Gators CB Marcus Roberson enters NFL Draft

By Adam Silverstein
January 3, 2014

The Florida Gators on Friday lost their second junior cornerback to the 2014 NFL Draft as Marcus Roberson informed the program that he has decided to forego his final season of eligibility in order to play professional football.

“Marcus has informed me that he has made the decision to pursue his dream of playing in the NFL,” said Muschamp in a school release. “Marcus was part of our first recruiting class and it was a pleasure watching him mature and develop both on and off the field during his time here. I look forward to watching him play on Sundays and, like all of our players, I encourage them to return to complete his degree.”

Roberson only played seven of 12 games in 2013, missing four games due to injury and another to suspension after committing a violation of team rules. He ended his final season at Florida with 11 solo tackles, three pass defenses and no interceptions.

His best year with the Gators came as a sophomore in 2012 when he played in 13 games, starting four. Roberson registered 23 tackles, 12 pass defenses and two interceptions. He also forced a fumble and picked up a sack.

For his efforts, Roberson was named to the 2012 All-SEC Second Team.

“I’m very thankful of everyone at Florida that helped me to get to this point in my career,” said Roberson via the school. “From Tony Meacham, my academic adviser, to Jeff Dillman to Coach Muschamp and the entire coaching staff. It’s been a great experience here and now that it is over I can truly appreciate everything that is in place here for players to be successful and have an opportunity to play at the next level.”

Roberson joins fellow junior cornerback Loucheiz Purifoy as the only two underclassmen thus far to leave Florida for the draft. Both were projected as first-round selections before the season but have seen their stock dip after the 2013 campaign.

Purifoy has been praised for his athleticism and ability to help on special teams but criticized for his technique as a cornerback, which evaluators believe he needs to improve. The primary concerns with Roberson are his injury history, lack of field time this past season and substandard production when he did play.

8 Comments

  1. John says:

    I know that this isn’t about football Adam, but with no reports yet does that mean that Chris Walker will not play against Richmond?

  2. Gatoralum88 says:

    No surprise. Good for him! Maybe it’ll give Adoree’ Jackson more incentive to sign with UF.

  3. G2 says:

    Another kick on the nads. can’t catch a break. Players leaving early that have no business jumping now. Starting to wonder whats going on with this coaching staff. We’ll never get to the next level without seniors on board. Constantly “rebuilding”, what a joke!

    • Joe says:

      He has business jumping… he was slated as a first round pick prior to the season. This was expected to say the least. It would have been a surprise to me if he stayed. He’ll probably go late 2nd – early 3rd. We’re doing alright, we’ve got plenty of talent returning.

    • Champ supporter says:

      Come on man! Why are you surprised by this? Besides, it’s not like we aren’t loaded at the DB position. We will be fine. The guy was projected as one of the top corners by Todd McShay before getting injured and falling a bit.

      • G2 says:

        Not surprised, just upset. As a soph Roberson was great and got all this attention, but what did he do this year in the 5 games he played? Nowhere close to the hype. He’s dropped in the draft to maybe 3rd round? If it was me I would come back and prove I’m a first rounder and that last season was a fluke.
        RP needs to prove something also, unless you can be a dominating player on the collegiate level don’t expect to go very far on the NFL. I was hoping to see him do big things next year. You cant keep plugging freshmen in (with the exception of VH3) and compete at a high level.

  4. g8ter27 says:

    No big loss, he didn’t play very much last year and had two pick the year before. More playing time for our younger guys.

  5. uf_84 says:

    Good luck in the “league” Marcus. I’d love to see you and Purifoy join Josh Evans in Jax.

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