Hartford Colonials Select QB Jerrod Johnson with Top Pick in 2011 UFL Draft
Published on May 2, 2011 under United Football League (UFL 1)
Hartford Colonials News Release
EAST HARTFORD, CT - The HARTFORD COLONIALS used the first overall pick in the 2011 United Football League Draft to select quarterback JERROD JOHNSON out of Texas A&M.
The Colonials chose first in each of the 10 rounds, selecting players who weren't taken in the 2011 NFL Draft as well as free agents from previous draft years. Hartford had an additional pick in the fourth round as the result of a trade last season. The draft order was based on the 2010 UFL standings.
Johnson, 6 feet 5 and 243 pounds, is the all-time leading passer at Texas A&M and set several school records. He holds the Big 12 record by throwing 242 passes without an interception in 2008-09. For his college career, Johnson completed 650 passes in 1,109 attempts (58.6 percent) for 8,011 yards with 67 touchdowns and 22 interceptions in 35 games. He also rushed for 877 yards on 331 carries.
Hartford used its next four picks to select offensive linemen: G KURT QUARTERMAN (6-5, 340 pounds, Louisville); C CECIL NEWTON JR. (6-2, 310, Tennessee State); G RICKY HENRY (6-4, 305, Nebraska); OL BRAD THORSON (6-5, 310, Kansas). Newton is the brother of quarterback Cam Newton, the 2010 Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft.
"Big is good," Colonials head coach and general manager JERRY GLANVILLE said. "The QB, you can't knock down. He's huge. He's a heck of an athlete."
The Colonials chose defensive linemen ERVIN BALDWIN (6-2, 260, Michigan State), COLBY WHITLOCK (6-3, 294, Texas Tech) JONATHAN LEWIS (6-0, 304, Virginia Tech) and KEITH GRENNAN (6-4, 298, Eastern Washington).
"All we know for sure is we had COLT BRENNAN, so our top priority was to get another good quarterback," Glanville said. "Then we had to get linemen. If you look at us, you're going to be looking at big people."
The Colonials also selected running back PHILLIP TANNER (6-0, 208, Middle Tennessee St.) and tight end GREG SMITH (6-4, 245, Texas).
"I think we got one of the best blocking tight ends. Plus he is a long snapper and has played guard," Glanville said.
Coming off an outstanding junior year, Johnson was considered a Heisman Trophy hopeful in 2010. However, he was limited to seven games as he continued to recover from shoulder injury. He was 158-for-279 and threw for 1,947 yards with 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
"Our league is all about a second chance, and we talked to a couple kids about a second chance," Glanville said. "We talked to a linebacker at Boston College and we talked to this kid. Both kids missed some time because of injury or illness. If Jerrod didn't get hurt, we wouldn't have had a shot at him. He would have been gone [in the NFL Draft]."
As a junior in 2009, Johnson started all 13 games and earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors. The Houston, TX, native set single-season school records in passing yards, completions, attempts, passing touchdowns, 300-yard passing games and total offense. His 3,579 passing yards ranked among the nation's leaders and he had a 59.6 completion percentage of (296-for-497) with 30 touchdowns and eight interceptions. In addition, he rushed for 506 yards and eight touchdowns.
"If he's healthy, we got an outstanding quarterback," Glanville said. "He can run and he's got a great mind, a great thinker. He can throw deep and make all the throws, run the quarterback draw and he's hard to sack."
The Colonials report to mini-camp in July with 70 players, the UFL limit. The team protected the UFL rights of 35 players from its 2010 roster and reserved the rights to 10 additional unsigned players last week, including Brennan. The team will fill out the roster with its draft picks and subsequent free agent signings.
HARTFORD COLONIALS 2011 UFL Draft
R# P# POS LAST FIRST SCHOOL
1 1 QB JOHNSON JERROD TEXAS A&M
2 6 G QUARTERMAN KURT LOUISVILLE
3 11 C NEWTON SR. CECIL TENNESSEE STATE
4 16 G HENRY RICKY NEBRASKA
4 20 OL THORSON BRAD KANSAS
5 22 RB TANNER PHILLIP MIDDLE TENNESSE ST.
