The University of Florida football program had a total of 17 players who appeared in the Bowl Championship Series national championship game selected in the 2007 National Football League Draft at Radio City Music Hall or sign as a free agent.

 

On the first day of the draft, which covered rounds one through three, three Florida players were taken. In the first round, defensive Jarvis Moss was the 17th overall selection by the Denver Broncos and safety Reggie Nelson was selected 21st overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Defensive end Ray McDonald was selected as the 97th overall pick in the third round by the San Francisco 49ers.

 

On Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers selected defensive lineman Joe Cohen in the fourth round as the 135th overall pick. Cornerback Ryan Smith was taken as the 206th overall pick in the sixth round by the Tennessee Titans. In the seventh round, a trio of Gators were selected as wide receiver Dallas Baker went to the Pittsburgh Steelers (227th overall), running back DeShawn Wynn went to the Green Bay Packers (228th overall) and linebacker Brandon Siler was selected by the San Diego Chargers (240th overall).

 

Florida's list of NFL draft selections and free agent signees is below:

 

Name:                        Round:            Pick (Overall):          Team:

Jarvis Moss, DE        1                  17 (17)                   Denver Broncos

Reggie Nelson, S       1                  21 (21)                   Jacksonville Jaguars

Ray McDonald, DE     3                  34 (97)                   San Francisco 49ers

Joe Cohen, DE          4                  36 (135)                 San Francisco 49ers

Ryan Smith, CB         6                  32 (206)                 Tennessee Titans

Dallas Baker, WR       7                  17 (227)                 Pittsburgh Steelers

DeShawn Wynn, RB   7                  18 (228)                 Green Bay Packers

Brandon Siler, LB       7                  30 (240)                 San Diego Chargers

 

Free Agents

Jemalle Cornelius - Buffalo Bills

Brian Crum - Kansas City

Earl Everett - Cincinnati

Steven Harris - Denver Broncos

Billy Latsko - Carolina Panthers

Chris Leak - Chicago Bears

Reggie Lewis - Buffalo Bills

Steve Rissler - Dallas

Eric Wilbur - Houston Texans

 

Draft Notes

- With Jarvis Moss and Reggie Nelson selected in the first round, Florida has now had 37 first round draft picks in school history.

- With Jarvis Moss and Reggie Nelson selected in the first round, Florida had two first-round draft picks for the ninth time in school history. UF had two defensive players taken in the first round for the fourth time in school history. 

- Moss is the first UF first-round draft pick since Rex Grossman was a first round pick by the Chicago Bears in 2003.

- Moss is the highest Florida player taken since offensive lineman Kenyatta Walker was the 14th overall pick in the first round of the 2001 draft. Gerard Warren was the third pick overall in the same draft.

- Moss is the eighth UF defensive lineman to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.

- Moss was the sixth defensive lineman selected in the 2007 draft and the fourth defensive end.

- Nelson is the fourth UF defensive back to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft and the second highest Gator DB ever selected (Steve Tannen was the 20th pick overall by the New York Jets in the 1970 Draft).

- The Gators had three athletes selected through three rounds of the draft for the first time since 2004 when four UF athletes were selected through the first three rounds (Ben Troupe, 40th; Keiwan Ratliff, 49th; Max Starks, 75th; Guss Scott, 95th).

- Florida had three defensive players selected through the first three rounds for the first time since 1999 when five members of the Gators’ defensive were taken.

- With Pittsburgh’s selection of Dallas Baker in the sixth round, Baker becomes the 20th Gator to be drafted by the Steelers, who have drafted UF players than any other NFL team.

- In the fourth round, defensive lineman Marcus Thomas was taken as the 121st selection by the Denver Broncos. Thomas played five games for Florida in 2006.

 

First Round Picks by Conference

SEC                        11

Big 10                     6

Big East                  5

Big 12                     4

ACC                       3

Pac 10                    1

Independent            1

Mid-American           1                 

 

SEC Notes

- The SEC finished the draft with a total of 41 players selected

- The SEC had the No. 1 pick in the draft for the fourth time in the last 10 years

- Three of the first five defensive players taken were from the SEC

- Three of the first eight players taken were from the SEC

- The SEC had 11 first round selections, which was the most of any conference.

- The 11 first round draft picks were the most ever by the SEC. In 1998 and 2005, the SEC had 10 first round draft selections.

- The SEC, Big Ten and Pac-10 were tied with the most selections in the second round with six each. The Big 12, WAC and Mountain West each had three selections.

- After two rounds, the SEC led with 17 selections, followed by the Big Ten with 13, Big 12 and the ACC with seven each.

- During the first day (three rounds of the NFL Draft), the SEC led with 21 selections, followed by the Big Ten with 18, ACC with 14, Big 12 with nine and the WAC with seven selections.

 

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