Three Tigers drafted by NFL teams

Three others to get opportunities

Three Missouri Tigers were selected on the final day of the NFL Draft, while three others will also get a shot at making a team.

Evan Boehm, a center, was picked with the 30th pick in the fourth round Saturday by the Arizona Cardinals. He should get a chance to jump right into the starting lineup.

“I think I’m pretty football intelligent,” he said in a conference call. “But the two guards next to me, they are pretty dang good. I can lean on those guys because they know what they are doing and they know how to do it.”

Boehm battled a high ankle sprain as a senior.

“He’s a state wrestling champ, this guy’s tough as nails,” coach Bruce Arians said. “He’s not going to miss a game. With everything that went on on that football team this year, he was the rock that kept Missouri going.”

Boehm will have to win the starting center job.

“He’ll come in and compete. There’s no jobs handed out,” Arians said. “A.Q. Shipley is a good player and he’ll have to fight it out with him, but it’s going to be a nice battle.”

Boehm was a four-year starter at Missouri, joins former teammate Markus Golden with the Cardinals. Golden was a second-round pick last year.

“I talk to him quite a bit and he’s had nothing but great things to say about Arizona,” Boehm said. “He loves it.”

Conner McGovern, an offensive lineman, was picked with the fifth selection in the fifth round by the Denver Broncos.

It’s the first time since 1989 Missouri has had two offensive linemen selected in the same draft since 1989 (Carl Bax, Tampa Bay and Curtis Wilson, New England).

Former Tiger teammate Shane Ray was a first-round pick by the Broncos last season.

Kentrell Brothers, a linebacker, was selected with the 23rd pick in the fifth round by the Minnesota Vikings.

Brothers led the FBS level with 152 total tackles as a senior, earning All-American honors. His size — 6-foot, 245 pounds — may have caused him to drop in the draft.

“I mean it is hard not to like him, when you turn on the tape he makes a lot of plays,” Vikings director of college scouting Jamaal Stephenson said. “I think he had over 150 tackles this year he doesn’t just do it on defense he is a very good special teamer. He had three blocked kicks this year. We are excited about adding him. Yeah, he didn’t run great at the combine and he is not 6-3 and 250 pounds, but good players come in all shapes and sizes.”

Brothers doesn’t think his smaller size will be a problem at the next level.

“I’m able to stay low on long linemen. I’m able to hit low on running backs,” he said. “I just don’t see that as a disadvantage as a lot of other people do.”

Two Tigers — running back Russell Hansbrough and cornerback Kenya Dennis — signed free-agent contracts after the draft was concluded, their agents said.

Hansbrough signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, while Dennis inked a deal with the Cleveland Browns.

In addition, Missouri kicker Andrew Baggett will attend a minicamp with the Browns for the opportunity to sign a contract to attend training camp.