Draft Wrap-Up

INDIO - Former Indio High School star Oscar Lua goes from the college football dynasty of this decade to the NFL's dynasty of the decade.

The USC middle linebacker, who won two national titles during his time in Los Angeles, was the first pick of the seventh round by the three-time Super Bowl champion New England Patriots on Sunday.

"How gnarly was that?" said Lua, who had 26 unanswered messages on his cell phone an hour after his selection at approximately 1 p.m. "It's a good deal. My family's happy. My mom is a little sad because I'll be on the other side of the map."

Throughout the process, Lua has been contacted regularly by the Patriots, and Lua thought he could get drafted in the later rounds.

"Through the whole process, they showed a lot of interest," said Lua's father Gabriel. "In the last days, the Patriots were the most interested."

But when Lua saw the Patriots had four picks in the sixth round and none of those were used to select him, he got a little worried.

Sartz was part of a USC program that has cultivated some of the top talent in the country and won back-to-back national titles. He has good size (6 feet 5, 235 pounds) but must add weight. He displayed good power as an outside linebacker and was a prospect for the 2006 draft, but missed much of that season with an injury and was granted another year of eligibility. Last season at USC, Sartz, whose grandfather was a Golden Gloves boxer and professional hydroplane racer, had 70 tackles and led the Trojans with seven sacks.

The professional environment at USC will prepare Sartz well for the NFL, he believes.

"We are picking up what we feel is a well-rounded player," Gibbs said. "We think he is smart enough and we think he can at least play both outside [linebacker] spots for us."

USC receiver Chris McFoy agreed to a free-agent contract with the Oakland Raiders, according to his agent. Fullback Ryan Powdrell said he would sign with Green Bay. Offensive lineman Kyle Williams said he would sign the Baltimore.