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Eye on the Y: Sione Takitaki’s tale of forgiveness, recovery and redemption should resonate at BYU for a long time

It is kind of a running joke — or annual commiseration — among those of us who cover BYU sports on a daily basis that Cougar football players are rarely drafted as high as their coaches and some of the experts say they will be.

That’s why it was mildly surprising last Friday to see linebacker Sione Takitaki get selected in the third round. A few mock drafts had Takitaki going that early, but most had him going in rounds 5-7. A few had him pegged as an undrafted free-agent, which is the route Corbin Kaufusi, Tanner Mangum and Dylan Collie will have to take to the NFL.