Dolphins pick Edds in 4th round; 5th Hawkeye picked

The Miami Dolphins traded up to pick former Iowa linebacker A.J. Edds in the fourth round of today's NFL draft.

The Dolphins selected Edds with the 119th overall selection, trading up with the Dallas Cowboys to get him. Miami gave up its sixth-round pick to draft him.

"(Dophins General Manager Jeff) Ireland reminded me of that and he said 'Hey, we traded a pick to come get you so we wanted to get you pretty bad. We're excited and we're looking forward to getting you down here and getting to work.' I couldn't have said it better myself. I'm looking forward to getting to Miami and getting this thing going."

Edds is the fifth Iowa player selected in the draft, the first time Iowa has had five players drafted in the first four rounds. Other Iowa players drafted include: Bryan Bulaga (first round, Green Bay), Pat Angerer (second round, Indianapolis), cornerback Amari Spievey (third round, Detroit) and tight end Tony Moeaki (third round, Kansas City).

Dolphins coaches got a first-hand look at Edds during the Senior Bowl when they coached the South Roster (Edds was a linebacker on the North roster). The Dolphins run a 3-4 defense, and Edds could head for an inside linebacker position.

"My gut feeling is I'll play more of an inside 'backer just because of what I did at Iowa," Edds said. "I played in space but I didn't do a whole lot of passing rushing. I do a pretty good job of dropping into coverage and just with my limited exposure of playing in the box in the Senior Bowl coming downhill and trying to get off blocks, I think it's a situation wher the coaching staff saw enough of me to where if they can work with me a little bit and coach me a little bit, they're excited about the potential and possibilities. I know I feel the same way.

"I'm excited to get to where I kind of get to play in a traditional inside backer and make some but at the same time, if they want to develop me into an outside backer and come off the edge, I'm excited to do that as well."