4/27/2018 football Edit

SMU Wide Receiver Courtland Sutton Drafted in the 2nd Round by the Broncos

Nikki Chavanelle • TheHillTopics

Publisher

Nikki is the SMU Rivals.com site publisher. She's covered SMU Football and Basketball for Rivals for four years.

Recruited as a cornerback by June Jones' SMU staff in the final days of his recruitment, Courtland Sutton has rocketed up in the college football world and he's now SMU's second second-round NFL draft pick in five years. Sutton was drafted at no. 40 by the Denver Broncos, the home of former Mustang Emmanuel Sanders.

The 2018 draft was unique with no receiver drafted in the top 23 picks for the first time since 2010. The first wide receiver taken was D.J. Moore out of Maryland at pick No. 24 by the Carolina Panthers.

SMU's last pick in the top five rounds was defensive end Margus Hunt, drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round in the 2013 draft. The Mustangs haven't had any NFL draft picks since Kenneth Acker and Garrett Gilbert both went in the sixth round in 2014.

The 3-star recruit out of Brenham, Texas received a medical redshirt his freshman year with the Mustangs after playing in just two games. Sutton grew into his frame before his redshirt freshman season and put on 20 pounds. He went on to set the SMU freshman record for receiving yards with 862, previously held by Ron Morris. After becoming one of the few bright spots on the SMU football team in Chad Morris' first 2-10 season, he also lent a hand (or a body) to Larry Brown and the hooping Mustangs.

Sutton went first-team all-conference in his sophomore season, racking up 1,246 yards and 10 touchdowns receiving making him the 12th best receiver in the nation in 2016. Ben Hicks and Sutton continued their rhythm for the 2017 season after Sutton delayed his entrance into the 2017 NFL draft, opting to play for the Mustangs and his favorite coach Justin Stepp.

In his senior season, sharing the spotlight with the nation's leading receiver Trey Quinn, Sutton scored 12 receiving touchdowns with 1,085 yards and led the Mustangs to their first bowl game since the Hawaii Bowl in 2012.

Sutton signed an endorsement deal with Adidas as a member of the #NewSpeed #3StripeLife team, despite SMU being a Nike school.