Joel Dreessen stood on the sideline with his former teammates at the Colorado State spring football game Saturday in Fort Collins, confident his future would be resolved in a few hours when the NFL completed the third round of the draft.
The wait extended nearly 24 hours. It didn’t help when Sunday’s first NFL calls came from Houston and Washington, telling him they would take him in the seventh round if available.
He wasn’t. The New York Jets claimed CSU’s four-year starting H-back in the sixth round, the 198th selection overall.
“It was pretty miserable,” Dreessen said of his long Sunday. “I feel I’m a better football player than some people taken before me.”
Dreessen was the seventh tight end selected. Unlike some former teammates who fell out of prior drafts because of poor 40-yard dash times, Dreessen ran 4.71 at the NFL combine. He showed he recovered from the abdominal injury that cost him half of his junior year, and he carried the bonus of being an error-free deep snapper.
The Jets traded their first- round pick to Oakland for former BYU tight end Doug Jolley. The Jets’ depth at tight end was decimated by free agency.
“They run two tight ends, and the general manager told me he liked what I could do to fit into the system,” Dreessen said. “They feel I can make the team.”
Colorado didn’t have a player drafted for the first time since 2001. The Buffs, however, had three players agree to free- agent deals after the draft: tailback Bobby Purify (San Francisco), offensive tackle Sam Wilder (Dallas) and defensive tackle Matt McChesney (St. Louis). Marques Harris, a former CU player who grew up in Grand Junction and transferred to Southern Utah, signed as a free-agent linebacker with San Diego.
Bo Scaife, a Texas tight end and former Mullen star, was selected in the sixth round (No. 179 overall) by Tennessee.
Scaife, 24, spent six years with the Longhorns. He was granted two medical redshirts after knee surgery in 2000 and 2002.
“I’m trying to get people to quit talking about it, because I haven’t missed a game in two years,” he said Sunday from his home in Denver.
Scaife played in 44 games for Texas and started 12. His 75 career receptions rank second among Texas tight ends.
Two players from Colorado Mines hooked on with teams as undrafted free agents. Quarterback Chad Friehauf, last year’s Division II player of the year, agreed to attend the Broncos’ training camp. Safety Daniel Leger will sign with Buffalo.
“They say they’re really going to give me a shot, so I’m really excited,” Leger said of the Bills. “They say I won’t just be another body in the camp. I feel awesome about it, something I’ve worked for for a long time.”
Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303-820-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-820-5453 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
