Pac-12 in NFL Draft: Stanford, USC, Oregon Tie for Most Players Taken
After having 11 players taken in the first three rounds of the NFL draft, the Pac-12 had 17 players selected on the final day of the draft on Saturday.
Stanford, USC and Oregon tied for the most Pac-12 players drafted with five apiece. It's probably no coincidence USC and Oregon played in the Pac-12 championship game while the Cardinal went 4-2, including 4-1 when Davis Mills played.
Here is a list of the number of players drafted from each Pac-12 school:
Stanford: 5
USC: 5
Oregon: 5
Washington: 4
Arizona: 2
Oregon State: 2
UCLA: 2
Cal: 1
Colorado: 1
Arizona State: 1
Utah: 0
Washington State: 0
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Here are the Pac-12 players taken in rounds four through seven on Saturday:
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FOURTH ROUND
No. 1 pick of fourth round (No. 106 overall) – Jay Tufele, USC, defensive tackle, selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars
Tufele opted out of the 2020 season and was a first-team all-Pac-12 selection in 2019 as a redshirt sophomore. He was the sixth defensive tackle taken in this draft.
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No. 7 pick of fourth round (No. 112 overall) -- Amon-Ra St. Brown, USC, wide receiver, selected by the Detroit Lions
Not particularly fast for a wide receiver, St. Brown just makes plays. He was a first-team all-Pac-12 selection in 2020 and caught four touchdown passes in the first quarter against Washington State. He becomes a target for new Lions quarterback Jared Goff.
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No. 9 pick of fourth round (No. 114 overall) – Drew Dalman, Stanford, center, selected by the Atlanta Falcons
Dalman was a first-team all-conference selection in 2020 and a second-team pick in 2019. He did not allow any sacks in 2020. Dalman’s father, Chris, played for the 49ers and was an NFL assistant coach.
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No. 20 pick of fourth round (No. 125 overall) – Camryn Bynum, Cal, cornerback, selected by the Minnesota Vikings.
Bynum started 42 games for Cal and was a first-team all-Pac-12 selection in 2020. He initially opted out of the 2020 season when the Pac-12 canceled its fall season, but he opted back in when the Pac-12 changed its stance and reinstituted its 2020 fall season.
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FIFTH ROUND
No. 22 pick of fifth round (No. 166 overall) – Keith Taylor, Washington, cornerback, selected by the Carolina Panthers
Taylor was not a first-team or second-team all-Pac-12 selection in 2020. In fact, he did not even earn honorable mention. Washington played only four games in 2020, and Taylor had just nine tackles and one pass breakup. But he was impressive at the Senior Bowl.
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No. 28 pick in fifth round (No. 172 overall) -- Deommodore Lenoir, Oregon cornerback, selected by the San Francisco 49ers
Lenoir initially opted out of the 2020 season when the Pac-12 announced it had canceled the fall season, but when the Pac-12 changed its stance and reinstalled a fall schedule, Lenoir opted back in. He was a second-team all-Pac-12 pick this past season, when he had 30 tackles and one interception.
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No. 35 pick in fifth round (No. 179 overall) – Simi Fehoko, Stanford, wide receiver, selected by Dallas Cowboys
Fehoko is a big wide receiver (6-foot-4, 200 pounds) who was nonetheless a big-play receiver. He was a first-team all-Pac-12 selection who had a huge game against UCLA, when he had 16 receptions for 230 yards and three touchdowns.
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No. 36 pick of fifth round (No. 180 overall) – Talanoa Hafanga, USC, safety, selected by the San Francisco 49ers.
A first-team all-America selection and the Pac-12 defensive player of the year in 2020, Hufanga led the Trojans in tackles with 62 in six games with three sacks and four interceptions. He is a big-play defender who is not particularly fast with questions about his pass coverage.
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SIXTH ROUND
No. 3 pick in sixth round (No. 187 overall – Frank Darby, Arizona State, wide receiver, selected by Atlanta Falcons
Darby had just six receptions for 46 yards and one score in 2020. All six of his receptions came in the first two games, and he played very little in the Sun Devils’ other two games because of injuries. He averaged 19.9 yards per catch in 2019.
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No. 5 pick in sixth round (No. 189 overall) -- Marlon Tuipulotu, USC, defensive tackle, selected by Philadelphia Eagles
Tuipulotu was a first-team all-conference pick in 2020, and he had 23 tackles, including two sacks, that season.
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No. 11 pick of sixth round (No. 195 overall) – Roy Lopez, Arizona, defensive tackle
Lopez played only one season at Arizona after transferring from New Mexico State. He received only honorable-mention all-conference mention in 2020, when he had four tackles for loss. Lopez recorded 20 tackles for loss in three seasons at New Mexico State.
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No. 12 pick of sixth round (No. 196 overall) – Gary Brightwell, Arizona, running back, selected by the New York Giants
Brightwell rushed for 390 yards in five games in 2020, including two games of more than 100 yards. He had 112 yards against USC and 117 against Colorado. Brightwell had been a backup in his first three seasons with the Wildcats.
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No. 13 pick of sixth round (No. 197 overall) – Will Sherman, Colorado, offensive tackle, selected by the New England Patriots
A three-year starter at Colorado, Sherman was a second-team all-conference pick in 2020. He was the 22nd offensive tackle taken in this draft.
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No. 27 pick of sixth round (No. 211 overall) – Demetric Felton, UCLA, running back, selected by the Cleveland Browns
A second-team all-Pac-12 selection as a running back in 2020, when he started five of UCLA’s six games and averaged 111.3 rushing yards per game and caught 22 passes for 159 yards. He was a wide receiver primarily in his first two years at UCLA before being moved to running back in 2019, when he started two games.
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No. 31 pick of the sixth round (No. 215 overall) – Brady Breeze, Oregon, safety, selected by the Tennessee Titans
Breeze opted out of the 2020 season, but he had a breakout season in 2019, which ended with a big games in the Pac-12 championship-game win over Utah (nine tackles and an interception) and the Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin (11 tackles and a forced fumble).
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No. 44 pick of six round (No. 228 overall) – Thomas Graham Jr., Oregon, cornerback, selected by the Cleveland Bears
Graham opted out of the 2020 season after starting 39 straight games. He broke up 28 pass attempts in 2018 and 2019 combined.
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SEVENTH ROUND
No. 30 pick of seventh round (No. 257 overall) – Jermar Jefferson, Oregon State, running back, selected by the Detroit Lions
Jefferson was a first-team all-conference selection in 2020, when he averaged 143.0 rushing yards per game and 6.5 yards per carry. He rushed for 1,380 yards in 2018 as a freshman. Jefferson was hampered by injuries in 2019, and he is not particularly fast. Only two more players were taken in the 2021 NFL draft, with Grant Stuard of Houston earning the title of Mr. Irrelevant as the last player drafted.
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Cover photo of USC's Amon-Ra St. Brown by Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports
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