4/25/2019 football Edit

Garrett Bradbury is headed to Minnesota

Bradury was picked 18th overall in the first round. (Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports)

Matt Carter • TheWolfpackCentral

Editor

For the first time since 1980 when Jim Ritcher went to the Buffalo Bills, NC State has had an offensive lineman selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. Center Garrett Bradbury was chosen by the Minnesota Vikings with the 18th overall pick Thursday evening.

“I can promise that there are a lot of teams picking the 20s that are now upset that Garrett Bradbury is off the board,” ESPN host Trey Wingo noted after the selection was announced by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

“This is the best center in the draft and one of the best to come out in the last handful of years,” NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah said. “I call him the grim reacher because I have never seen somebody reach more [effectively] in the run game the way Garrett Bradbury does.”

The only center since 2000 to go higher was Mike Pouncey in 2011 when he was chosen 15th by the Miami Dolphins.

“He was the best reach blocker in this draft,” ESPN’s Booger McFarland confirmed.

Jeremiah penciled in Bradbury as a starter on day one for the Vikings and compared him to Jason Kelce, star center for the Philadelphia Eagles, and long-time Carolina Panthers Pro Bowl center Ryan Kalil.

“The quickness is off the charts,” Jeremiah added on Bradbury.

Dane Brugler of The Athletic called agreed with the chorus that Bradbury was the top center in the draft.

“Garrett Bradbury can make the reach block, snatch the outside,” Brugler said.He can mirror, slide and stay balanced. He is a plug-and-play center and will play a long time because of his athleticism, staying on his feet and rarely stressed. This allows the Vikings to move Pat Elflein to guard, virtually upgrading two positions on the offensive line.”

CBSSports.com’s Pete Prisco graded the pick a B-plus.

“The Vikings couldn’t move anybody off the line of scrimmage last year,” he noted. “Bradbury is very athletic, not a very big kid, but he can move.”

The 6-foot-2 7/8, 306-pound Bradbury is an improbable success story for NC State. He was a lightly recruited, two-star tight end coming out of Charlotte Christian whose biggest option aside from the Wolfpack was Colorado State.

He switched first to defensive line and then offensive line after arriving in Raleigh, and he became an instant success on the Pack’s “Band of Brothers” up front. He started as a redshirt sophomore at guard before moving to center. As a senior, Bradbury won the Rimington Trophy as college football’s top center, and he was a consensus first-team All-American.

It is the second straight year a Wolfpacker has gone in the first round. The Denver Broncos picked Bradley Chubb first a year ago, and Chubb went on to have 12 sacks as a rookie. The last time NC State had back-to-back first round picks was 1979-80 when Ted Brown and then Ritcher was picked.