Nate Longshore NFL Prospects

(ESPN.com)

Jonathan Okanes has some interesting and decently illuminating bits about the always enigmatic Nate Longshore and his NFL chances as Saturday’s draft approaches. The resonating theme from the media might be the story of how a once projected first round pick has fallen to the likelihood of not being drafted at all.

However, Longshored refuses to be dissuaded from pursuing his dream of playing pro ball, and is confident that he’ll end up in a preseason camp, even if that means going the free agent route.

You should definitely read J.O’s story with the Contra Costa Times and his blog write up with additional notes.

I thought the most interesting bit was a quote regarding his relationship with Coach Tedford:

After complaining at the end of the season that he didn’t get a fair chance this season, Longshore said having time to reflect gave him more understanding of Jeff Tedford’s decision-making.

“If you have one guy who is completely healthy and coming on strong and your veteran is a little banged up, you have to do what you feel is best,” Longshore said. “I can’t blame him or be mad at him for that. I don’t fault him for anything. I understand that I wasn’t playing nearly as well as I needed to be effective.”



I found this encouraging to hear, given that I was a bit saddened to hear that Longshore’s relationship with Tedford had come to what seemed to be an icy conclusion at the end of last season. It’s been nice to see the ways that Longshore has grown and handled himself over the years.

While I completely wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Nate getting drafted in the fifth or sixth round, as his agent says he might, I’m fairly convinced that Longshore will wind up as a free agent. Here’s hoping he gets signed to camp, and given a chance to compete. I for one would love to have the chance to see him throw the ball again, even if it’s in only in a preseason game.