Less than a week remains until the 88th annual edition of the 2023 NFL draft, which kicks off on April 27 and runs until April 29 in Kansas City, Missouri. With the selection order firmly in place, the sports media has been publishing its respective mock drafts including Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar’s latest three-round edition of his mock draft published on Friday, which included three former members of the Orange and Blue.
The first Gator off Farrar’s board is über-athletic quarterback [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag], who lands at No. 8 overall with the Atlanta Falcons. Here is what Farrar had to offer on the former Gator’s draft prospects.
Falcons head coach Arthur Smith prefers a heavy play-action offense with multiple tight ends and a power running base. Atlanta has all the parts to work that except for the quarterback (sorry, Desmond Ridder). Richardson would add a developing quarterback sense, unbelievable ability as a runner, and measurables we’ve never seen at the position to that offense. Smith could design all sorts of evil run stuff with Richardson and Tyler Allgeier, and no Falcons receiver or tight end would be able to outrun Richardson’s deep ball. There would be bumps in the road early on, but the payoff could be something else.
The second Florida alumnus selected is offensive lineman [autotag]O’Cyrus Torrence[/autotag], who is taken in the second round at No. 49 overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Defensive lineman Gervon Dexter gets the call in the third round at No. 71 by the New Orleans Saints — the same spot projected by College Sports Wire’s Patrick Conn.
The most recent UF alumni taken in the first round of the draft are cornerback [autotag]Kaiir Elam[/autotag] (2022, No. 23), tight end [autotag]Kyle Pitts[/autotag] (2021, No. 4), wide receiver [autotag]Kadarius Toney[/autotag] (2021, No. 20) and cornerback [autotag]CJ Henderson[/autotag] (2020, No. 9).
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