Pocic, Riley, Beckwith Among NFL Draft Day 2 Picks

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Todd Politz (@tpolitz)Director of Digital Media



BATON ROUGE -- LSU Football players continues to be grabbed at a record pace in the 2017 NFL Draft, as three more Tigers were selected in the second and third rounds held Friday night in Philadelphia.
With Leonard Fournette, Jamal Adams and Tre'Davious White each taken in the first round Thursday night, the three-round total of six Tigers drafted matches a school record set in 2013. LSU looks to break its record of nine draftees (2013 and 2014).
The final four rounds of the NFL Draft start Saturday at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN and the NFL Network.
Senior center Ethan Pocic was the first off the board on draft day 2, 58th overall pick (second round) by the Seattle Seahawks.
In the third round, linebackers Duke Riley and Kendell Beckwith heard their names called and will each see familiar faces in their professional destinations.
Riley, a senior from Buras, Louisiana, was the 75th overall selection (third round) by the NFC Champion Atlanta Falcons. Riley will find himself alongside former Tigers linebacker and Super Bowl participant Deion Jones, a second-round pick in 2016 who had a spectacular rookie season with 108 tackles, 14 passes defended and three interceptions with two defensive touchdowns.
Riley was named LSU's Defensive MVP in 2016 after starking all 12 games with 93 tackles including nine behind the line of scrimmage.
Beckwith, also a senior from Clinton, Louisiana, was the final pick of Friday's third round (107th overall) by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He, too, joins a former Tiger coming off a terrific season, as linebacker Kwon Alexander. Alexander, a fourth-round pick of the Bucs in 2015, finished fourth in the NFL with 145 tackles in 2016.
Pocic, a native of Lemont, Illinois, returned for his senior season, graduated in December, and became a First-Team All-American and First-Team All-SEC center. He was a three-year starter on an LSU line that produced 1,000-yard rushes ...

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