3 Texas players picked in first round in recent mock draft

Multiple Texas football players had enormous showings at the 2024 NFL Combine in Indianapolis, IN, last week. Texas wide receivers Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell stole the show in Indy last weekend with some blazing-fast 40-yard dash times.

Mitchell turned heads with a speedy 4.35-second official 40-yard dash time. He also tested well in other events such as the vertical leap and broad jump, where he led all wide receiver with an 11-foot-4 jump.

Texas football WRs Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell slide into the first round in CBS Sports' latest mock draft

But it was Worthy that really captured the attention of football fans around the country. Worthy broke former Washington Huskies wide receiver John Ross's record for the fastest 40-yard dash time, timing in at 4.21 seconds officially.

Worthy also ranked among the five best wideouts in the broad jump and vertical leap.

Joining Mitchell and Worthy among the former Longhorns who were top performers at the combine last week was defensive tackle Byron Murphy II. The reigning Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year Murphy ranked among the fastest defensive tackles at the combine, running an official 4.87-second 40-yard dash.

The strong combine performances from the trio of former Longhorns in Mitchell, Worthy, and Murphy, has seemingly boosted all of their stock for the 2024 NFL Draft.

The improved draft stock of this trio of Longhorns was reflected in CBS Sports' post-combine 2024 NFL Mock Draft. Mitchell, Worthy, and Mitchell were also selected in the first round of the latest mock draft from Kyle Stackpole of CBS Sports.

Murphy was the first Longhorn off the board in this CBS Sports mock draft. Stackpole projected him to be selected 17th overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first round. It feels like the middle of the first round is where Murphy has solified his draft stock coming out of the combine.

The next Longhorn projected to go in the first round in this mock draft was Mitchell, going 26th overall to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With veteran wide receiver Mike Evans likely to take his talents elsewhere this offseason, the Bucs get a replacement in their receiving corps for the 10-year pro with Mitchell.

Last but not least, the stock boost from a strong combine performance got Worthy selected 28th overall in the first round by the Buffalo Bills. Stackpole said that Worthy breaking the "NFL Combine record in the 40-yard dash automatically" landed him in the first round of his mock draft.

There is a great chance we could see multiple Texas players selected in the first round of the NFL Draft since 2007 when defensive backs Michael Griffin and Aaron Ross were both taken in the top 20.

Worthy, Mitchell, and Murphy look like the three most likely Longhorns to be taken in the first round after their outstanding combine performances. But Texas has others who could slide into the first round, too, including tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders and defensive tackle T'Vondre Sweat.

It's clear that the idea that the Longhorns don't develop talent at a high level for the last decade to 15 years is a reputation that gets buried this offseason. Texas will have the most players of any Big 12 team selected in this draft. And it could easily have the most first-rounders of any Big 12 team in the 2024 draft.

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