A Big Man From An Unlikely Place: UTSA’s Marcus Davenport Drafted By New Orleans

Davenport is a 264-pound defensive end. New Orleans took him in the first round of the 2018 draft.

By Michael MarksApril 27, 2018 2:21 pm,

Thursday night marked the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft where pro football teams select the top players from the college ranks. The Dallas Cowboys are hosting the event this year. It’s comprised of seven rounds spread out over three days. and once it’s over, 256 players will have been selected. One of them in particular caught the eye of Texas Standard’s Michael Marks. He sat down to talk about the draft with Host David Brown.

The first round of each year’s draft is where teams hope to find a future star, Marks says. And this year, one of those hopefuls comes from an unlikely place, not known for producing football greats. Marcus Davenport played his college ball at UT-San Antonio, which didn’t even field a football team until 2011.

But Davenport has something a lot of teams need.

“He’s a hot commodity, number one, because he’s a defensive end,” Marks says. “…Defensive ends go and sack the quarterback. If you have a guy that can do that ten [or] 15 time each year, that’s an extremely useful skill.”

Davenport was drafted in the first round by the New Orleans Saints, who traded their first round pick next year for the chance to take Davenport now.

Davenport is from San Antonio. When he played high school ball, he weighed 198 pounds. Today, he weighs 265. Davenport says he accomplished the weight gain by eating everything in sight.

Written by Shelly Brisbin.