Miami Football 2018 NFL Mock Draft: Where will the Hurricanes land?

Miami football doesn’t have a first round prospect in the upcoming 2018 NFL Draft, but they do have some future NFL mainstays.

Miami may not have that elite athlete for a first rounder like they did a year ago in David Njoku. Njoku tested off the charts at the NFL Combine and was subsequently drafted by the Cleveland Browns with the 29th overall selection in the first round. The run of the Hurricanes putting multiple first rounders in the NFL is long over but the 2018 Hurricanes’ class does have players with the ability to make and stay on NFL rosters.

The players invited to the NFL Combine were RJ McIntosh, Kendrick Norton, Mark Walton, Kc McDermott, Braxton Berrios, Chris Herndon, Chad Thomas, Dee Delaney and Michael Badgley. That gives Miami a player in every position group except for linebacker. Berrios and Walton improved their status after strange combine outings with solid pro days down in Coral Gables.

One surprise is that I don’t see Kc McDermott being drafted. McDermott, Delaney and Badgley will all be free agent signees right after the draft concludes but that trio has done nothing to show they’re a draft pick quality of player. McDermott greatly improved from 2016 to 2017 but he doesn’t have the athleticism to be a left tackle, nor the lower body drive to play right tackle or guard in the NFL.

Badgley, the placekicker, has been too inconsistent and the NFL extra point is that much harder with the new rules. Delaney was burned too often at Miami but will definitely be brought into camp and could learn as a practice squad player.

The NFL Draft’s first round kicks off April 26th at 9pm eastern, where will the Hurricanes’ prospects be draft?