A look at USF’s all-time draft class

Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul (left) was USF football’s highest draft pick. Linebackers Aaron Lynch (bottom right) and Sam Barrington (top right) were selected in the fifth and seventh rounds respectively. All three are starters and Pierre-Paul is a two-time Pro Bowl selection.
SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE

There have been 24 Bulls selected in the NFL draft, the first coming in 2001. Seven players have been drafted in the first three rounds with one as high as 15th overall. With the 2016 NFL draft tonight, here are some of USF’s top draftees over the last 15 years.

Jason Pierre-Paul: First round, 15th overall, Giants

Pierre-Paul had one standout year with USF during the 2009 season. His exceptional size and quickness allowed him to wreak havoc on opposing defenses. 

Pierre-Paul finished his junior season with 6.5 sacks, one interception (returned 18 yards for a touchdown), and 16.5 tackles for loss in 13 games. Pierre-Paul decided to forgo his senior season at USF and enter the NFL early. 

Since entering the NFL, the 6-foot-4, 270-pound defensive end has 44 sacks and eight forced fumbles in six seasons with the New York Giants. 

He also won Super Bowl XLVI and has been selected to two Pro Bowls.

Mike Jenkins: First round, 25th overall, Cowboys

Jenkins, a USF football and track star, finished his collegiate career with 133 tackles, a school-record 47 passes defensed and six interceptions at safety. 

He was selected 25th overall to the Dallas Cowboys, but has since bounced around to both the Oakland Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

A pro bowler in 2009, Jenkins has 10 interceptions and a defensive touchdown in seven seasons in the NFL. Jenkins is currently a free agent after missing most of 2015 with an injury.

Nate Allen: Second round, 37 overall, Eagles

Allen began his career as a two-star recruit out of Cape Coral High School. Starting at safety as a sophomore, Allen recorded 84 tackles, four interceptions and three fumble recoveries. 

Considered among the top safeties in the draft, Allen was selected in the second round by the Philadelphia Eagles and spent four seasons there before signing with the Raiders in 2015. 

Allen has 10 interceptions over five seasons.

 

Aaron Lynch: Fifth round, 150th overall, 49ers

Lynch is USF’s most recent breakout player in the NFL. The former First-Team All-AAC outside linebacker recorded six sacks and a fumble returned for a touchdown in his only season at USF. 

The 6-foot-5, 270-pounder has been a standout for the San Francisco 49ers since being drafted in 2014. 

Lynch has 12.5 sacks in two seasons on a lackluster 49er defense that saw a bevy of retirements soon after Lynch’s arrival.

George Selvie: Seventh round, 226 overall, Rams

A diamond in the rough, Selvie slipped toward the end of the final round, but not for a lack of talent. 

The 6-foot-4, 270-pound defensive end was a two-time First-Team All-Conference selection while at USF and was selected as the Big East Defensive Player of the Year in 2007. 

A four-year starter, he recorded 29 sacks and nine forced fumbles. Selvie has traveled around the league with stops in Carolina, Tampa Bay, Dallas and Jacksonville before settling in with former USF teammate Pierre-Paul in New York last season.

Recent picks: USF has had five players selected in the past five seasons including Lynch. In 2013, linebacker Sam Barrington was selected by the Green Bay Packers, earning a starting role in 2014 before suffering a foot injury prior to the 2015 season. 

USF had two draftees in last year’s draft with offensive linemen Austin Reiter and Reshard Cliett going in the final two rounds. Cliett tore his ACL in the first day of training camp last offseason, but is still on the Houston Texans’ roster. 

Reiter, drafted in the seventh round by the Washington Redskins, has yet to start a game, but remains on the team.