group.”
Suh attended the Nebraska spring game Saturday, which included a ceremony to announce his $2 million donation to the Husker football program and $600,000 gift to the NU college of engineering to endow a scholarship.
He will be among the prospects at Radio City Music Hall on Thursday night, but Parker said his week also includes “a full slate of things” from news media appearances to NFL-sponsored events before Commissioner Roger Goodell goes to the podium to start the three-day draft.
April 14 was the deadline for meeting individually with teams, and Parker said Suh visited St. Louis, Detroit and Tampa Bay. Because there are no questions about his character or health, Parker said they were almost like recruiting visits for Suh.
“It actually started to slow down here recently for him a little,” Parker said. “He's just been on a real tight schedule, from the postseason awards to the combine to personal workouts to pro day to team visits.
“It should just be a fun time for him and his family. He knows he's going early, so he can kind of sit back because he's already done all the work.”
National Football League rules allow the team with the No. 1 pick to negotiate with a player or players they're interested in drafting. Parker said Suh has not talked financials with the Rams, which he also said was best to avoid getting into any sort of leverage situation with the team.
Parker declined to say if he and Barnes have a feel for what takes place Thursday night. Suh is approaching it the same way.
“The draft is so up and down,” Suh said. “You hear so many things. Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay, Detroit, St. Louis you never know what's going to happen. So I'm just going to wait, enjoy it ... and look forward to the day of the draft and see what comes my way.”
Contact the writer:
444-1042, rich.kaipust@owh.com
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