Just one 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 College Sports Wire’s Patrick Conn who released the final three-round edition of the CSW mock on Thursday.
The first Gator off Conn’s board is quarterback [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag], who jumped four spots from the previous mock and is projected to be picked at No. 3 by the Las Vegas Raiders in a trade with the Arizona Cardinals. Here is what Conn had to offer on the former Gator’s draft prospects.
The Cardinals seem like the most likely team to drop out of the top five this year. With the Raiders need to get in front of Indianapolis at No. 4, they move up four spots and surrender their No. 38 pick this year as well as their first round pick next year. Las Vegas addresses their quarterback need with Richardson and allow him to sit and develop in 2023.
The second Florida alumnus selected is offensive lineman [autotag]O’Cyrus Torrence[/autotag], who dropped 12 spots from the previous mock and is now projected to be taken at No. 28 by the Cincinnati Bengals. Here is the lowdown on the big offensive lineman from Louisiana.
The Bengals have a glaring need at safety but the value just isn’t there at No. 27 overall. Torrence gives them a boost on the interior of the offensive line and he can be an absolute mauler for Cincinnati over the next decade.
Defensive lineman Gervon Dexter gets the call in the third round at No. 71 by the New Orleans Saints.
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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