(Stats Perform) – Sleeper, no more.
The New Orleans Saints thought enough of Dayton tight end Adam Trautman to trade up for him in the NFL Draft, selecting him with the second-to-last pick of the third round at No. 105 overall Friday night.
The 6-foot-5, 255-pound Trautman became Dayton’s first draft pick since 1977 and the highest of five all-time selections out of the FCS non-scholarship Pioneer Football League, which formed in 1993.
“I’m very excited about the journey ahead and ready to contribute to my team’s success,” Trautman told Stats Perform. “Lots of work ahead, but I am more than ready for it.”
The Saints traded their fourth-, fifth-, sixth- and seventh-round picks – all of their picks on the third and final day of the draft on Saturday – to the Minnesota Vikings to move up for Trautman.
Trautman entered college as a quarterback, but shifted to tight end in his redshirt freshman year. He was highly productive even when targeted in college, catching 171 passes for 2,295 yards and 31 touchdowns. As a senior, he earned first-team FCS All-America honors and became the first tight end to be voted PFL offensive player of the year.
“We’ve had a lot of good football players in my time here,” Dayton coach Rick Chamberlin said. “Young men come to the University of Dayton to get a great education and play for a winning football program. But in my 45 years at UD as a player, assistant coach and head coach, we’ve never had anyone with the potential to make an impact at the next level that Adam Trautman has.”
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