KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A trio of Gators rounded out the final day of the 2023 NFL Draft on Saturday to total six Florida draft picks. The six selections marked the fourth time for UF in the modern draft era (1967) with the last time being in 1996.
Florida continued its streak of having a pick in every draft since 1967 and is one of three schools (USC and Michigan) to achieve the mark. The Gators also had its fourth straight first round pick with quarterback
Anthony Richardson being taken fourth overall by the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday.
The six picks are tied for fourth highest by a school this year and tied third in the SEC.
Day three picks:
Ventrell Miller (Round 4, 121st pick – Jacksonville Jaguars)
A two-year captain, Miller played in 49 career games for the Gators from 2018-22 with 33 starts. He was a two-year member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll (2019-20) and a two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Week (2020 x2). The native of Lakeland Fla. finished with 240 career tackles (124 solo), 23.3 TFLs, 7.5 sacks, nine quarterback hurries eight pass breakups, two forced fumbles and interception. He earned his bachelor's degree in Family, Youth, and Community Sciences this past fall.
Justin Shorter (Round 5, 150th pick – Buffalo Bills)
The three-year letter winner joined the Gators after two years at Penn State. Shorter played in 34 games with 15 starts at Florida. He was an SEC Academic Honor Roll member all three years and earned his bachelor's degree in Education Sciences last spring. He caught 95 passes for a total of 1,395 yards with eight touchdowns. He increased his productive every season, highlighted by a final year of 3.2 receptions per game and 19.9 yards per catch and average of 64.1 receiving yards per game. The native of Monmouth Junction, N.J. had two 100-yard games last season with a career-high 155-yards at No. 11 Tennessee.
Amari Burney (Round 6, 203rd pick – Las Vegas Raiders)
A five-year member of the program, Burney played in 58 career games with 20 stars as he started all 13 games last season. He didn't miss a game in his last two seasons and made the game-winning interception in the season opener to knock off No. 7 Utah last year. The native of St. Petersburg, Fla. he was four-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and earned his bachelor's degree in Education Sciences in the Fall of 2021. He totaled 223 career tackles, 16 pass breakups, 15.0 TFLs, nine quarterback hurries seven sacks , four interceptions and two forced fumbles.
2023 Florida Draft Picks
