GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Oklahoma quarterback
Kyler Murray went first, followed by Ohio State defensive end
Nick Bosa and Alabama defensive tackle
Quinnen Williams.
The fourth overall pick of the NFL Draft on Thursday night: Clemson defensive end
Clelin Ferrell to Oakland. No one apparently had Ferrell going that high in their mock draft, which sent Twitter into a frenzy. That was until the Giants used the sixth overall pick on Duke quarterback
Daniel Jones.
Who? Twitter nearly caught fire at that point.
As always, the draft never fails to shock and one of those surprises in the first round was that Gators offensive lineman
Jawaan Taylor did not get picked. Nearly all of the most prominent draft analysts had Taylor going in the first half of the first round.
Instead, Taylor waited and waited to hear his name called until New England selected Arizona State receiver
N'Keal Harry with the final pick of the first round. With Taylor going undrafted Thursday, the Gators' six-year streak of having a player picked in the opening round was snapped.
According to various reports, a knee injury caused many teams to proceed with caution in evaluating Taylor, who showed up at Gators Pro Day last month in excellent shape and put in an impressive performance.
Barring a real shocker, Taylor should be selected during Friday night's second round. He is the
best available player remaining on the board according to ESPN.com.
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PAYING TRIBUTE
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Former UF football player
Troy Waters died on April 22. Waters signed with Gators in 1980 out of Haines City (Fla.) High. He suffered a serious knee injury as member of the Gators' junior varsity team in 1981 and his career was cut short …
Tony Govekar, a tight end out of Miami Senior High who signed with the Gators in 1965,
has passed away at the age of 72. Govekar suffered two broken ribs and a punctured lung on the second day of fall camp as a freshman according to
The Tampa Bay Times, an injury that hampered his development with the Gators.
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AROUND THE WEB
-- The Gators are one of
10 college football programs included in the latest release of "Madden 20" writes
Andy Hutchins of
AlligatorArmy.com.
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-- The Rowdy Reptiles have a new president and
Kathleen Klemek is the first female to serve in that role writes
Micayla Yates of the
Gainesville Sun.
--
Lee Davis Begley is director of Florida's recruiting operations and
has a key role behind the scenes writes
Kassidy Hill for
InsideTheGators.com.
-- Former Gators cornerback
Vernon Hargreaves III remains part of the Bucs' plans writes
Jenna Laine of
ESPN.com:
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-- Gators head coach
Dan Mullen offered some support for
Jeffrey Simmons, his former player at Mississippi State whom he stuck with following a highly publicized off-the-field incident, after Simmons went to the Titans in the first round of Thursday's draft.
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