Specialists fill needs late in draft

April 27, 2008 7:07 PM

Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando

This draft featured five specialists, based on the positional labels supplied during the draft. Seattle drafted two of them: San Diego St. snapper Tyler Schmitt and Georgia kicker Brandon Coutu. This is what teams mean when they talk about drafting for need on the second day. Other specialists drafted: UCLA return man Matt Slater (New England), Georgia Tech punter Durant Brooks (Washington) and Wisconsin kicker Taylor Mehlhaff (New Orleans). All were drafted after the 152nd overall choice. Other players surely will contribute primarily as specialists, but these five jumped out immediately.

NFL draft

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