Miami Lakes – Forty-four players hosted by the Orange Bowl were selected in the 2013 NFL Draft, including 11 from Florida State and nine from Alabama. The 44 players selected were the most draft selections the Orange Bowl has hosted since 2003 when a record 45 student-athletes who had played in the Orange Bowl were drafted.
Both victors in last year’s contests had three first round picks a piece. The 2013 National Champion Crimson Tide had three players go in consecutive picks. CB Dee Milliner was selected 9th overall by the New York Jets, OG Chance Warmack was selected 10th by the Tennessee Titans and OT D.J. Fluker was selected 11th by the San Diego Chargers.
Florida State followed suit with its own trio of stars, including star quarterback, E.J. Manuel. Manuel was the first Seminole off the board as he was selected 16th by the Buffalo Bills. Later, two more Seminoles went back-to-back as the Colts selected DE Bjoern Werner with the 24th overall pick and the Vikings selected CB Xavier Rhodes with the 25th pick.
Both teams had even more players come off the board in later rounds, including three second round picks, two fourth round picks, four fifth round picks, three sixth round picks, and two seventh round picks combined.
In addition to those two, Notre Dame and Clemson also had a good showing at the 2013 NFL Draft.
Notre Dame had six players hear their names called, including TE Tyler Eifert who was selected 21st overall by the Cincinnati Bengals and LB Manti Te’o who was selected 38th overall in the second round by the San Diego Chargers. Eifert hauled in six passes for 61 yards in the 2013 Discover BCS National Championship Game and Te’o was a Heisman finalist.
Clemson standout receiver, DeAndre Hopkins, who had 10 catches for 107 yards and a touchdown in the 2012 Orange Bowl, was selected 27th overall by the Houston Texans. In later rounds, Malliciah Goodman (4th round), Jonathan Meeks (5th round), and Andre Ellington (6th round) would join Hopkins as the other Clemson Tigers selected in the draft.
West Virginia, headlined by Orange Bowl record breakers Tavon Austin (8th overall) and Geno Smith (39th overall), had three selections, as did Stanford and Oklahoma. Virginia Tech had two players go in the sixth round, while Cincinnati, Florida, and Iowa each had one player a piece selected in the draft after playing in an Orange Bowl hosted event.
The 2014 Discover Orange Bowl will be played on January 3, 2014 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL.
