Former cornerback Nolan Carroll works out at the Terps' Pro Timing Day in March. Photo by Steven Overly/The Diamondback
Nolan Carroll said former Terp and current Miami Dolphins tight end Joey Haynos hinted at it as last week’s NFL Draft approached.
Dolphins Executive V.P. of Football Operations Bill Parcells, generally regarded as one of the best talent evaluators in the league, liked what he saw from Carroll when the 6-foot-1, 200-pound cornerback worked out for the Dolphins in South Florida.
So the Dolphins were definitely on Carroll’s radar on Saturday, when Miami used their fifth-round selection (145th overall) to pick the Florida native.
“[Parcells] is a cool guy,” Carroll said. “I met him in Miami, and he seemed like a real good guy. What I was hearing was that he liked me a lot. That’s a huge compliment because he has a good reputation.”
Carroll will take part in the Dolphins’ rookie minicamp, which starts on Thursday. The Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers were two other strong possibilities, according to Carroll, who added that agent Chad Weistling told him to keep his phone around just in case one of those two teams decided to select him in Friday’s third round.
Carroll spent the draft at home in Jacksonville, and didn’t watch much of it, save a few moments in Thursday night’s first round.
“My agent was telling me to expect Saturday,” Carroll said. “As soon as it got closer, we started getting calls from teams in the third round — Titans, Steelers, and Texans — saying, keep your phone at your waist the whole time just in case. That didn’t happen. So I continued to wait.”
Carroll came into the 2009 season as a well-regarded senior cornerback prospect thanks to his size and athleticism. After breaking his leg in the team’s second game, Carroll had a lot to prove over the last few months to regain at least some of his draft status.
After undergoing a slew of medical tests that weekend, he didn’t participate in drills at the NFL Scouting Combine in February, but ran a 4.39-second 40-yard dash — an important indicator of his full recovery — at the Terps’ Pro Timing Day in March.
Aaron Kraut is The Diamondback’s former sports editor. E-mail him at akrautdbk@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/AaronKraut.