Which team? What round? A.J. Cann ‘nervously excited’ about NFL Draft

A.J. Cann has been wearing garnet for a long time.

A standout for the Bamberg-Ehrhardt Red Raiders and then a four-year starter at South Carolina, Cann will wear a different color the next time he puts on a football uniform. He’ll learn this week where that will be.

“I think about it all the time, whenever I get drafted, heading up to wherever that might be,” he said. “Just preparing for my job.”

The former South Carolina offensive guard has been preparing for this week’s NFL Draft since the Gamecocks’ season ended on Dec. 27. His wait is almost over. The draft will begin with the first round on Thursday night in Chicago. Rounds two and three will be held Friday, and rounds four through seven will be held Saturday.

Cann hopes he won’t have to wait long. He is not projected as a first-round pick on any of the major mock drafts, but Rotoworld.com NFL Draft analyst Josh Norris says Cann might be the final pick of the initial round.

“As early as the Patriots at 32 is kind of the recent noise,” Norris said.

“It seems like he is in many cases the consensus top guard,” Norris said. “He tested like a freak athlete. I’m pretty sure he will be a top 50 selection.”

Cann is projected as a second round pick (No. 44 to the New Orleans Saints) on NFL.com. Cann has avoided mock drafts, he said.

“People may tweet them at me or put them on Facebook, but I really don’t pay attention to them, to be honest with you,” he said.

Cann will gather with his family in Columbia on Thursday night (and again Friday if he’s not picked Thursday) to watch the draft.

“I don’t know if I am saying this right, but I am probably nervously excited,” he said. “My phone is still ringing off the hook with teams calling, verifying this is the number that they are going to use on draft day. I am just ready for the phone to ring this weekend.”

Cann is expected to be the first Gamecock selected this year. He will be the first South Carolina offensive lineman selected in the NFL Draft since T.J. Johnson in 2013 and would be the first taken in the first two rounds since Ernest Dye was a first round pick in 1993.

“There are a ton of teams who are calling me and my agents, trying to figure out stuff, and then there is that random team that doesn’t say much and ends up drafting you,” Cann said. “It’s kind of hard to say.”

This story was originally published April 28, 2015 at 8:35 PM with the headline "Which team? What round? A.J. Cann ‘nervously excited’ about NFL Draft."