FAYETTEVILLE -- Trey Flowers and Martrell Spaight are likely to be among the first three Arkansas Razorbacks taken in the NFL Draft, which begins with the first round today in Chicago.
Flowers, a four-year standout at defensive end from Huntsville, Ala., has worked out in Fayetteville since returning from a stint at the Michael Johnson Performance Center in McKinney, Texas, to prepare for the NFL Scouting Combine. He was a frequent visitor to Arkansas' practices this spring, often sprinting the steps of Reynolds Razorback Stadium wearing a weight vest.
In-state hopefuls
ARKANSAS
DE Trey Flowers
DT Darius Philon
LB Martrell Spaight
TE A.J. Derby
OT Brey Cook
DB Tevin Mitchel
P Sam Irwin-Hill
S Alan Turner
OL Cam Jefferson
CENTRAL ARKANSAS
WR Dezmin Lewis
HARDING
WR Donatella Luckett
Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said he received a call from an executive with the Arizona Cardinals in the past couple of weeks to inquire about Flowers.
"My comment to him was if Trey Flowers was on the stock market, I'd buy as much stock as I could buy," Bielema said Wednesday. "I think his better days are in front of him."
Flowers is expected to be the first player with Arkansas ties taken in the draft. A recent mock draft by NFL.com projected Flowers to go to the Carolina Panthers in the third round with the 89th pick.
Spaight, a linebacker from North Little Rock who played his final two seasons at Arkansas, and defensive tackle Darius Philon, who declared early after his redshirt sophomore season, project as the next two Arkansas players to be selected. The NFL.com mock draft has Philon going in the fourth round to the Dallas Cowboys and Spaight, who led the SEC with 128 tackles last season, being chosen in the sixth round by the Seattle Seahawks.
"Martrell's a great team guy," said Bielema, who attended the Fort Smith Quarterback Club meeting with Spaight on Wednesday night. "I think people saw last year on film he's very powerful, very quick, and sudden in space and also between the tackles. To lead the SEC in tackles speaks a lot about what he is."
Other former Razorbacks hopeful of being drafted or landing in an NFL camp include tight end AJ Derby, offensive tackle Brey Cook, defensive back Tevin Mitchel, punter Sam Irwin-Hill, safety Alan Turner and offensive lineman Cam Jefferson.
Bielema said he's touted Derby as a tight end with a great upside and a potential emergency quarterback.
"He could realistically be your third quarterback on any given Sunday," Bielema said. "He's a guy who could truly get you out of a game. Very smart, very intelligent."
NFL.com did not project Derby as a draft pick but listed him among its 19 "most intriguing" undrafted free agent prospects.
Bielema will get the chance to talk even more about his former players heading into the NFL since he has agreed to serve a two-hour stint Saturday on the NFL Network's coverage of rounds four through seven. Bielema will be on the set in Chicago from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Central along with host Melissa Stark and Northwestern Coach Pat Fitzgerald.
Bielema, who has had 30 players selected during his head coaching tenures at Wisconsin and Arkansas, said it was nice to get a lot of phone calls again from NFL personnel asking about his players after a couple of slow years following his transition to Arkansas.
This could be the most active draft for Arkansas defensive players since 2007, when three Razorback defenders -- Jamaal Anderson (first round), Chris Houston (second) and Keith Jackson (seventh) -- were chosen.
Arkansas has had only three defensive players drafted in the seven years since, tackle Marcus Harrison in 2008, end Jake Bequette in 2012 and end Chris Smith last year.
Sports on 04/30/2015