CNJ staff
Clovis native Joey Garcia will be doing today what he does every April about this time — watching the NFL draft.
“I’ve been watching the draft forever,” said Garcia. “The last five years now, watching all the friends that went before me … it’s just fun, it’s exciting.”
After leading the Texas Tech defense with 79 tackles last season, the 6-foot-1, 220-pound strong safety is hoping to hear his name called.
The NFL draft airs today and Sunday on ESPN.
Profootballweekly.com has Garcia, a 2003 Clovis High School graduate, ranked as the draft’s No. 46 strong safety. If those rankings hold in the draft, Garcia would either go undrafted or get called in one of Sunday’s later rounds.
Garcia’s not sure what to think at this point.
“The draft is crazy,” Garcia said. “I’ve seen people who were supposed to get drafted in the second round not get drafted. I’ve seen people who weren’t expecting to get drafted get taken in the fourth, fifth round.”
And if he doesn’t get drafted, that doesn’t mean football is over. The proof is former Clovis teammate Hank Baskett, who went undrafted, but signed a free-agent deal with the Minnesota Vikings before he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles, where he has spent the last two years.
“If a team likes you, they’re going to go get you,” Garcia said. “I’m just excited my name even could be called.”
