Tuitt and Nix Both Get Drafted After Falling

Former Irish teammates Louis Nix and Stephon Tuitt were part of one of the best defensive lines in college football the last two seasons and both were projected to go in the late first round. But both fell in the draft. The good news is that both landed in good places.

Tuitt was picked in the second round by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 46th pick in the draft. The Steelers are second to none when you think of hard hitting defenses. And legendary defensive coordinator Dick Lebeau is one of the best of all time. This is a great place for Tuitt to be.

Louis Nix was then taken by the Houston Texans in the third round with the 83rd pick.  Although the Texans had the worst record in the league last year, they do have makings for a really good young defense. JJ Watt is already one of the most feared defensive ends in the league. Then of course the Texans drafted Jadeveon Clowny to play on the other end. Now they can put Nix in between them. That is just scary.

The most notable Irish players left are Troy Niklas, who clearly appears to have made a mistake by leaving early, TJ Jones, George Atkinson, Bennett Jackson, and Tommy Rees.  It will be interesting to see which of these guys get selected on the third and final day or who gets a free agent contract.