James Selected by Minnesota in First Round
April 23, 2005 | Football
Former Badger defensive end Erasmus James, the 2004 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, was selected in the first round (18th pick overall) of the National Football League Draft by the Minnesota Vikings Saturday afternoon.
James is the 23rd first-round draft choice in Wisconsin history and the ninth of the Barry Alvarez era. The Badgers have had at least one first-round pick in six of the past seven NFL drafts.
Other Badger first-rounders of the Alvarez era include: Troy Vincent (1992, 7th overall to Miami), Aaron Gibson (1999, 27th overall to Detroit), Ron Dayne (2000, 11th overall to N.Y. Giants), Chris McIntosh (2000, 22nd overall to Seattle), Jamar Fletcher (2001, 26th overall to Miami), Michael Bennett (2001, 27th overall to Minnesota), Wendell Bryant (2002, 12th overall to Arizona) and Lee Evans (2004, 13th overall to Buffalo).
James was Wisconsin's first consensus All-American since 2000 last season. He was a finalist for the Lombardi, Nagurski, Bednarik and Hendricks Awards. Despite battling an injury for much of the second half of the season, James registered eight quarterback sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss.
James is the second Badger defensive lineman (joining Wendell Bryant) in the past four seasons to be selected in the first round of the draft.
