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This Day In Sports…April 24, 2020, five years ago today:
Boise State’s Ezra Cleveland is selected by the Minnesota Vikings with the 58th overall pick in the second round of the NFL Draft, making him the 13th-highest pick in Broncos history. By Week 6 as a rookie, Cleveland was named starting right guard for the Vikings and stayed there through the middle of the 2023 season, when he was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars. He remains a Jag after signing a three-year contract extension with the team in March of last year.
Cleveland was the sixth straight Boise State multi-year starter at left tackle to be drafted into the NFL. The run started with Daryn Colledge (Green Bay in 2006), and continued with Ryan Clady (Denver, 2008), Nate Potter (Arizona, 2012), Charles Leno Jr. (Chicago, 2014) and Ress Odhiambo (Seattle, 2016). We’re betting that current left tackle Kage Casey will join that elite group a year from now.
On Day 3 of the 2020 draft, former Boise State defensive end-linebacker Curtis Weaver was taken in the fifth round by the Miami Dolphins, and wide receiver John Hightower followed four picks later, going to the Philadelphia Eagles. Weaver played one game in the NFL for the Browns in 2021 and logged one tackle, while Hightower got into 14 games over two seasons with Philly and had 10 catches for 167 yards.
Cleveland and Weaver, by the way, had declared for the NFL after their junior seasons, making that the seventh straight year a Boise State early entry had been chosen. It was also the 11th consecutive year a Bronco had been drafted, a streak that extended to 14 years before Boise State was shut out last year. There hasn’t been a Boise State player drafted in the top 60 since Cleveland. The closest has been tight end John Bates, who was selected 124th overall in the fourth round by the Washington Commanders in 2021.
Tonight there’s a player who, uh, should restart the Boise State draft streak in a rather big way—a guy who will go higher than 48th. Unless something crazy happens tonight, the Broncos’ 44th draft pick of the 21st century will be the highest in school history. The record has been held for 17 years by Clady, who went No. 12 overall to Denver in 2008. There are almost no mock drafts that have Ashton Jeanty lasting that long. Ever since that first 77-yard touchdown run at Georgia Southern last August, this has been a whirlwind.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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