Follow the Hurricanes In Saturday's 2002 NFL Draft
April 19, 2002
NFL Draft Eligible Players’ Bios in PDF Format
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) – Fourteen University of Miami football student-athletes are eligible for selection in Saturday’s National Football League Draft, beginning at 12 p.m. Eastern time and televised live by ESPN. The first three rounds will take place Saturday with the remaining four rounds being held Sunday starting at Noon.
Many draft prognosticators predict that from four to six Hurricanes could be selected in the first round and there is a possibility that NFL teams could select all 14 draft-eligible during the weekend. Last season, four Hurricanes were selected in the first round: Damione Lewis (St. Louis with the 11th pick), Dan Morgan (Carolina, 12th), Santana Moss (N.Y. Jets, 16th) and Reggie Wayne (Indianapolis, 30th). Overall in 2001, seven UM players were taken with James Jackson (3rd round, Cleveland), Leonard Myers (6th round, New England) and Andre King (7th round, Cleveland) rounding out the UM selections.
The most Hurricanes selected in a single NFL Draft were 12 in 1988, followed by 11 in 1963 and 9 in 1993. Miami has produced two No. 1 selections in the draft: Vinny Testaverde (1987 by Tampa Bay) and Russell Maryland (1991 by Dallas).
Miami will be shooting for a record total of first-round selections in consecutive NFL Drafts. Miami had four in 2001. The current record is 7, set by Southern Cal (USC) in 1968-69 and tied by Notre Dame in 1993-94. Southern Cal produced 6 first round selections over the two-year spans of 1980-81 and 1982-83, as did Ohio State in 1995-96.
Entering the 2002 Draft, Miami’s best back-to-back seasons of first round productivity are the 5 selections in 1988-89, 1987-88, and 2000-01. Florida State also produced 5 first-round selections in 1995-96, as did Tennessee in 1991-92.
The most players selected in a single NFL Draft from a single school is 14 set by USC in 1975 and duplicated in 1977.
Here are some other draft notes to keep in mind when watching this weekend’s NFL Draft:
1. Since 1987, Miami has had a total of 25 first-round draft picks. The figure leads all schools during that span, including Florida State (20), Ohio State (19), Florida (18) and Tennessee (17).
2. Miami has had at least one first-round draft pick in 13 of the past 15 drafts, missing only the 1993 and 1994 drafts when UM had a combined five second-rounders. Seven times during that span the Hurricanes had multiple first-round selections. Tennessee and Florida are next, with first-round draft picks in 11 of the past 15 drafts.
3. A total of 50 Hurricanes have been drafted in the first three rounds since 1987, the most by any school during this span. Florida State is narrowly second with 49 combined selections, followed by Tennessee (44) and Notre Dame (40).
4. Southern California had the most players drafted in the first-round (5) during the 1968 NFL draft. Four other schools, including Miami (2001), have had four first-round selections in a single draft, along with Notre Dame (1946, 193), Florida State (1997) and Ohio State (1971).
5. The Hurricanes lead the nation with first-round selections in the last seven drafts since 1995. Florida is second with first-rounders in the last five drafts, then Syracuse (4).
6. Since 1987, only five schools have a combined double-digit draft picks in each of the first three rounds, including Miami, Florida State, Tennessee, Notre Dame and Nebraska.
7. Miami and Florida State are tied for the second-most second-round draft picks since 1987 with 14 each. Tennessee and Notre Dame each have 16 second-round picks.
