Wilber Marshall (58), shown here leveling a Detroit Lions quarterback, is one of five Gators selected by the Chicago Bears in the first round of the NFL Draft, more than any other franchise. Marshall terrorized ballcarriers for the better of 12 seasons and was a superstar for Super Bowl-winning teams with the Bears and Washington Redskins.
By the Numbers: Gators in Round 1
Wednesday, April 25, 2018 | Football, Chris Harry
A look back and UF and the first round of the NFL draft.
That number is expected to grow to 52 during Thursday's opening night — Round 1 only — of its three-day draft extravaganza. Defensive lineman Taven Bryan, the he-man and workout warrior who opted to turn pro following his fourth-year junior season, is projected to go somewhere in the second half of the first round. The teams in desperate need of help on the defensive line include Miami, Atlanta, Washington and Dallas.
Note: Keep an eye on the Falcons, who select 26th, right in the area the "Wyoming Wildman" has been slotted. Atlanta has a void to fill up front after losing Dontari Poe to free agency, and the franchise, with a couple guys with Gator bloodlines (Coach Dan Quinn and defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel) having enjoyed pretty good results with recent high picks Keanu Neal and Brian Poole, by way of UF.
This blog, however, isn't about projecting the this draft, but rather to review the previous 82 and how the Gators have factored in the opening round with each team. The Chicago Bears not only have picked the most UF players in the first round (5), but nabbed some of the best Gators of their generation (See Marshall, Wilber). The Jacksonville Jaguars likely have been somewhat influenced by proximity in using four of their 25 all-time first-rounders (16 percent) on Gators. Another seven clubs, including Sunshine State friends Miami and Tampa Bay, have plucked a trio of UF products in Round 1.
A further crunching of the numbers shows there are seven franchises that have never spent a first-rounder on Gators, including one relatively new team that — get this — has not picked a UF player in any round. There's another club, a charter-member of the old AFL, that last picked a Gator 40 years ago.
So let's have some fun with Florida first-rounders — by the numbers.
5 CHICAGO — RB Chuck Hunsinger (1950), LB Wilber Marshall (1984), RB Neal Anderson (1986), DE Trace Armstrong (1989), QB Rex Grossman (2003). Marshall was a holy terror on the '85 Bears team considered (arguably) the greatest of all-time. Anderson was a four-time Pro-Bowler who was picked to succeed Walter Payton, the NFL's all-time rushing leader at the time, and had three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons from 1988-90. Armstrong is one of just 32 players in league history to amass at least 100 sacks in his career. His 106 with the Bears, Dolphins and Raiders rank 26th all-time. Grossman helped guide the 2006 Bears to Super Bowl XLI, where they lost 29-17 to Indianapolis. The Bears, obviously, like the Gators.
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JACKSONVILLE — RB Fred Taylor (1998), S Reggie Nelson (2007), DE Derrick Harvey (2008), DE Dante Fowler Jr. When healthy, Taylor was one of the league's most explosive backs, rushing for more than 1,200 yards five times. He played 13 seasons and finished with 11,695 yards (which ranks 16th all-time) and is one of just 29 players to reach 10,000 for their career.
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CLEVELAND — LB Clifford Charlton (1988), DT Gerard Warren (2001), CB Joe Haden (2010). Warren was part of the expansion Browns' third draft. Haden grew into one of the best (and best-paid) corners in the NFL, all the while enduring some awful seasons.
DENVER — WR Ricky Nattiel (1987), DT Jarvis Moss (2007), QB Tim Tebow (2010). Nattiel caught the first touchdown of Super Bowl XXII, which turned out to be the Broncos' only TD in a 42-10 loss to Washington. Tebow, of course, had one of the most mercurial careers in league history for a guy who rarely played.
DETROIT — RB James Jones (1983), OT Lomas Brown (1985), LB Jarrad Davis (2017). Jones returned to UF to do color for the Gator Radio Network alongside Mic Huber during the 1990s. Brown, one of the greatest players in UF history, was a seven-time Pro-Bowler and won a Super Bowl his final season (2002) as a backup with Tampa Bay. Davis is the most recent Gator to go in Round 1.
