04/26/2012 - This weekend might go by without Keith Nichol seeing his name scroll across the bottom of the television screen, his abilities as a wide receiver perhaps not eye-catching enough on their own to make Nichol part of the NFL draft. Instead, this once-heralded Lowell High School quarterback is likely to sign sometime Saturday night as a priority free agent, before trying to convince a team that his versatility makes him worthy of an NFL career. Nichol's impact on this draft will be felt regardless. If he hadn't reneged on his verbal commitment to Michigan State (after the firing of coach John L. Smith) and signed with Oklahoma in 2007, Kirk Cousins probably never is a Spartan. And If Nichol didn't later decide to transfer to Michigan State, Arizona QB Nick Foles might never have left East Lansing. Both Cousins and Foles are all but certain NFL draft picks over the next three days. "Hindsight's 20/20," Nichol said this week, less than four months removed from an unpredictable career at Michigan State. "It's really hard to say what would have happened without (an elbow) injury (after replacing Cousins in 2009) and then if I had not gone to Oklahoma. There are different variables. "But I try to just avoid living in the past." "I think a lot of things have happened for a certain reason. I think maybe I was injured and things worked out the way they did because this would be my best opportunity to play at the next level. Who knows? Or maybe my path isn't to play in the NFL. But for now, I think everything leading up to now has put me in a good position to continue my career, and that's a good place to be." - Graham Couch, MLive.com
