Big Rob, big ugly…whatever ESPN wanted to say, the St. Louis Rams pulled one over on a lot of teams and even those of us that cover the team. That’s because they selected former Badger right tackle Rob Havenstein with the No. 57 overall pick (No. 25 in the 2nd round).
Most mock drafts and experts had Havenstein has a middle-rounds type pick, with most projections having him in the third or fourth round. His stock seemed to drop thanks to a less-than-stellar showing at the NFL combine, repping just 16 times with 225 pounds in the bench press and running a way-slow 40-yard dash time (because that matters for offensive linemen).
Still, the guy the Badgers offensive line looked up to (figuratively and literally) saw his NFL dream come true. It also means his paycheck to start his career is going to be significantly higher as well.
He finished his career at the height of Big Ten play, being named a consensus first-team All-Big Ten pick following his senior season. Big Rob wasn’t done there though, as he was named first-team All-America by AFCA, second-team All-America by FWAA, Sporting News and USA Today and won the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
That capped off a career in which he was a model of consistency, playing 54 games and starting every game since his freshman season at right tackle.
St. Louis took running back Todd Gurley with the No. 10 overall pick in the draft, and head coach Jeff Fisher seems to have his stamp all over this draft. He’s a pound-the-rock kind of guy on offense, and adding one of the best run-blocking tackles in the draft to one of the most powerful running backs sets the tone for what the Rams want to do.
While Havenstein’s numbers weren’t great at the Combine, anyone that has seen him play knows he comes strong on game day. In fact, he’s an exceptional athlete for his size and was able to cut nearly 30 pounds heading in to his senior season to help become even more agile.
Offensive Line U strikes again, as Havenstein joins names like Joe Thomas, Travis Frederick, Rick Wagner, Ryan Groy, Peter Konz, Kevin Zeitler, Gabe Carimi and Kraig Urbik as linemen from UW in the NFL today.
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