UF DT Gervon Dexter, All-American G O’Cyrus Torrence chosen in 2nd round

Former Florida defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. and offensive guard O’Cyrus Torrence spent last season helping each other improve.

On Friday night their hard work paid off as two teammates on opposites side of the football were selected during the second round of the NFL Draft.

The Chicago Bears chose Dexter with the No. 52 overall selection. Seven picks later, the Buffalo Bills picked Torrence No. 59.

The two players arrived at virtually the same point taking very different paths.

Florida defensive lineman Gervon Dexter Sr., shown Oct. 2, 2022, against Eastern Washington, was selected by the Chicago Bears with the No. 53 overall pick. (Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP)

Dexter was a 5-star recruit from Lake Wales in 2020 with limitless potential when UF signed him.

Torrence was a lightly recruiting offensive lineman from rural Louisiana who was ranked outside the nation’s top 1,500 players in the 2019 class when Billy Napier lured him to Lafayette.

Both would make an immediate impact.

Torrence moved into a starting role after a starter was injured and eventually earned freshman All-American honors. Dexter intercepted a pass at Ole Miss during his first game for the Gators but rarely made the big plays expected of a player standing 6-foot-6 with more than 300 pounds plus a basketball background.

Given his size, speed (4.88 in 40) and versatility, the Bears chose potential over production (10.5 tackles for loss in three seasons). The Gators’ lack of interior line depth also forced Dexter to average more than 60 snaps in 2022.

Torrence was a rock. He eventually developed into a consensus All-American after he followed Napier from Louisiana to Gainesville following three seasons together. The native of tiny Greensburg (pop. 718) in Louisiana’s northeast established himself as one of the nation’s top offensive linemen.

Per Pro Football Focus, he finished the 2022 season with a grade of 88%, tops nationally among interior offensive linemen, while allowing just eight pressures. He did not yield a sack in four seasons.

Torrence became the first UF lineman selected consensus All-American since Maurkice Pouncey in 2009. Pouncey was selected No. 18 overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2010. A year later the Miami Dolphins selected his brother Mike No. 15.

The honor earned Torrence a brick outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium’s southwest corner.

With more than college 3,000 snaps to his credit, he was one of the few plug-and-play interior lineman available.

“I’m coming in ready to start, ready to compete from Day One,” he said March 30 at UF’s Pro Day.

Standing 6-foot-5, 330 pounds with an wingspan of nearly seven feet (83⅞ inches) and 11¼-inch hands, Torrence is a handful for a defender. The 23-year-old plays with sound technique and knows the tricks of the trade honed during 47 college starts, 11 of them last season at UF.

Florida offensive lineman O'Cyrus Torrence, shown Nov. 19, 2022, at Vanderbilt, was a consensus All-American in 2022. (Mark Humphrey/AP)

Yet Torrence had to wait longer for a team to draft him than he had hoped or pundits had predicted. Many pegged Torrence as a first-round pick after his 2022 season and strong performance at the Senior Bowl.

He was passed over and surprisingly drafted after Dexter, who was deemed a top-75 pick but not expected to go ahead of Torrence.

The Los Angeles Rams had used the No. 36 pick on TCU interior lineman Steve Avila. A guard in college, Avila also can play center, offering position flexibility teams covet.

The New York Jets, another team in need of interior linemen, selected Wisconsin center Joe Tippmann at No. 43. Then with the No. 48 pick, Tampa Bay selected North Dakota State’s Cody Mauch, who showed the ability to play all five positions on the line but is viewed as an NFL guard.

Torrence eventually found a home with one of the AFC’s top teams and will block for star quarterback Josh Allen. Dexter heads to a team in need of help. The 2022 Bears ranked No. 29 in total defense.

This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Edgar Thompson at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @osgators.