CLEMSON – The long and winding road to the NFL will bring Grady Jarrett not far from his hometown.
Jarrett, the heart and soul of Clemson’s top-rated defense last year and regarded entering this week as a third-round draft prospect, was selected Saturday with the first pick of the fifth round by the Atlanta Falcons.
Jarrett’s high school, Rockdale County in Conyers, Ga., is a half-hour drive from the Georgia Dome. The Falcons took Jarrett’s former defensive line mate at Clemson, Vic Beasley, two days ago with the eighth overall pick; Beasley’s from Adairsville, an hour northwest of Atlanta.