Two Gators Taken in First Round of NFL Draft
Sunday, April 22, 2001 | Football
Warren was the very first defensive player selected in the draft and he became the first Gator defensive player in history to be chosen in the NFL Draft's top three. The selections of Warren and Walker mark the fifth time in the last seven years that Florida has had multiple first round selections, one of only two schools in the nation, along with Florida State, to achieve that distinction.
Warren was a first-team All-SEC selection by the league's coaches in 2000 and was named to the All-SEC second team by the Associated Press. Warren was named second-team All-SEC by both the AP and the coaches in 1999. The native of Raiford, Fla. received the Gene Ellenson Award as UF's most inspirational player for 1999. Warren served as one of UF's five team captains in 2000. Warren made 76 tackles this past year and ranked second on the team with his 36.5 "Big Plays."
Walker was a second-team All-American in 2000 and won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy which is awarded to the SEC's best blocker in a vote of the league's coaches. Walker was a two-time All-SEC pick, a first-team Freshman All-American in 1998 and a member of the SEC's Academic Honor Roll. The Meridian, Miss. native played in 36 regular season games and made 31 starts.
Walker and Warren are the 11th and 12th players in UF history to forgo their senior year for the NFL Draft. Nine of those 12 have now been selected in the first round and all have been taken in the fourth round or higher.
In addition to Walker and Warren, former Gator QB Jesse Palmer was chosen in the fourth round (125th overall) by the New York Giants. Former Gator WR and U.S. Olympic sprinter John Capel was taken in the seventh round (208th overall) by the Chicago Bears.
Undrafted Gators who have signed free agent deals with NFL teams include DE Thad Bullard (Jacksonville), TB Bo Carroll (Cleveland), DT Derrick Chambers (Carolina), FB Rod Frazier (Pittsburgh), CB Vannez Gooch (Tampa Bay), DT Buck Gurley (Miami), OG Leon Hires (Tampa Bay), FB Eric Jonsson (Miami), P Alan Rhine (Indianapolis) and WR Alex Willis (Tampa Bay).
GATORS LEAVING EARLY FOR THE NFL DRAFT
Player - Draft Year Selection RB Emmitt Smith - 1990 1st round to Dallas WR Jack Jackson - 1995 4th round to Chicago WR Ike Hilliard - 1997 1st round to NY Giants WR Reidel Anthony - 1997 1st round to Tampa Bay OT Mo Collins - 1998 1st round to Oakland WR Jacquez Green - 1998 2nd round to Tampa Bay DE Jevon Kearse - 1999 1st round to Tennessee DT Reggie McGrew - 1999 1st round to San Francisco WR Travis Taylor - 2000 1st round to Baltimore WR Darrell Jackson - 2000 3rd round to Seattle DT Gerard Warren - 2001 1st round to Cleveland OT Kenyatta Walker - 2001 1st round to Tampa Bay
Here are some notes about Florida and the NFL Draft
* Over the last 19 NFL Drafts (1983-2001) Florida ranks second in the nation for most first round picks with 24.
Miami 27 FLORIDA 24 Ohio State 22 Florida State 22 Tennessee 21 Southern Cal 20
* Gerard Warren was the first defensive player taken in the draft. Florida DE Kevin Carter, the first defensive player chosen in the 1995 NFL Draft, is the only other Gator to hold that distinction.
* Florida and Miami have had at least one first round selection in 15 of the 19 drafts since 1983, a figure that leads all schools in the nation for most years with a first round choice over that time period.
* Florida and Florida State are the only schools in the nation to have had multiple first round selections in the draft in four of the past five seasons. With Walker and Warren's first round selections, it also marks the fifth time in the last seven years (1995, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2001) that UF has had multiple first round selections, a feat equaled only by FSU.
* In the nine years from 1983-91, Florida had at least one first round draft choice each year. That was, and still is, the longest streak of consecutive years for a single school to have a first round selection in the history of the NFL Draft.
* The only other time in Gator history that two UF players had both been selected in the Top 15 of the draft was in 1995 when DE Kevin Carter was the 6th pick by the St. Louis Rams and DT Ellis Johnson went at No. 15 to the Indianapolis Colts.
