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NFL Draft lacked Arizona representation

Arizona Sports News online

For the 2013 NFL Draft, we saw the highest player ever selected from Arizona and three players that graduated from Chandler high school.

But it was a disappointing weekend for players from both the Arizona State and University of Arizona football teams as none were drafted at all.

The following is the list of local players selected and who they will be suiting up for to start their pro career:

Dion Jordan, OLB from Chandler HS & Oregon: Miami Dolphins (First round, third overall. Highest an Arizona player has ever been selected).

Markus Wheaton, WR from Chandler HS & Oregon State: Pittsburgh Steelers (Third round, 79th overall).

Jeff Locke, P from Mountain Ridge HS & UCLA: Minnesota Vikings (Fifth round, 155th overall).

Marc Anthony, DB from Chandler HS & Cal: Baltimore Ravens (Seventh round, 247th overall).

Sean Renfree, QB from Notre Dame Prep & Duke: Atlanta Falcons (Seventh round, 249th overall).

Local college players who were expected to be drafted this weekend but were not included:

-Mesa Jackrabbit and ASU safety Keelan Johnson

-ASU captain linebacker Brandon Magee

-Desert Mountain and ASU punter Josh Hubner

-ASU running back Cameron Marshall

-Arizona quarterback Matt Scott

-Arizona wide receiver Dan Buckner

-Arizona fullback Taimi Tutogi

It is more evident than ever how bad both ASU and U of A were at keeping the top players in-state under the past coaching staffs. The top in-state players selected in this years’ draft all left Arizona for college. While the top players being looked at from the local college’s didn’t.

The last time no Wildcats were drafted was 2005. The last time there were no Sun Devils, 1963.

A born and bred Arizonan, Jared has had great passion for the hometown teams all his life. He now channel's that passion into covering the pro, college and high school teams around the state as a Multimedia Reporter for Sports360AZ.

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