Chiefs select Michigan edge rusher Mike Danna with fifth-round pick of NFL Draft
Michigan defensive end Mike Danna received a text from Chiefs scout Pat Sperduto before the 2020 NFL Draft started Thursday.
“It’s not where you’re picked,” Sperduto told him, “it’s what happens when you walk through the doors.”
The underlying message: Don’t worry about your draft position, or not being invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, or not having a pro day because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. So Danna did his best to listen.
And then it came: Danna was the Chiefs’ fifth-round selection, No. 177 overall, on Saturday, the final day of the NFL Draft.
In one season at Michigan, Danna didn’t play as much as he expected he might, making just one start in 13 games. The previous season, Danna was named All-MAC and team MVP at Central Michigan. He played three seasons at Central Michigan before transferring to Michigan as a graduate student. With the Wolverines, Danna sometimes lined up inside.
But the Chiefs see him as an edge rusher. The Combine snub hurt, but Danna said he made the most of his scouting opportunity during East-West Shrine Game week in January at St. Petersburg, Florida.
“That was huge,” Danna said. “It played a huge part in the position I’m in now.”
The Chiefs return Frank Clark, Tanoh Kpassagnon, Alex Okafor, Breeland Speaks and Demone Harris as defensive ends this fall. Danna provides depth. He said he had good conversations with the Chiefs leading up to the draft, and Sperduto said that although Danna didn’t put up big numbers last season — three sacks and 38 tackles — the 6-2, 261-pound defensive lineman had already impressed the Chiefs.
In his All-MAC season, Danna recorded 9 1/2 sacks and 65 tackles.
“I thought he was going to come out after (2018),” Sperduto said. “He went to Michigan to prove himself all over again.”
This story was originally published April 25, 2020 at 3:11 PM with the headline "Chiefs select Michigan edge rusher Mike Danna with fifth-round pick of NFL Draft."