Miami Hurricanes Football: Where Will Former Canes Land in the 2015 NFL Draft?

The most truthful answer is that nobody knows exactly where all the former Miami Hurricanes will land in the 2015 NFL Draft. Numerous websites and sportswriters have come up with their mock drafts which can change weekly with free agency in progress. The reality is that even the ‘experts’ will have an extremely tough time predicting where players will get drafted. Throw in a trade here and there, and you’ll see a mock draft crumble into pieces.

My point here is that one should take these ‘landing spots’ with a grain of salt. However, don’t hold back your excitement due to the fact that a former Cane could land on your favorite NFL team.

The NFL Draft will begin on Thursday, April 30th and will end on Saturday, May 2nd. The Miami Hurricane players that have declared are: OL Ereck Flowers, TE Clive Walford, LB Denzel Perryman, RB Duke Johnson, WR Phillip Dorsett, DB Ladarius Gunter, OL Jon Feliciano, DL Anthony Chickillo, QB Ryan Williams, and OL Shane McDermott.

I will go through the predicted landing spot for each player and mention which website gave that prediction. Please keep in mind that not many sites will give predictions past the 2nd round, however, I did find a few that did.

– Be advised that sites can/will change their predictions frequently

OL Ereck Flowers: The predictions for Flowers are all across the board. The good thing is that all of those predictions except for one have him landing in the 1st round. The most common pick was Rd 1, Pick 23: Detroit Lions.

• Rd 1, Pick 10: St.Louis Rams (NFL.com, Charley Casserly)
• Rd 1, Pick 16: Houston Texans (NFL.com, Bucky Brooks)
• Rd 1, Pick 18: Kansas City Chiefs (draftsite.com)
• Rd 1, Pick 19: Cleveland Browns (walterfootball.com) (scout.com)
• Rd 1, Pick 21: Cincinnati Bengals (NFL.com, Lance Zierlein) (bleacherreport.com)
• Rd 1, Pick 23: Detroit Lions (CBSsports.com, Rob Rang) (CBSsports.com, Dane Brugler) (nflmock.com)
• Rd 1, Pick 29: Indianapolis Colts (NFL.com, Brian Baldinger) (nfldraftgeek.com)
• Rd 1, Pick 30: Green Bay Packers (NFL.com, Daniel Jeremiah)
• Rd 2, Pick 49: Kansas City Chiefs (drafttek.com)

TE Clive Walford: The predictions for Walford are mainly in the 2nd round, however, there was one prediction of him landing in the 5th round which is absurd in my opinion. The most common pick was Rd 2, Pick 50: Buffalo Bills.

• Rd 2, Pick 42: Atlanta Falcons (nflmock.com)
• Rd 2, Pick 50: Buffalo Bills (drafttek.com) (nfldraftgeek.com)
• Rd 3, Pick 87: Pittsburgh Steelers (draftsite.com)
• Rd 5, Pick 135: Denver Broncos (walterfootball.com)

LB Denzel Perryman: The predictions for Perryman ranged from the 1st round to the 3rd round, it’ll be interesting to see where he is drafted. It looks like the Cowboys and Saints could be playing chess against one another for Perryman’s services. The most common pick was Rd 2, Pick 44: New Orleans Saints.

• Rd 1, Pick 27: Dallas Cowboys (NFL.com, Charles Davis)
• Rd 1, Pick 31 (via trade): New Orleans Saints (NFL.com Brian Baldinger)
• Rd 2, Pick 44: New Orleans Saints (walterfootball.com) (nfldraftgeek.com)
• Rd 2, Pick 50: Buffalo Bills (nflmock.com)
• Rd 2, Pick 60: Dallas Cowboys (draftsite.com)
• Rd 3, Pick 65: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (drafttek.com)

RB Duke Johnson: The predictions for Duke range in the 2nd and 3rd round which seems to be about right. The running back position isn’t quite the same as it used to be in the NFL, however, with Duke’s versatility, he will make the team that drafts him very happy. There were no common picks.

• Rd 2, Pick 47: Miami Dolphins (!!!) (draftsite.com)
• Rd 2, Pick 62: Green Bay Packers (nflmock.com)
• Rd 3, Pick 70: New York Jets (drafttek.com)
• Rd 3, Pick 89: Carolina Panthers (walterfootball.com)

WR Phillip Dorsett: The predictions for Dorsett are odd, with some having him picked up in the 1st or 2nd and some in the 4th (???) round. I doubt he falls to the 4th round especially with his speed. There were no common picks.

• Rd 1, Pick 20: Philadelphia Eagles (nfldraftgeek.com)
• Rd 2, Pick 48: Kansas City Chiefs (nflmock.com)
• Rd 2, Pick 51: Houston Texans (walterfootball.com)
• Rd 4, Pick 101: New York Jets (drafttek.com)
• Rd 4, Pick 121: Carolina Panthers (draftsite.com)

DB Ladarius Gunter: The two predictions I found for Gunter were both in the 5th round. There were no common picks.

• Rd 5, Pick 143: San Francisco 49ers (draftsite.com)
• Rd 5, Pick 149: Cincinnati Bengals (drafttek.com)

DL Anthony Chickillo: The two predictions I found for Chickillo were in the 4th round and 7th round. I can’t see him lasting until the 7th round after his Senior Bowl performance. I think he will wind up being taken in the 4th or 5th round.

• Rd 4, Pick 107: Minnesota Vikings (drafttek.com)
• Rd 7, Pick 216: Arizona Cardinals (draftsite.com)

OL Jon Feliciano, OL Shane McDermott, and QB Ryan Williams are all predicted to become undrafted free agents. With that said, they shouldn’t be discouraged. All they simply need to do is look at a Miami Hurricane that went undrafted last year in wide receiver Allen Hurns. Hurns was one of the most productive undrafted free agents in the NFL last season, finishing with 51 catches, 677 yards and 6 touchdowns for the Jaguars.

No matter when these former Canes are drafted I am confident that they will carry on the success of a Miami Hurricane in NFL U. Good luck fellas!