For one local player, it's a question of where he'll get drafted. For the other, the question is if.
When the NFL supplemental draft ends today, former Maryland offensive tackle Jared Gaither and former Morgan State defensive tackle Robert Armstrong will have each received an answer.
Gaither, who's 6 feet 9 inches tall, 325 pounds, and Armstrong, 6-4, 319 pounds, are two of 10 players eligible to be selected in this year's draft.
Gaither interviewed with the Ravens yesterday, a team official said. He worked out for several NFL teams Monday, his agent, Kevin Pompey, said yesterday. Gaither performed well enough at the workouts in various strength and agility drills to merit being a high selection, according to ESPN.com.
A two-year starter for the Terps, Gaither was recently declared academically ineligible for the 2007 season. He applied for the draft in June and has been interviewing with teams all week.
Armstrong, also a former Terp, has been busy speaking with teams. He transferred to Morgan State last year and played one season for the Bears. He is projected as a possible late-round selection.
"I'm definitely nervous," Armstrong said. "We'll see what happens."
The supplemental draft, instituted in 1977, accommodates players who were ineligible for the standard draft but became eligible afterward through special circumstances.
Unlike its April counterpart, this draft is conducted with little fanfare, as teams e-mail their selections to the league office. If multiple teams select a player in the same round, the team highest on the draft order is awarded that player and must surrender its pick for that round in next year's regular draft.
Most teams have been reluctant to use draft picks on players who did not participate in the usual pre-draft activities. Since 1992, no team has used a first-round pick to select a player in the supplemental draft. During that time only nine teams have even made a selection, illustrating a clear hesitance to gamble future draft picks on players they haven't fully scouted.
Despite those results, Armstrong remains cautiously optimistic he will be selected. If not, there's always the free-agent route.
"I've been playing football all my life," Armstrong said. "It's my dream, I have to do it."
patrick.gutierrez@baltsun.com