That was not the direction the White Team was expecting their opponents to go in a draft that works in a way where each position is opened up one-by-one and the teams can’t move on to the next position until all the players in that spot are selected.

After Cousins went public with his prediction the Green Team would fill up with lineman first, the White Team anticipated junior defensive tackle Jerel Worthy would be the first off the board.

However, when Adams’ name was called, it threw a welcomed curveball at the White Team, senior fullback Todd Anderson said. When the White Team had the chance to open up the next position, they didn’t hesitate to select Worthy.

“He was going to be our first pick anyway,” Anderson said. “He’s a playmaker. He’s hard to block, so if you penetrate it’s going to be tough to run the ball against us.”

Nichol said, thanks to senior defensive tackle Kevin Pickelman, he thought his team had some inside information.

“He sprained an ankle a scrimmage or two ago, and some of the (defensive linemen) were like, ‘who knows if he’s still feeling that and not telling anybody,’” Nichol said.

After making what they believed was the safe pick with Worthy, the White Team went a little riskier and swiped sophomore running back Le’Veon Bell off the board, marking the second straight year that Bell was picked before junior running back Edwin Baker.

“He’s a good blocker, bigger guy,” Anderson said. “Some of the offensive guys liked him. They were neck and neck, but B.J. (Cunningham) made the final call to take Le’Veon. He can do a lot of things.”

For the most part, MSU head coach and commissioner for the day, Mark Dantonio, thought the draft went smoothly. However, he noticed a few areas that needed changes when it concluded.

First, the White Team tried to hoard the fullbacks. Out of the five listed, the White Team had four of them. The commissioner stepped in and forced a trade of redshirt freshman fullback Niko Palazeti for redshirt freshman tight end Andrew Gleichert.

Although Anderson expressed disappointment with the coach spoiling his team’s strategy, that didn’t cause nearly as big of an uproar as when Dantonio attempted to hand Anderson and the White Team freshman cornerback and wide receiver hybrid Tony Lippett.

Both teams exploded, the White squad in cheers and the Green Team immediately contesting the decision.

“He is versatile. So he can play a variety of positions, and these players recognize that,” Dantonio said.

Robinson was able to change the coach’s mind, and Lippett stayed with the team that drafted him.

Looking at his team, Nichol said it was good enough for him to guarantee a victory on Saturday. Anderson was a bit more humble.

“Coach D said the pride comes before the fall,” Anderson said. “So, I’m just going to leave it at that.”