Miami Football without player selected in first three rounds for first time since 2013
The Miami Football program went without a player selected in first three rounds of the NFL Draft for the first time since 2013. A pair of Hurricanes defensive lineman have tumbled below their third round projection.
Defensive tackle Gerald Willis and defensive end Joe Jackson were both projected to be taken by the third round of the Friday night’s NFL Draft. The 2019 NFL Draft is the first time since 2013 that the Miami football program did not have a player selected in the first three rounds.
Defensive back Brandon McGee was a fifth-round selection of the St. Louis Rams that season. Running back Mike James was a sixth-round selection of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the only other Hurricane to be selected in 2013. Six or seven Miami football alums are expected to be taken in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Joe Jackson was the consensus 90th pick in NFL Mock drafts and Willis was 104th. Including compensatory draft picks, 102 players have been selected through the first three rounds on Thursday and Friday.
Three of the four NFL Mock Drafts that Canes Warning examined earlier this week had Willis being selected between 91st 110th overall in the draft. The lowest projection had him being selected 136th overall. Willis has plummetted from where most prognosticators projected him during the season.
Even through some lean years of late, the Hurricanes have managed to get at least one player drafted in the first three rounds every year since 2013.
— Christy Chirinos (@ChristyChirinos) April 27, 2019
That streak ended tonight.
Would expect Gerald Willis and Joe Jackson to go early tomorrow and on down the line. We'll see.
NFL teams are likely questioning the disciplinary issues Willis had earlier in his collegiate career and that he only had one productive season in college. Jackson is a bit harder to understand. He seemed like a solid third-round pick. Jackson has only currently fallen 12 spots below where he was projected to be selected.
It’s too early to panic. Jackson is still within the range he was projected to go and the draft will resume on Saturday exactly where the consensus on Willis projected him to be selected. The other Miami players were not projected to be taken in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft during the most recent mocks.
Only cornerback Michael Jackson was projected to be a third-round pick by one of the outlets Canes Warning examined this week. Jackson had been projected as high as the 94th overall pick in the third round by NFL.Com. The wait will continue through the third day of the NFL Draft to see a Miami player taken.
Next. DE Joe Jackson projected to be first Miami player taken in 2019 NFL Draft. dark
This year will mark only the second time since the NFL expanded the draft to three days that Miami football fans have to wait until the final day to see a Hurricanes player selected. There should be a flurry of Miami players taken Saturday. Safeties Jaquan Johnson and Sheldrick Redwine are also expected to be taken.