MIAMI — RB Lorenzo Hampton (1985), S Louis Oliver (1989), OL Mike Pouncey (2011). Oliver had 27 career interceptions in the NFL, including a 103-yard return for a touchdown (against Buffalo's Jim Kelly) that ranks as the longest in Dolphins history. Pouncey hit the league a year after his twin brother (see below).
PITTSBURGH — RB Paul Duhart (1945), DE Huey Richardson (1991), OL Maurkice Pouncey (2010). Duhart was the first UF player ever drafted. Richardson, a first-team All-American in 1990, is UF's biggest all-time draft bust. He was cut by the Steelers after just one season, played a mere 16 career games with three teams (and no starts), and was out of the league after less than two seasons. His story, however, is one of greatest of them all. Why? In his post-football life, Richardson,a native of Atlanta, went on to get his MBA from Emory University, took a job as a financial analyst with Merrill Lynch in New York City, and on Sept. 11, 2001 escaped the World Trade Center after the first plane hit the tower. Remarkable.
ST. LOUIS / LOS ANGELES RAMS — RB Larry Smith (1969), DE Jack Youngblood (1971), DE Kevin Carter. In 2001, Youngblood became the first UF product enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Carter won a Super Bowl with the Rams in '99, the same year he led the NFL in sacks with 17.5 and was named All-Pro. He went on to finish a 14-year career with 104.5 sacks.
TAMPA BAY — WR Reidel Anthony (1997), OT Kenyatta Walker (2001), CB Vernon Hargreaves (2016). Walker had a rocky career with the Buccaneers, but started every game for the Jon Gruden-coached team during its 2002 world-championship season, capped by a 48-21 defeat of Oakland in Super Bowl XXXVII.
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BALTIMORE RAVENS — WR Travis Taylor (2000), Matt Elam (2013). Taylor, the 10th overall pick, was inactive as a rookie when the Ravens defeated the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV and went on to play eight seasons in the league. Baltimore was the reigning Super Bowl champ when it made Elam the last pick in Round 1 of 2013, but the Ravens grew tired of his poor work ethic and off-field issues, and cut him after just three seasons.
MINNESOTA — WR Percy Harvin (2009), DT Sharrif Floyd (2013). Harvin played four seasons with the Vikings, then was traded to Seattle. He played just one game the entire 2013 regular season, but rewarded the Seahawks nonetheless by returning the second half kickoff of Super Bowl XLVIII for an 87-yard touchdown in a 43-8 rout of Indianapolis.
PHILADELPHIA — QB John Reaves (1972), CB Lito Sheppard (2002). Reaves was taken 14th overall by the Eagles, but his career was reduced to journeyman status due to substance abuse issues. His greatest professional success came alongside Coach Steve Spurrier with the USFL Tampa Bay Bandits, when Reaves passed for 4,092 yards and 28 touchdowns in 1984, the doomed league's second of three seasons. Reaves died Aug. 1, 2017 at the age of 67.
SAN FRANCISCO — QB Steve Spurrier (1967), DT Reggie McGrew (1999). Spurrier was the No. 3 overall pick, which remains tied (with Warren and Wes Chandler) as the highest a Gator has ever been selected. Spurrier spent most of his eight seasons in San Francisco as a backup to Pro-Bowler John Brodie, while also doubling as the 49ers' punter, though he did have one splendid stretch while Brody was injured in leading the Niners to a 6-1-1 mark until being replaced just before the playoffs. Spurrier ended his career with the 0-14 expansion Buccaneers in '76.
TENNESSEE TITANS / HOUSTON OILERS — OL David Williams (1989), DE Jevon Kearse (1999). The original "Freak," Kearse was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year after finishing with 1.5 sacks and helping the Titans reach the Super Bowl, where they lost a 23-16 thriller to Carter and the Rams.
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ATLANTA — S Keanu Neal (2016). Taken 17th overall, promoted to starter in Week 3 and made 13 tackles (nine solo) in the Super Bowl LI meltdown loss to New England.
