Leaving school early for the NFL draft can best be described as a crapshoot. And yesterday two players with local connections found out just how big of a gamble it can be.

Penn State cornerback Justin King, who had aspirations of going in the first or second round, fell to the fourth round yesterday on the second day of the draft before the St. Louis Rams took him with the 101st overall selection.

West Virginia running back Steve Slaton, who had similar hopes of cashing in as a high draft choice, fell to the middle of the third round before he was chosen by the Houston Texans.

King, a Gateway High School graduate, decided to leave the Nittany Lions after his junior season. Even though King performed well for scouts in postseason workouts his inconsistent performances last season led to his downward spiral over the weekend.

ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper said yesterday that King, who graduated in December, would have been better served if he had returned to Penn State for his senior season.

Nonetheless, St. Louis believes it got a great value pick by landing King with the second pick of the fourth round.

"He has great speed, and he has the size requirements that you need for the position," Rams coach Scott Linehan told reporters in St. Louis yesterday.

"In keeping with the theme we said earlier in this process about smart, character guys, passion and production, this guy meets all those requirements," Bill Devaney, the vice president of player personnel for the Rams, told reporters in St. Louis. "He graduated from Penn State this December. I think he had a 3.0 GPA. We thought that especially at this point in the draft, you have a good sized corner that can run with the kind of smarts and character, obviously we feel really good about it."

King was the 16th cornerback chosen in the draft.

Slaton, one of the leading rushers in the Big East the past two seasons, is expected to be used as a situational back for the Texans.

"If you look at the top offenses in the league, they all have a player like that," Texans offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan told Houstontexans.com. "I think this guy fits that role for us. We have two guys right now that can carry the load, but this guy can come in and fill a role. We can use him in third downs. We can use him in special situations to be a change-of-pace type of player."

Five other players from area colleges were drafted yesterday. Penn State linebacker Dan Connor was chosen by the Carolina Panthers in the third round. Pitt offensive lineman Mike McGlynn was taken by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth round. West Virginia fullback Owen Schmitt was chosen in the sixth round by Seattle and Mountaineers safety Ryan Mundy later in the sixth round by the Steelers. And with the second-to-last pick of the draft in the seventh round the Buffalo Bills took Pitt cornerback Kennard Cox.

Connor, like King, was expected to go earlier than the third round. Connor is going to a team that is set with starting linebackers, so he likely will be playing as a reserve and on special teams for the Panthers.

Connor joins another former Penn State linebacker, Tim Shaw, in Carolina.

"I didn't expect it, but I'm still excited," Connor said in a conference call. "I don't think it's the end of the world. Hopefully, it's the start of a long NFL career for me."

Last night, after the draft, Penn State quarterback Anthony Morelli signed a free agent contract with the Arizona Cardinals.