CLEMSON — Clemson Tigers Andre Branch, Dwayne Allen and Brandon Thompson were all drafted by the National Football League on Friday night. Branch was taken in the second round by the Jacksonville Jaguars, Allen by the Indianapolis Colts and Thompson by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Branch was the sixth selection of the second round and the 38th overall selection of the draft by Jacksonville. He is the first former Tiger drafted by the Jaguars, who have been in the NFL since 1995. He is the highest drafted Tiger since C.J. Spiller went ninth overall to Buffalo in 2010.
Allen was the first pick of the third round by the Indianapolis Colts, the 64th overall pick of the draft. Allen, who was the winner of the John Mackey Award as the top tight end in the nation this past year, will join number-one draft pick Andrew Luck of Stanford, and tight end Coby Fleener of Stanford on the Colts team. Fleener and Allen were both finalists for the Mackey Award this past year.
Thompson was the 93rd overall pick of the draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. The second-team All-ACC performer at defensive tackle is the first Clemson player taken by the Bengals since 1999 when Donald Broomfield was taken in the seventh round.
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