Miami Hurricanes Football: Seven Canes Drafted In NFL.com Mock Draft

The NFL Draft is less than one week away, which means we’re in the middle of mock draft season. Despite finishing with a 6-7 record, the Miami Hurricanes should be well represented in this year’s NFL draft because of the top-heavy talent on last year’s Canes roster.

NFL.com released a seven-round mock draft on Friday, and it listed seven former Miami Hurricane players on it.

The first Hurricanes player that NFL.com has coming off the board is the fastest dude in the draft:

Phillip Dorsett

NFL.com has Dorsett going no. 20 to the Philadelphia Eagles. This appears to be a match made in heaven and Dorsett would absolutely kill in Chip Kelly’s system.

The second Hurricanes player off the board:

Ereck Flowers

Flowers is the 29th player taken off the board to the Indianapolis Colts in this mock draft. The Colts want to protect their franchise quarterback in Andrew Luck, and Flowers would be a good fit there. And it would instantly make him a super bowl contender, which is pretty cool. I personally don’t think Flowers falls to 29, but aren’t mock drafts just the best?

Dorsett and Flowers are the two Canes representatives in the first-round in this mock draft and that’ll likely be the case next Thursday in Chicago.

In the second round, Miami again has two representatives based on this mock draft. The first one off the board in the second round? The President.

Denzel Perryman

They have Perryman going no. 43 to the Cleveland Browns. Perryman immediately helps a Browns defense that’s already pretty good. But damn.. Cleveland?

The second Hurricane taken in the second round is the all-time leading rusher in Miami history, and the most loved Cane in recent memory:

Duke Johnson

It’s April and I’m still not emotionally ready to watch the Canes next season without number 8 tilting the rock and racking up a million yards against Virginia Tech and Duke. But anyway, this mock draft has Johnson a little bit higher than most people do, going no. 55 to the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals need a playmaker on offense, and we all know Duke Johnson is exactly that.

The trend continues in the third-round of this mock draft, and the Canes again have two representatives in this round. The first is who I still believe was the best tight end in college football:

Clive Walford

While he has lingered between being a second or third rounder throughout the process, this mock draft has Walford going no. 70 to the New York Jets in the third round. Walford was great for the Hurricanes this past season (and throughout his career). His reward? Catch passes from Geno Smith. Ouch.

The second Hurricanes player is a surprise to me:

Anthony Chickillo

Chickillo grossly underachieved in his time at Miami for whatever (or obvious) reasons, but he’s never really been linked as high as a third-round pick. The mock draft has Chickillo going no. 97 to the New England Patriots. They always say that it’s hard to find a good job out of college, but Chickillo would be going from Al Golden to Bill Belichick. That’s pretty good.

After having six picks in the first three rounds of the draft, there’s a couple round absence for Miami as the next player taken doesn’t come till the sixth round.

Ladarius Gunter

Gunter had a good senior season for Miami playing both corner and safety for the Canes. Gunter is an intriguing prospect because of his size and length at the cornerback position. The NFL continues to get bigger receivers so every NFL GM drools over corners with Gunter’s size. He’s still a work in progress, but getting drafted is the first step for Gunter. The Carolina Panthers take the value pick and Gunter goes no. 201 in the NFL draft.

Again, this is a mock draft, but it was a successful one for the ProCanes.

Despite not having a big year on the field, NFLU strikes again.