UNIVERSITY PARK – The Miami Dolphins selected Penn State defensive tackle Jared Odrick (Lebanon) Thursday night in the first round of the National Football League Draft.
One of two Big Ten Conference players invited to the attend the NFL Draft, Odrick was the No. 28 overall selection.
A 2009 first team All-American, the 6-5, 304-pound Odrick is the 36th Nittany Lion to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, 33 of whom have played for Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno. Odrick is the eighth Nittany Lion to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft over the past seven years. Defensive end Aaron Maybin was the No. 11 overall selection by the Buffalo Bills in the 2009 draft and tackle Levi Brown was the No. 5 overall pick in the 2007 draft.
With Odrick’s selection, 240 Nittany Lions have been drafted under Paterno and more than 350 of his players have signed NFL contracts.
Odrick will join former Nittany Lion linebacker Cameron Wake on the Dolphins’ roster.
Odrick earned 2009 first team All-America honors from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), becoming the 80th Penn Stater to be named a first-team All-American a total of 94 times and the 77th player so honored under Paterno. Odrick also received All-America honors from the Associated Press, Sporting News, CBSsports.com and Rivals.com. He was the sixth Penn State defensive lineman to earn first-team All-America accolades since 1999.
The Big Ten coaches selected Odrick the 2009 Defensive Player-of-the-Year and Defensive Lineman-of-the-Year. He became the first interior defensive lineman selected for the Big Ten’s top defensive honor since Ohio State’s Dan Wilkinson in 1993. Odrick garnered first-team all-conference honors for the second consecutive year.
The former U.S. Army All-American at Lebanon High School was ranked No. 7 in the Big Ten with 7.0 sacks. He was fifth on the team with 43 tackles and had 11.0 tackles for loss (minus-72), a big blocked field goal and a pass breakup. Odrick also played a significant role in helping Penn State rank in the Top 10 nationally in five of the six primary defensive statistical categories. Penn State has not allowed a 100-yard rusher in the last 16 games, the nation’s third-longest streak.
Additional Nittany Lions are expected to be selected in the 75th NFL Draft. The second and third rounds of the draft are at 6 p.m. on Friday and rounds 4-7 are at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Jeff Nelson, Penn State University
