Hardy, Porter await weekend's NFL Draft

The NFL Draft, a day rapidly becoming one of the most popular for sports fans, is this weekend, and two former Hoosiers expect to have a prominent role in the opening day of the draft.\nWide receiver James Hardy and cornerback Tracy Porter both expect, and are predicted, to be drafted on the first day, which is when the first two rounds of seven take place.\nGenerally, players picked in the first day have a greater chance at making the team that selects them. \nSaturday will be the culmination of months of rigorous training for Hardy and Porter. After their careers in IU uniforms ended, the two Hoosier stars had to select agents and continue to prepare for NFL teams and events such as the NFL Scouting Combine. \nNFL Draft expert Todd McShay has both Hardy and Porter rated higher in the draft than some of his original projections, perhaps due to their workouts at the NFL Combine and the IU Pro Day. \nMcShay, who originally placed Hardy as a borderline first round pick, now predicted in his latest mock draft that Hardy will be the 20th pick overall, drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.\n“(Scouts) see great potential,” Hardy said after the IU Pro Day in March. “They see things I need to work on at the same time; overall, they think I could be a great target.” \nMcShay has Porter being drafted 34th overall to the Atlanta Falcons, which would be the third pick in the second round. McShay originally projected Porter as a “second round consideration.” \nRatings and mock drafts made up by McShay and other draft experts can give some idea to how the draft will go, but seemingly every year there are always surprises. Last season former Notre Dame star Brady Quinn fell to the late first round after most experts saw him as a top-three \npick overall. \nPaul Lawrence, Porter’s agent, said this happens because teams will draft players based on what their needs are, not who the best player left is. \n“(General managers) put together their list of needs and wants,” Lawrence said. “We felt good after the Combine.” \nTim Bugg, former Hoosier long snapper, might be the draft hopeful who is most dependent on whether or not a team needs someone with his specific skill.\nBugg said despite being rated as the highest long snapper, if a team doesn’t feel the need to obtain one, he won’t be drafted. \nThe draft is on ESPN and starts at 3 p.m. Saturday.