Utah Utes In The NFL Draft (Past And Future)

Jan 4, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith (11) during the 2013 AFC wild card playoff football game against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

The First Round of the NFL Draft happened last night and no Utes were taken.  Expect that to change when at least Keith McGill’s name should be called.  This last week I’ve been posting some links and videos of the Utes who are likely to get drafted.  If you’ve missed that here they are.

In addition to them, Anthony Denham and Tenny Palepoi will likely get free agent chances as well.

But the Deseret News put together an interesting list of the 25 highest drafted Utes in NFL History.  Make sure to check out the entire list.  But I thought it would be worthwhile to break out the top Utes since Ron McBride became coach as that was when Utah Football really became something.

  1. Alex Smith (1st Round, 1st Pick)
  2. Jordan Gross (1st Round, 8th Pick)
  3. Star Lotulelei (1st Round, 14th Pick)
  4. Kevin Dyson (1st Round, 16th Pick)
  5. Luther Elliss (1st Round, 20th Pick)
  6. Eric Weddle (2nd Round, 37th Pick)
  7. Koa Misi (2nd Round, 40th Pick)
  8. Zane Beadles (2nd Round, 45th Pick)
  9. Paul Kruger (2nd Round, 57th Pick)
  10. Andre Dyson (2nd Round, 60th Pick)
  11. Sean Smith (2nd Round, 61st Pick)

Certainly a group the Utes can be proud of.  Later  I’ll discuss the rest of the list, a lot of guys most of you have never heard of because Utah for a long time did a really poor job connecting with it’s history