Trio of Blue Devils picked in NFL draft
Duke was shut out of the NFL draft last season.
The Blue Devils aren’t going two years in a row without a selection.
Three former players were drafted on the third day of the NFL draft on Saturday. Wesley Williams was a fourth-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars; Chandler Rivers was a fifth-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens; and Brian Parker II was a sixth-round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals.
All three players were members of Duke’s Class of 2022. They committed to the coaching staff of David Cutcliffe, signed with and played the first two seasons with Mike Elko, and spent the last two seasons playing for Manny Diaz.
Williams was the 119th overall pick. He was a redshirt junior and was an honorable mention All-ACC pick for the past two seasons. In 41 career games for the Blue Devils, Williams had 131 tackles, 29 TFLs, 11 sacks, 28 QB pressures and five blocked kicks.
Rivers was the 162nd overall pick. The only game he missed in the last four seasons was Duke’s bowl game this past season, which he opted out of to prepare for the draft process. Across 52 games (45 starts), he had 223 tackles, 16 TFLs, seven interceptions, three forced fumbles, 29 pass break-ups and seven QB pressures.
Rivers was the MVP of the Birmingham Bowl in 2023, a 17-10 win against Troy.
Parker was the 189th overall pick and is headed home. He’s from Cincinnati and will start his NFL career with his hometown Bengals. Parker was a second-team All-ACC selection in each of the past two seasons. The only game he missed last season was the Sun Bowl — like Rivers, he sat out to prepare for the NFL process.
He started all 13 games of the 2024 season and according to PFF, played the most pass-blocking snaps in the country (515) without allowing a sack.
Duke’s last draft picks were Graham Barton (first round), DeWayne Carter (third) and Jacob Monk (fifth) in the 2024 draft.
