Florida Football Draft Prospects Ready and Waiting
Thursday, April 23, 2009 | Football
After completing their collegiate careers and training throughout the spring, several Florida Gators look forward to this weekend's NFL Draft. The 2009 NFL Draft begins Saturday, April 25, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City at 4 p.m. ET. The first and second rounds will be conducted on Saturday, while the remaining rounds begin at 10 a.m. on Sunday. Both ESPN and the NFL Network will air the draft in its entirety.
For more information on Florida's NFL Draft history visit: http://www.gatorzone.com/football/draft/index.php?year=2009&page=year
To follow live coverage of the draft visit:
Florida Football Draft Notes:
Thirty-eight Gator players have been selected in the opening round of the NFL Draft. A breakdown on those selections includes nine running backs, nine defensive linemen, five wide receivers, four offensive linemen, four linebackers, four defensive backs, and three quarterbacks.
Florida has had a player drafted in the first-round in nine of the last 12 years, and 19 of the last 26.
A Florida receiver has been drafted in 13 of the last 15 years, and 17 Gator wideouts have been selected during that stretch. In all, there have been 31 UF wide receivers selected in the draft.
There have been eight tight ends selected in the draft out of Florida. A total of 61 Gator offensive lineman have been taken in the NFL Draft.
Under head coach Urban Meyer, Florida has had 14 players taken in the NFL Draft, third-most in the SEC since the 2006 Draft.
UF had at least 40 players chosen in the NFL Draft for the decades of 1950, 1970, 1980 and 1990. UF has already had 47 selections from the years 2000-08, setting a school record for choices in a decade.
Southeastern Conference Draft Notes:
The Southeastern Conference has had 465 of its former student-athletes drafted since 1997, an average of more than 38 selections per year.
The SEC has either led or tied for the lead in most draft selections in nine of the last 11 seasons, including the last two drafts.
Since conference expansion in 1992, the SEC has had 99 first round selections in 16 drafts, an average of 6.19 selections per draft.
The most first-round selections ever from the SEC were 11 in 2007.
Since 1990, the SEC has led the nation with 702 total draft selections, an average of more than 36 per year.
This season, the NFL's website lists up to 63 SEC student-athletes who could be selected during this season's draft. The most players ever selected from the SEC in one season were 47 in 2002.
-UF-
