Mizzou

Mizzou

Two more standouts from the 2014 Mizzou Tiger football team had their names called at the 2015 NFL Draft, giving Mizzou five picks in all – its most since six Tigers were taken in 2009.

Adding their names to the annals of Mizzou NFL Draft history today were WR Bud Sasser (Denton, Texas) and TB/KR Marcus Murphy (DeSoto, Texas). Sasser was taken with the 25th pick of the sixth round (pick #201 overall) by the in-state St. Louis Rams, while Murphy was snagged with the 13th pick of round seven (#230 overall) by the New Orleans Saints.

Sasser won 1st-Team All-SEC honors in 2014 after a breakout season as he became a 1,000-yard receiver for the 11-3 SEC Eastern Division and Citrus Bowl champion Tigers. Sasser led Mizzou in all receiving categories as he caught 77 passes for 1,003 yards and 12 touchdowns. He is the first wide receiver to be drafted from Mizzou since Jeremy Maclin in 2009 (Eagles, 1st round, #19 overall). He is the third Tiger to be taken by the Rams in the last two drafts, joining CB E.J. Gaines (6th round, #188 overall) and DE Michael Sam (7th round, #249 overall).

Murphy won 1st-Team All-American honors for a stellar senior season where he did it all for Mizzou, gaining 1,921 all-purpose yards, including 924 rushing yards, 504 kickoff return yards, 281 punt return yards and 212 receiving yards. Murphy scored touchdowns four different ways in 2014, including four rushing TDs, two kickoff return TDs, one receiving TD and one punt return score. Murphy closed out his Tiger career in style, rushing for a career-best 157 yards in helping lead Mizzou to a 33-17 Citrus Bowl win over Minnesota. He’s the first Tiger to be drafted by the Saints since 1982 (Brad Edelman, 2nd round, #30 overall).

It was a banner year overall for Mizzou in the draft, as the five picks are the second-most under Gary Pinkel, behind only the six Tigers selected in 2009. In the Pinkel era, 32 Tigers have been drafted now overall, including 22 in the last seven drafts (2009-15).
Sasser and Murphy were preceded in the 2015 NFL Draft by Shane Ray (Broncos, 1st round, #23 overall), Mitch Morse (Chiefs, 2nd round, #49 overall) and Markus Golden(Cardinals, 2nd round, #58 overall). Mizzou and Alabama are the only two SEC teams to have three players selected in the first two rounds this year.