Washington's Donald Butler, Daniel Te'o-Nesheim drafted in third round

A couple of days before the NFL draft, former Huskies defensive end Daniel Te'o-Nesheim said he didn't want to read anything into the fact that three teams had invited him to their cities for personal meetings.

"No one knows (what's going to happen)," he said. "And if they do know, they're lying."

In Te'o-Nesheim's case, however, it happily meant quite a bit that the Philadelphia Eagles had recently flown him to town for an interview and workout.

Friday, the Eagles chose him in the third round, with the 86th overall pick, a selection that would have been deemed surprisingly high a few months ago when the conventional wisdom was that Te'o-Nesheim would be a late-round pick, at best.

Te'o-Nesheim went just seven picks after the San Diego Chargers took UW linebacker Donald Butler, also in the third round.

They became the first UW players drafted since quarterback/receiver Isaiah Stanback (Dallas) and safety Dashon Goldson (49ers) went in the fourth round in 2007. And they were the highest-selected Huskies since Khalif Barnes was taken in the second round in 2005 by Jacksonville.

The Chargers paid a pretty high price for Butler, deciding to make a trade with the 49ers to move up to draft him, swapping third-round picks this year and also giving the 49ers their sixth-round pick this year and a fourth-rounder next year.

Butler said he had been in a lot of contact with the Chargers but was left wondering on Thursday when the team traded its second-round pick as part of the deal to get running back Ryan Mathews in the first round.

"That kind of scared me a little bit because I thought I was in that range," he said. "But I'm just excited to be a Charger."

Butler could be a replacement in San Diego's 3-4 defense for linebacker Tim Dobbins, who was also part of the Mathews trade, though Butler said he hadn't been told where he fits.

Butler will make a quick homecoming to Seattle as the Chargers are scheduled to play the Seahawks at Qwest Field on Sept. 26.

Butler was viewed as a mid-to-late-round pick before the draft process began but saw his stock rise with some solid performances during practices for the Senior Bowl and when he benched 225 pounds 35 times at the NFL combine, the most of any linebacker.

Te'o-Nesheim, meanwhile, drew attention at the combine with his speed and agility. He set the UW career sack record with 30 ½ but some questioned if he had the overall physical makeup to be an every-down NFL player.

"The coaches I've talked to said the combine has helped me a lot," he said earlier in the week. "My 10-yard speed and my agility drills helped because a lot of people thought I was an unathletic overachiever, and I think that kind of made a big difference."

While UW hasn't been much of a player in the draft in recent years, this could be the start of a re-emergence. Quarterback Jake Locker, who decided to spurn the NFL to return for his senior season, could be the top pick in the 2011 draft, some analysts have said.

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com