Buster Sports

This post is part of the series The Pac-10's NFL Draft Of The Decade

Note: With the NFL draft approaching later in April, we thought it would fun to look back at the Pac-10’s top draft picks of the past decade (2000-09) and see where we would pick them. Continuing today and ending sometime close to the draft on April 25, we’ll count down a first round worth of Pac-10 draft picks, from 32 to 1. The list includes five quarterbacks, five running backs, five defensive linemen, five linebackers, four defensive backs, three wide receivers, three offensive linemen and two tight ends.

The first of two tight ends in this draft, and a damn good one. It was fairly obvious Heap was going to leave school early after a three-game stretch during his sophomore season when he caught a combined 21 passes for 367 yards. The athletic, 6-foot-5 Heap concluded his college career following his junior season with 115 receptions and 1,685 yards, shattering Arizona State’s school record for a tight end in each category.

Heap was the 31^st pick of the 2001 draft, easily the best player to go with the last selection of the first round this decade, a pick generally reserved for the reigning Super Bowl champion.

The blonde-haired Heap, nicknamed “Golden Retriever” by ASU coach Bruce Snyder, was more than a football player. A Mormon who spurned Brigham Young because his family lived near Phoenix, Heap had interests that included cooking and classical music, and often had Snyder on edge for his penchant for dare-devil activities like cliff diving and surfing. Heap even played basketball for a time at Arizona State.

No. 32

No. 31

Nick Daschel covers the Pacific-10 Conference for Buster Sports, and can be reached at ndaschel@bustersports.com

Football, Pac-10