The UVa offensive lineman is moving up on NFL draft charts.
By Doug Doughty
This article is reprinted online with permission from The Roanoke Times. “All eyes on UVa’s Albert” first appeared April 23, 2008 in the The Roanoke Times. Doug Doughty is a The Roanoke Times sports writer. Copyright 2008 The Roanoke Times.
To believe some NFL draft projections, Virginia offensive linemen Branden Albert will be one of those early picks whose every movement is televised as he accepts congratulations from his family, strides across a stage to shake hands with commissioner Roger Goodell and dons the hat of his new organization.
The TV cameras might be looking for Albert but they’re not going to find him, not unless they’re set up for a remote broadcast.
Albert will be in Edgewood, MD., at the home of his older brother and “father figure,” Ashley Sims, a former University of Maryland linebacker.
Albert is the quintessential “late riser” in this year’s draft, a player whose stock has jumped so quickly that he was not included on a list of early picks who were invited to New York for Saturday’s festivities.
“Not going to New York, I’m not mad at that,” Albert said Tuesday. “That’s fine with me. Why would it would it bother me? When I was coming out of school, people had me projected as a second-round pick or maybe a third-round pick.
“If I go top five, I’ll be happy. If I go top 10, I’ll be happy. If I go top 20, I’ll be happy.”
Albert (6-foot-7, 316 pounds) announced following Virginia’s appearance in the Gator Bowl that he would not be returning for his final year of eligibility. While he was optimistic that he would play at the next level, there were other factors involved in his decision, including his age (23).
“I knew I had the potential to be a first-round pick,” he said, “but, coming out as a junior, you never know if people are really paying attention to you. I thought I might go in the second round or late first round, but to be where I am right now, no, I didn’t think so.”
Albert became a household name when ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper listed him at No. 5 on his “big board.” He is one of two Virginia players expected to go in the first round, along with his UVa co-captain Chris Long.
Long was mentioned as the possible first pick overall until it was announced that the Miami Dolphins, who own that selection, had reached agreement with University of Michigan offensive lineman Jake Long.
Draft analysts figure the first team that could pick Albert would be Kansas City, which has the No. 5 pick overall and has serious needs on the offensive line.
Albert started all 35 of Virginia’s games in his three years in the Cavaliers’ program. Thirty-three of those starts came at left guard. An injury to Eugene Monroe prompted UVa to move Albert to left tackle against Pittsburgh and Middle Tennessee State.
Those two games provided NFL scouts with evidence that he wasn’t strictly a guard and could play elsewhere on the line.
“That’s one of the really attractive features about Branden,” UVa coach Al Groh said Tuesday. “The reason he was a guard here was that he and Eugene were in the same [recruiting] class and Eugene had been a left tackle. So, Branden moved to guard, but he has tackle skills.”
Albert moved from Rochester, N.Y., to live with Sims in Maryland before his senior year in high school, which was his first season of varsity football. He had always been a basketball player and says that his pass-blocking skills came from playing post defense in basketball.
“It’s a wonderful story,” Groh said. “His brother said, ‘If you’re going to live here, you’re going to play football.’ It was toward the end of the recruiting process that we came across some long-range, grainy tape. He was really raw, but we brought him for a visit and, in talking to him, he sold us.”
A
lbert did not become an academic qualifier until he spent the 2004-2005 school year at Hargrave Military Academy, where he played for coach Robert Prunty.
“Hey, listen, I’m just being straight up with you,” said Prunty in a December 2004 interview. “Branden Albert probably is going to be the best player I’ve ever coached. Ahmad [Brooks] was a great player, but he’s [Albert] got so much growth in him. He can be so good, it’s scary. He’s big-time, trust me.”
Albert has visited with Chiefs officials in Kansas City, but that’s only one of 10 franchises who have hosted him for visits since his impressive performance at the NFL Scouting Combine in February. He said he has not received any hints that the Chiefs might take him.
It wouldn’t bother him to play for the two NFL franchises closest to his adopted home. The Baltimore Ravens draft eighth and the Washington Redskins select 21st.
Chances are that Albert will be gone by the time the Redskins pick — they could always draft up — but veteran ‘Skins offensive-line coach Joe Bugel is a personal favorite.
“I met him at the combine, he came to my pro-day workout [in Charlottesville] and then I went to Washington for a visit last weekend and he’s just a genuine guy,” Albert said. “After dinner, he dropped me off at the hotel and he talked to me like a friend, not a coach. He’s a legend, too. He impressed me the most.
“That would be very cool if I got to play for the Ravens or Redskins.”
