April 30, 2011
STANFORD, Calif. - The Cincinnati Bengals selected wide receiver Ryan Whalen with the second pick in the sixth round (167th overall) during today's NFL Draft Draft being held at New York City's Radio City Music Hall.
Whalen becomes the first Stanford wide receiver selected in the NFL Draft since Teyo Johnson was taken in the second of the 2003 Draft by the Oakland Raiders.
Whalen joins Sione Fua (Carolina Panthers; 3rd Round), Owen Marecic (Cleveland Browns; 4th) and Richard Sherman (Seattle Seahawks; 5th) to give Stanford its highest number of draft selections since 2006.
Whalen, who served as one of the team's tri-captains this past season along with Marecic and Fua, earned honorable mention All-Pac-10 honors after finishing the season as Stanford's second leading receiver with 39 receptions for 415 yarsd and two touchdowns, despite missing two games with injury.
He caught 28 passes for 284 yards over Stanford's final six games of the season, including a season-best six reception effort against Washington State.
Whalen, who orginally made the team as a walk-on in 2007 before working his way into scholarship status, led Stanford in receiving in 2008 and '09. He earned honorable mention all-conference honors as a junior after catching 57 passes for 926 yards and four touchdowns. He averaged 16.2 yards per reception and 71.2 receiving yards per game, fifth best in the Pac-10.
After catching just one pass as a freshman in 2007, Whalen caught a team high 41 passes for 508 yards and one touchdown in 2008.
He finished his Stanford career with 138 receptions for 1,860 yards and seven touchdowns.
A three-time All-Pac-10 Academic selection, Whalen earned second team CoSIDA/ESPN Academic All-America honors as a junior in 2009.