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The months of calculating, scouting, measuring and speculation came to an end Thursday night and in the end it was a player from a small college in the Mid-American Conference who went first overall. Eric Fisher was the first player to hear his name called in the 2013 NFL Draft after months of impressing scouts and the Kansas City Chiefs' front office.
"This is so surreal, I'm ready to get to work right now. I'm ready to start playing some football. I can't process what's going on right now," Fisher said after he was picked.
Just a few days ago, Fisher was projected to go to either the Jaguars at No. 2 or the Lions at No. 5, but in the days heading up to the Draft, Fisher's stock started to rise. He had impressed at the Combine and the Senior Bowl and in the end came out on top over Texas A&M tackle Luke Joeckel as the top pick.
A former high school punter, Fisher wasn't a hot commodity coming out of high school. He spent the first three years of his high school career playing quarterback, punter and outside linebacker, but after deciding he wanted to play college ball he was moved to offensive line before his senior season. At the time Fisher was barely more than 230-pounds and was completely unnoticed in the college scouting world. But shortly after he made the switch to line and started to dominate with his size, the two-star recruit earned a scholarship to Central Michigan in the MAC.
Five years later the kid from Rochester, Mich., made history becoming the highest selected MAC player in NFL Draft history. Now considered a can't-miss prospect, Fisher will get to start right away in the Chiefs system, but where at depends on the pending Branden Albert trade with the Miami Dolphins. The talks have been called off until after the first round, but if the Chiefs are unable to deal Albert, the situation in Kansas City could get interesting as Albert is unwilling to move to right tackle.
Either way though, Fisher is expected to be the long-term left tackle for the Chiefs and after going No. 1 overall has some hefty expectations. New Kansas City head coach Andy Reid has taken him with the plans of him being the cornerstone of an offensive line tasked with blocking for new Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith and standout running back Jamal Charles.