2018 NFL draft: Productive SMU WR Trey Quinn becomes this year's Mr. Irrelevant
This year’s Mr. Irrelevant might become relevant.
The NFL Network analysts seemed impressed with the final pick of the draft, SMU receiver Trey Quinn, who went to the Washington Redskins to finish the seventh round. Every year, the final pick of the NFL draft is dubbed “Mr. Irrelevant” and gets a celebration in Newport Beach, Calif. during the summer. Quinn put up some monster statistics last season for SMU.
“Another good football player,” NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said as Quinn was picked.
After the pick, NFL Network showed clips of Quinn pitching in the 2008 Little League World Series, where he threw a no-hitter for Lake Charles, La. But the Redskins picked Quinn because of his ability at receiver, and it was a pretty good value pick. Quinn is 6-feet tall, 203 pounds and ran a 4.55-second 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine.
Quinn transferred to SMU from LSU, where he didn’t have much impact. Then he got on NFL teams’ radars by posting 114 receptions, 1,236 yards and 13 touchdowns in his lone season for SMU. He’ll have a chance to make Washington’s roster.
The Redskins held the pick, the 38th of the seventh round and 256th overall, after two trades. It was originally a compensatory pick owned by the Atlanta Falcons, who traded it to the Los Angeles Rams, who sent it to Washington.
There is a celebration in Newport Beach, Calif. every year for Mr. Irrelevant. That celebration has happened every year for more than four decades to honor the final pick of the draft. This year, “Irrelevant Week” is tentatively planned for June 15-18. In the past the festivities have included a parade and banquet, a visit to Disneyland, a sailing regatta in Newport Harbor, as well as a Los Angeles Dodgers or Los Angeles Angels game.
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The best NFL career among all the Mr. Irrelevants is probably kicker Ryan Succop. Succop was the last pick of the 2009 draft. He spent his first five seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, the past four with the Tennessee Titans and last season made 35-of-42 field-goal attempts. He has hit 83.3 percent of his career field-goal attempts.
Last season was a fairly well known Mr. Irrelevant. The Denver Broncos selected Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly, a name that studious college football fans knew. Kelly, the nephew of Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly, slipped in the draft due to off-field concerns and injury issues. He spent last season on injured reserve.
There haven’t been a lot of players in Mr. Irrelevant history to make an impact in the NFL. Quinn seems like he has a better chance than most to make a name for himself.
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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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