NEW YORK — Rohan Davey (QB, 4th rd., 117th pick, New England) was the first of four former Tiger football players taken on the second day of the NFL Draft. Jarvis Green (DE, 4th rd., 126th pick, New England), Robert Royal (TE, 5th rd., 160th pick, Washington) and Howard Green (DT, 6th rd., 190th pick, Houston) were also taken in the seven-round draft.
Davey, who led the Tigers to the SEC Championship game as well as the 2002 Sugar Bowl Championship, was the sixth quarterback taken in the draft and the second on day two. The Patriots traded picks with the Broncos — up from pick No. 33 of the fourth round to No. 19 — to have the opportunity to select Davey.
He was the 117th overall selection.
Just before Davey was picked, the Patriots traded veteran quarterback Drew Bledsoe to the Buffalo Bills (which drafted LSU’s wide receiver Josh Reed in the second round on Saturday), making room for Davey to step in as a backup to Tom Brady while Reed benefits from a passing oriented offense in Buffalo.
Jarvis Green, who battled through injuries to start for four seasons as a Tiger, will join Davey in Boston with the Patriots. He was the 126th overall selection. The Patriots received the fourth-round pick as part of a trade from the Green Bay Packers.
Davey and Green join tight end Daniel Graham of Colorado (1st rd., 21st pick) and wide receiver Deion Branch of Louisville (2nd rd., 65th pick) as Patriots’ draft picks.
Royal was the 13th tight end selected in the draft and the 25th pick of the draft’s fifth round. He was the second of back-to-back picks by the Redskins, a pick that was traded to Washington by the New York Jets. Former Florida head coach Steve Spurrier is now the coach of the Redskins.
Howard Green, a tremendous run tackler on LSU’s defensive line, was taken by the expansion Houston Texans as a supplemental pick in the sixth round of the draft. He was the 10th player selected by the Texans in this year’s draft.