6 27 DE BALDWIN ERVIN MICHIGAN STATE
7 32 TE SMITH GREG TEXAS
8 37 DT WHITLOCK COLBY TEXAS TECH
9 42 DT LEWIS JONATHAN VIRGINIA TECH
10 47 DE GRENNAN KEITH EASTERN WASHINGTON
DRAFT PICK BIOS
QB JERROD JOHNSON, TEXAS A&M: Johnson, a rookie, was a dual-threat quarterback for the Aggies. His best collegiate season came as a junior in 2009, as he threw for 3,579 yards and 30 touchdowns while completing 59.6 percent of his passes, and ran for 506 yards and eight TDs. Johnson started all 13 games for A&M in 2009, and was a second-team all-Big 12 pick. As a senior in 2010, Johnson passes for 1,947 yards and 14 touchdowns.
G KURT QUARTERMAN, LOUISVILLE: An undrafted free agent in the 2007 NFL Draft, Quarterman has yet to see action in a regular-season NFL game. He has been with the Atlanta Falcons, New York Giants, Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions. At Louisville, Quarterman played in 49 games and started in 30.
C CECIL NEWTON JR., TENNESSEE STATE: Brother of 2011 NFL Draft No. 1 overall pick Cam Newton, Cecil Newton Jr. has been on the practice squad of the Jacksonville Jaguars since signing as an undrafted free agent following the 2009 NFL Draft. A four-year letterman at Tennessee State, Newton Jr. was part of an offensive line which helped the program lead the conference in rushing for two straight seasons.
G RICKY HENRY, NEBRASKA: A rookie, Henry begins his professional career following a successful two-year career with the Cornhuskers. He started all 14 games in both the 2009 and 2010 season at right guard, and was a unanimous first-team all-Big 12 selection in 2010. Henry also spent two seasons (2006-07) at the North Dakota State College of Science.
OL BRAD THORSON, KANSAS: Thorson, a versatile offensive lineman, finished his career with the Jayhawks making 24 consecutive starts. The professional football rookie started all 12 games at right tackle in 2010 and started eight games at left guard and four games at right tackle in 2009. Thorson was a backup center in 2008 after transferring from Wisconsin.
RB PHILLIP TANNER, MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE: A rookie, Tanner is coming off a senior season in 2010 in which he ran for 928 yards and 13 touchdowns and caught 21 passes for 194 yards. He ran for 150 yards and a touchdown against Florida Atlantic, and ran for three touchdowns against Austin Peay. Tanner ran for 714 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2008.
DE ERVIN BALDWIN, MICHIGAN STATE: Baldwin was a seventh-round pick of the Chicago Bears in the 2008 NFL Draft. His professional on-field playing time has come with the Indianapolis Colts, where he played in three games in 2009. Baldwin had 13 total tackles this season. He started all 25 games of his two-year Spartan career at defensive end.
TE GREG SMITH, TEXAS: A rookie, the versatile Smith begins his professional football career after having played tight end, all five offensive line positions and long snapper with the Longhorns. He had 17 catches for 112 yards and a touchdown in 51 career games (15 starts) at Texas.
DT COLBY WHITLOCK, TEXAS TECH: A rookie, Whitlock is coming off a successful 2010 senior season which included several first-team all-Big 12 selections. As a senior, he posted 57 total tackles, two sacks, 8 1/2 tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. As a junior in 2009, Whitlock had 45 total tackles, three sacks, eight tackles for loss and a forced fumble.
DT JONATHAN LEWIS, VIRGINIA TECH: An NFL veteran, Lewis was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in 2006 and appeared in four games as a rookie that season. He has spent time in camp or on practice squads with the Oakland Raiders, Seattle Seahawks, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars and Cleveland Browns.
DE KEITH GRENNAN, EASTERN WASHINGTON: Originally signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2007, Grennan made his NFL debut in 2008 and made one tackle in a 23-20 loss to the Colts. The Browns signed him to their practice squad in 2009.
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