Not too long ago, Florida football was well-known for producing top offensive linemen who not only manhandled the opposition on the collegiate gridiron but also in the professional ranks as well. Once upon a time back in 1984, the Gators had the “Great Wall of Florida” fighting in the trenches, headlined by Crawford Ker along with Phil Bromley, Lomas Brown, Billy Hinson and Jeff Zimmerman.
The tradition of producing productive members of the O-line continued through the decades though the program fell to a nadir in more recent years. However, second-year head coach Billy Napier has prioritized the line which included bringing O’Cyrus Torrence – who did not allow a single sack during his collegiate career — over from Louisiana to help kick things off.
ESPN’s David Hale published his “Position U” rankings in which he surveyed the collegiate football landscape for the best programs for players to flourish. Florida earned a spot at most of the positions including offensive lineman, where they rank 10th overall when it comes to producing pro-level players after earning a mention as the new school on the block from Hale.
It has been a lean decade for Florida, which used to churn out talented O-linemen but has seen just one selected in the first three rounds since 2016. O’Cyrus Torrence changed the narrative a bit this year, earning All-SEC and All-America nods, and he went 59th overall in April’s NFL draft. It was enough to push the Gators back into the top 10 (up from No. 13).
The last Gator taken in the draft prior to Torrence was Stone Forsythe, an absolute unit who was picked in the sixth round (208th overall) by the Seattle Seahawks. Jawaan Taylor was taken in the second round (35th overall) in 2019 by the Jacksonville Jaguars and David Sharpe in the fourth round (129th overall) by the then-Oakland Raiders before him.
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