Unlike Patrick Chung last year, who pulled his name out of the NFL Draft during the weekend window, and Walter Thurmond, who thought about the NFL but didn’t declare this year, Jairus Byrd is NFL-bound.
The now ex-UO cornerback finished his junior season at the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 30 by being named the defensive MVP. He spoke with some members of the media this afternoon at the Casanova Center about it, in his typically low-key attitude.
I’ll have a story in tomorrow’s edition of the Daily Emerald about it, but some other tidbits to come out of it were interesting beyond how he made his decision. He said he spoke with Chung and Thurmond about it. Chung stayed because of a knee injury that limited him during spring practices last year, but Byrd said he was nearly 100 percent healthy besides a nagging groin injury.
“I was healthy, at the same time I had some stuff, a nagging groin injury but it’s not as severe to where I wouldn’t be able to, if i don’t go to the combine, go have a pro day or something like that to perform.”
His father Gil, a 10-year NFL pro for the Chargers, was a big part of his decision in terms of telling him the pros and cons of his decision, and as Byrd said, he said there was no wrong choice as far as he was concerned. It will be interesting to watch where Byrd lands this April. His dad is the defensive backs coach for the Chicago Bears, remember.
He was told he could be a first day, third-round pick, but didn’t put too much stock into what others think of his own draft stock.
“We’ll see where that goes but everyone varies in their predictions,” he said. “The draft is pretty much a crapshoot.”
He said he’ll return home now to sort out things, like hiring an agent and where he will hold a pro day for scouts, plans for the NFL combine in February, etc.
Was a possible coaching change a reason for his decision? No. And he hasn’t been told one is coming, either.
“Whoever it is I love coach Bellotti and coach Kelly is a great coach as well. Whoever it was it had no bearings on whether I was going to stay or not, I think it was just more of a personal decision. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
