NFL Draft: Browns select OL Garret Gilkey from Chadron State (Neb) in 7th round

The Browns completed their 2013 draft by selecting OL Garret Gilkey from Divison 2 Chadron State in Nebraska. Gilkey was the Browns second consecutive selection of a player from a D2 school with the choice of Armonty Bryant ten picks earlier out of East Central.

After missing the first two games of his junior season due to an Achilles injury, Gilkey went on to start the remainder of games in his college career. At 6’6″ and 318 pounds, Gilkey also played a reserve role on Chardon State’s basketball team.

Gilkey made his way onto NFL team’s radars thanks in part to former Browns general manager Phil Savage. Savage, now the executive director of the Senior Bowl, received a tape of Gilkey, and decided he liked what he saw enough to give Gilkey the invite to Mobile for the week to take part in this year’s Senior Bowl.

In the summer before Garret’s freshman year of high school he was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, a rare condition in which an extra electrical pathway between the heart’s upper chambers causes a rapid heartbeat. He underwent a corrective surgery that forced him to sit out all physical activity that fall.

NFL.com graded Gilkey a 58 out of 100, which projects him as a late round pick.

 [Related: Browns add Bess and McFadden, pass on Honey Badger]