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, six linebackers, three defensive backs, three wide receivers, three offensive linemen and two tight ends.

Oregon State’s first NFL first-round draft pick in 40 years was nowhere near that sort of elite status coming out of high school. Wanted by lesser Division I colleges such as Nevada-Las Vegas and San Jose State, Barnett landed at OSU as part of Dennis Erickson’s first signing class. Barnett fit the Erickson defensive prototype, too: A high school safety who could add a few pounds and move to linebacker to take advantage of his speed.

Barnett started his Oregon State days as a safety, but quickly moved to linebacker, where he became a fixture as a three-year starter. Barnett immediately made an impact during his sophomore season, recovering a pair of fumbles and returning one for a touchdown in a 35-3 non-conference rout of San Diego State. The following year, the 6-foot-2, 235-pound Barnett racked up a career-high 18 tackles in a win over California.

But it was Barnett’s senior season that moved him into the first round of the NFL draft. Barnett landed on the all-Pac 10’s first team after compiling 121 tackles, including 21 for a yardage loss, and six sacks. The 29^th pick of the 2003 draft hasn’t disappointed in Green Bay, as Barnett signed a six-year, $35 million deal in 2007.

No. 32          No. 31

No. 30          No. 29

No. 28          No. 27

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

Football, Pac-10, NFL Draft