ARIZONA / ST. LOUIS CARDINALS — OT D.J. Humphries (2015). He's been injured most of his career (Humphries was the only first-round pick of '15 to be inactive in all 16 games), but has started all 18 of the games he's played the last two seasons. Good, reliable player when healthy.
CINCINNATI — LB Glen Cameron (1975). Started in the infamous "Freezer Bowl" AFC Championship game after the '81 season, when actual temperatures at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium plunged to minus-9 degrees, with a wind-chill factor of minus-59. The Bengals beat the San Diego Chargers 27-7.
DALLAS— RB Emmitt Smith (1990). The 17th pick in Round 1 merely got the Cowboys the No. 1 all-time rusher in NFL history (18,355 yards, plus 164 touchdowns), as well as three Super Bowl titles. He joined Youngblood in the Hall of Fame in 2010.
INDIANAPOLIS / BALTIMORE COLTS — DT Ellis Johnson (1995). Little-known fact: Johnson was MVP of the 1994 Southeastern Conference Championship Game (the first played in Atlanta), an epic 24-23 victory over unbeaten Alabama.
NEW ENGLAND — DT Dominique Easley (2014). Missed the Patriots win over the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX as a rookie and was released after just two seasons in New England. Now with the Rams.
NEW ORLEANS — WR Wes Chandler (1978). The first great skill-position player drafted out of Florida. Chandler went third overall to the Saints, but had his greatest seasons with Dan Fouts as part of the record-setting and innovative"Air Coryell" offenses in San Diego. He finished his career with 559 receptions, an average of 16 yards per catch, and 56 touchdowns. Chandler was also an electrifying kick returner.
NEW YORK GIANTS — WR Ike Hilliard (1997). As the seventh overall pick, he was taken higher than any offensive player of Spurrier's 12 seasons as UF coach.
NEW YORK JETS — S Steve Tannen (1970). Probably has some stories to tell, given he was Joe Namath's teammate.
OAKLAND / LOS ANGELES RAIDERS — OL Mo Collins (1998). Played six seasons, including a start in Super Bowl XXXVII loss against Tampa Bay. Died Oct. 26, 2014 after suffering kidney failure at age 38.
SEATTLE — RB John L. Williams (1986). One of the last truly great, duel-threat fullbacks. Williams, taken 15th overall, finished his career with 5,006 rushing yards, plus 546 receptions for another 4,656 yards, and 37 touchdowns.
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BUFFALO — The last Gator selected by the Bills was DE Scott Hutchinson in the second round way back in 1978. Pretty amazing, actually.
CAROLINA — Since entering the league as an expansion team in 1995, the Panthers have selected three players from Florida State, two from UCF, one from USF ... and none from UF.
GREEN BAY — The Packers nabbed DeShawn Wynn in the seventh round of the 2007 draft. Before that, their previous UF selection was linebacker Eugene McCaslin in the seventh round in 2000.
HOUSTON TEXANS — The Texans entered the league as an expansion team in 2002. They had the first overall pick in that draft and selected quarterback David Carr, out of Fresno State. With the first pick in the second round — the 33rd overall — Houston general manager Charley Casserly tabbed UF wideout Jabar Gaffney, who remains the only Gator ever selected by the Texans.
KANSAS CITY — Wide receiver Demarcus Robinson was taken in the fifth round in 2015. Back in 1992, the Chiefs anted up a '93 second-round pick in a supplemental draft to take Gators defensive tackle Darren Mickell, who was dismissed from the team a couple months after the '92 draft for off-field issues.
SAN DIEGO — Brandon Siler, one of the leader's of Urban Meyer's 2006 national-championship squad, went in the sixth round in 2007. The Chargers took Reche Caldwell in the second round (48th overall) in 2002.
WASHINGTON — The Redskins have never drafted a Gator in the first round, but they have plenty of Gators history, headlined by the short-lived Spurrier era of 2002-03 that included taking wideout Taylor Jacobs with a second-round pick (44th overall). Washington also used third-rounders on tight end Jordan Reed in 2013 and running back Matt Jones in '15.
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