Three Under-Recruited Floridians Go in 2023 NFL Draft's First Round
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While recruiting rankings can be a barometer of future NFL Draft success, the following three players showed why sometimes prospect rankings do not mean all that much.
From that list of 31 players selected, there were a handful of great examples of how former prep prospects went in the first round after not being all that heavily recruited.
Three of them from the state of Florida in fact. Here’s a look at where they were drafted, as well as a look back at those three players from a recruiting perspective and their college statistics.
Devon Witherspoon, CB, Pensacola (Fla.) Pine Forest/Illinois Fighting Illini - 5th Pick by Seattle Seahawks
While he was unranked by 247 Sports and other recruiting services, Witherspoon took his lone Power 5 offer from Illinois and grinded. It paid off.
If a football fan wanted to watch a physical cornerback, Witherspoon would have been a great pick. He hits more like a linebacker despite being about 180 pounds.
Devon Witherspoon is bringing elite defensive talent to the Seattle Seahawks 😤 #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/s5JDpz0hum
— ESPN (@espn) April 28, 2023
His ball skills have proven to be tremendous as well. Witherspoon picked off 3 passes last year and broke up another 14. That’s why he went from unknown to consensus All-American and first round NFL Draft pick.
Calijah Kancey, DL, Miami (Fla.) Northwestern/Pittsburgh Panthers - 19th pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Although somewhat higher rated than Witherspoon, Kancey was still just ranked a 3-star and the 66th best defensive tackle in the nation by 247, and a 3-star overall. Pittsburgh obviously figured this one out pretty well.
None of Florida State, Florida or Miami offered him (like the other two players in this article), and he proved them all wrong. Louisville, Georgia Tech, Rutgers and South Carolina were some of his other Power 5 offers.
Kancey recorded 15.5 sacks during three seasons for the Panthers. From just 2022, he went for 7 sacks and 14 tackles for loss from 11 games.
Zay Flowers, WR, Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) U School/Boston College Eagles - 23rd pick by the Baltimore Ravens
Speed. There were some that overlooked Flowers’ ability to run by defenders because of his size, but perhaps they should not have.
He was ranked as the 189th wide receiver by 247 Sports and a 3-star recruit. Flowers went crazy for the Eagles, however.
Just from the 2022 season, Flowers racked up 78 receptions, 1,077 yards, a 13.8 average and 12 touchdowns through the air. He was the true burner that made Boston College’s offense dangerous despite not having stability at the quarterback position.
It’s going to be interesting to see what other under the radar recruits go in this year’s NFL Draft as well.
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Fan Nation High school football recruiting analyst covering the state of Florida, as well as across the Southeastern United States and the state of Texas.
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