April 24, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern running back Noah Herron (Mattawan, Mich./Mattawan) became the Wildcats' third 2005 National Football League Draft pick Sunday afternoon, going in the seventh round (30th selection, 244th pick overall) to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
On Saturday, Pittsburgh drafted one of Herron's blockers, offensive tackle Trai Essex (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Paul Harding), in the third round.
As of Monday (April 25) morning, six Northwestern players had inked free-agent contracts: defensive tackle Colby Clark (Austin, Texas/Westlake) signed with the St. Louis Rams; offensive guard Ikechuku Ndukwe (Powell, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) signed with the New Orleans Saints; linebacker John Pickens (Franklin Lakes, N.J./Ramapo) signed with the New York Jets; safety Dominique Price (Louisville, Ky./DuPont Manual) signed with the Dallas Cowboys; offensive guard Matt Ulrich (Streamwood, Ill./Streamwood) signed with the Indianapolis Colts; and defensive back Marvin Ward (Landover, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) signed with the Buffalo Bills.
Herron finished with the fifth-best single-season rushing total (1,381 yards) in school history and closed his career as NU's fifth all-time leading rusher (2,524 yards). He also posted the best career yards per carry average (5.5 ypc) of NU's top-10 rushers.
Herron also was an outstanding receiver, catching 36 passes for 351 yards and a TD in 2004. He became just the fourth player in Wildcat history to total 2,500 career rushing yards and 500 receiving yards.
A 2005 Senior Bowl participant, Herron was a consensus second-team All-Big Ten selection. He earned NU's co-Most Valuable Player honor last year.
Northwestern's three 2005 draft selections up its all-time draft total to 165 players.