Jim McElwain: Florida’s 2016 draft class helped to change culture of program
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Florida may have as many as nine players selected in this year’s NFL draft, which begins Thursday night.
That total would be tied for second in school history behind only the 10 Gators taken in 1978. However, the draft was 10 rounds long at that time, and “only” six Florida players were chosen in the first seven rounds of that draft.
Coach Jim McElwain, who spent some time talking to reporters prior to speaking at Gator Club functions in Fort Myers and Tampa, said this year’s crop is special.
“The group of guys coming out, I can’t tell you how excited I am to see them fulfill their dreams,” McElwain said, according to Scout.com’s Jacquie Franciulli. “That is a group that is very skilled and very talented, but more importantly it’s a group that had a lot to do with changing the way our locker room thought. They really invested in not so much the ‘I’ and ‘Me” and that kind of stuff, but really invested in the ‘Us’ and ‘We’. Some of those guys are going to be sorely missed.”
Under the current format of seven rounds, which began in 1993, the most Florida has sent is nine. That was done on two occasions in 2007 and 2010.
This year’s class can match that.
Cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III and safety Keanu Neal are projected to go in the first round. Meanwhile, DL Jonathan Bullard, LB Antonio Morrison, WR Demarcus Robinson, RB Kelvin Taylor, DL Alex McCalister, TE Jake McGee and S Brian Poole all have the potential of being selected as well.
Born and raised in Gainesville, Talal joined SDS in 2015 after spending 2 years in Bristol as an ESPN researcher. Previously, Talal worked at The Gainesville Sun.
