Ole Miss trio selected on final day of NFL Draft
While the waiting was probably the hardest part three former Ole Miss players got the call they were looking on during the final day of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Deantre Prince, Cedric Johnson and Daijahn Anthony were all taken on Saturday, becoming the latest Rebels to get their shot of playing football on Sundays.
The first bit of good news came for Prince, who became the first Ole Miss player taken off the board. The Jacksonville Jaguars selected the cornerback in the fifth round as the 154th overall pick.
Prince bucked all of his draft projections and trends heading into the weekend, going at least one round earlier than most mock drafts had him.
Immediately after being drafted Prince was already in work mode.
“I’m looking forward to competing every play,” Prince said during a zoom call with local reporters. “I don’t care who’s across from me or who I got to hold. I’m ready to compete and do anything I have to do make sure it’s an incompletion or a pick or a fumble or anything. Make sure offense gets the ball back.”
While Prince went earlier than projected the waiting game was the opposite direction for Johnson.
Being projected as a potential late third round to early fourth round pick, Johnson did not go off the board until the sixth round. The Cincinnati Bengals drafted him as the 214th overall pick.
When Bengals head coach Zac Taylor called Johnson to inform him the former Ole Miss defensive end had one response.
“Sounds lovely,” Johnson said.
There will be familiar teammates sharing the orange and black as Anthony was also taken by the Bengals. He went in the seventh round as the 224th overall pick.
The emotions were a little different for Anthony when he got the call from Taylor.
There are already a few Rebels getting picked up as undrafted free agents in the mad dash following the draft.
Isaac Ukwu signed with the Detroit Lions while Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste was signed by the Los Angeles Chargers.
