Miami football finishes fourth among ACC players drafted

The Miami football program finished tied with Louisville for fourth in the ACC with three players selected in the 2023 NFL Draft this weekend. Chip Patterson of CBS Sports examined the “2023 NFL Draft picks by college team, school: SEC leads for 17th straight year, Georgia keeps setting records.”

Georgia is dominating the NFL Draft in recent seasons like the Miami football program did during their championship eras and Alabama has more recently. Per Patterson, Georgia set records with the most players selected in the last two NFL Drafts with 25 and three with 34. Georgia had 15 players selected in 2023.

Clemson and Pittsburgh led the ACC in the 2023 NFL Draft with six players selected. North Carolina finished third with four. Florida State who returns the corps of their team had only one player selected in 2023. Every team in the ACC with the exception of Duke who was 9-4 last season had a player drafted.

Several Miami coaches had players drafted who they tutored prior to arriving in Coral Gables before last season. Oregon where head coach Mario Cristobal coached before returning home to Miami had two players selected. The lack of development by the Miami football program continued a three-year trend.

ACC 2023 Draftees (Courtesy of CBS Sports)
Clemson — 6
Pitt — 6
North Carolina — 4
Louisville — 3
Miami — 3
Syracuse — 2
Wake Forest — 2
Florida State — 1
Boston College — 1
Georgia Tech — 1
NC State — 1
Virginia — 1
Virginia Tech — 1

Defensive Jon Ford was the only Miami player selected in the 2022 NFL Draft in the seventh round by the Green Bay Packers. Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson was the first Miami player off the board in the 2023 NFL Draft, 56th overall to the Chicago Bears. Tight end Will Mallory and CB D.J. Ivey were the other two Miami players drafted.

Mallory was selected 162nd overall in the fifth round by the Indianapolis Colts. Ivey was the 246th overall pick in the seventh round by the Cincinnati Bengals. Safeties Kam Kinchens and James Williams and quarterback Tyler Van Dyke have the potential of being selected in the top half of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Miami should rise up the rankings of players drafted under Cristobal. The combination of Cristobal being an elite recruiter and having the base in South Florida should help Miami have more NFL-caliber players. Miami signed the seventh-ranked 2023 class per the 247 Sports composite rankings.

Five-star offensive tackles Francis Mauigoa and Samson Okunlola project as first-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft. Cristobal and Miami offensive line coach Alex Mirabal have a history of developing their linemen into NFL Players. Penei Sewell was the seventh overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft by Detroit from Oregon.