FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots signed rookie offensive tackle Ryan O'Callaghan today. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. New England selected O'Callaghan in the fifth round (136th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft.
O'Callaghan, who turned 23 today, started 35 games over the past three seasons at the University of California and appeared in 46 of 47 games during his collegiate career. The 6-foot-7-inch, 330-pound offensive lineman helped produce the school's first 2,000-yard rusher in 2004 (J.J. Arrington) and helped pave the way for a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in 2005 (Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett) while earning consecutive first-team all-conference honors. Last season, he started 11 games and earned the Morris Trophy, presented annually to the PAC-10's most outstanding offensive and defensive linemen. The award has a unique selection process in which the conference's starting defensive linemen vote for the most outstanding offensive linemen and vice versa. Cal averaged 235.2 yards rushing per game last year, which ranked ninth in the country.
