Of course, getting star wide receiver J.J. Stokes made this a great draft for the Super Bowl champions San Francisco 49ers, even before they revealed their "secret" player in the fourth round.
That would be guard Tim Hanshaw of BYU, a returned Mormon missionary regarded by the 49ers as an ideal lineman for their offensive system. He's 6-foot-5 and 290 pounds and runs the 40 in a quick 5.1 seconds.He's also lucky to be alive.
One June night in 1991, toward the end of his two-year mission to Stockholm, Hanshaw awoke to find a man standing by his bed. This being summer in Scandinavia it was still light outside and Hanshaw had no trouble seeing the weapon in the perpetrator's hand.
"There was a man standing over my bed with a knife, about to stab me," Hanshaw said in a conference call from Provo.
Hanshaw reacted quickly and picked up a 20-pound barbell.
"I knocked him over the head and over the back, one time each, and then I kind of went for a home run swing on his arm and broke his humerus, the upper arm bone. That's what got him to drop the knife.
"Then we had to tie him up and call the cops."
At the time, Hanshaw was living with five other Mormon missionaries, each of whom he outweighed by at least 100 pounds. Yet the man, clearly deranged, chose Hanshaw as his victim.
"He had talked to the other missionaries of the Mormon faith in Stockholm," Hanshaw said. "He said that `there'll be one less missionary after this weekend,' or something like that. He didn't like me for some reason. I have no idea why."
Soon after, Hanshaw returned to Utah rather than await legal proceedings in Sweden.
Once back at BYU, he played in comparative anonymity on an offensive line with two heralded teammates, guard Evan Pilgrim and tackle Eli Herring. However, the 49ers had him as their No. 1 guard based on his athletic ability and technique and kept him under wraps.
Hanshaw was not invited to the scouting combine in Indianapolis and the 49ers made no special scouting trips to Provo to announce their interest. They liked what they saw on film and that was that.
"A lot of people were unaware of him," offensive line coach Bobb McKittrick said. "A lot of people don't want that kind of player. They want a bigger, more massive player and don't care about intelligence and other things. Those are important things for me and he has them all."
McKittrick compared Hanshaw to Harris Barton - a favorable comparison indeed - and said he's a perfect fit for the 49ers' offense in that he's quick, athletic, technically sound and bright. And as the Stockholm incident proved, his reactions are impeccable.
"I find that a very, very fine compliment," Hanshaw said. "If I can be as good as Harris Barton someday, that would be wonderful. During the season we watch Harris Barton highlight films. Our offensive line coach said, `I want you guys to be like that.' "