Florida State junior cornerback Jalen Ramsey will forgo his final year of eligibility with the Seminoles to enter the 2016 NFL Draft.
The star cornerback for the Florida State Seminoles Jalen Ramsey announced through Florida State’s athletic department that he will forego his senior season in Tallahassee and enter the 2016 NFL Draft.
Complete statement from Jalen Ramsey: pic.twitter.com/jJYQGwdHrj
— FSU Football (@FSUFootball) January 5, 2016
Ramsey spoke highly of Florida State University and his teammates in his official statement stating, “I will miss each of you tremendously. I will also miss my teammates, coaches and support staff who have made these last three years the best of my life!”
Ramsey is one of the premier cornerbacks in the country along with Clemson’s Mackensie Alexander and Florida’s Vernon Hargreaves, III, ironically both playing for two of Florida State’s biggest rivals. Hargreaves has already declared for the draft and while Alexander could if he wanted to as a redshirt sophomore, he may not announce his intentions until after the National Championship Game in Glendale, Arizona next week. His Clemson Tigers will face the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Early draft boards project that Ramsey will likely go in the top 10 of the 2016 NFL Draft, as a few of the teams in the top 10 desperately need to bolster their defensive backfields. He could go as high as No. 6 to the Baltimore Ravens, who are looking to rebuild their once daunting defense. Ramsey likely won’t fall past either the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 9 or the New York Giants at No. 10, as both NFC teams struggled mightily in the defensive backfield in 2015.
Ramsey is likely the second cornerback off the board in the 2016 NFL Draft behind on Hargreaves, who was a top 10 pick during his freshman season at Florida in all honesty. It’s difficult to return to school when going in the top 10 is essentially guaranteed. Ramsey already has three seasons playing in meaningful bowl games during his three years with the Seminoles. He’s likely ready for the next challenge in his football career. That would be the NFL.