ORLANDO – The UCF football program continues to send players to the NFL, as Gabriel Davis became the 42nd Knight to hear his name announced at the NFL Draft when the Buffalo Bills selected him 128th overall in the fourth round on Saturday.
Davis, a local product of Seminole High School in Sanford, made his mark early at UCF, starting all 13 games of the Knights' perfect 13-0 season as a freshman in 2017. He caught 27 balls for 391 yards and four touchdowns as UCF won the American Athletic Conference Championship, the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, and a national championship.
He made big strides from freshman-to-sophomore year, earning first-team all-conference honors from The American in 2018 after hauling in 53 catches for 815 yards and seven touchdowns. He played in all 13 games again, as UCF won its second straight AAC Championship and earned a bid to the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl.
This past year was his best yet, recording 72 receptions and a UCF single-season record 1,241 yards en route to third-team All-America honors by Pro Football Focus and honorable mention All-America honors by Phil Steele.
Davis once again earned first-team all-conference honors from The American, ranking eighth nationally with 103.4 receiving yards per game and 12th with 12 receiving touchdowns, which were two away from UCF's single-season record.
For his career he caught 23 touchdown passes, the second most in UCF history. His 2,447 career receiving yards rank seventh all-time in program history, hist 152 career receptions rank 10th all-time and his eight games of 100 or more receiving yards are ninth most in program history.
Davis is the third UCF player to be drafted by Buffalo, joining Bernard Ford (3rd Round, 1988) and Torell Troup (2nd Round, 2010).
He is also the 10th Knight receiver to get drafted into the NFL, which includes Brandon Marshall, who also went in the fourth round before enjoying an illustrious NFL career with six Pro Bowl selections and two All-Pro honors.
Draft Notes
- 42nd player from UCF selected in the NFL Draft
- The Knights have now had at least one player drafted in 14 of the last 15 years
- UCF has now had 18 total players picked in the last 12 drafts
- There have now been 10 UCF receivers that have been drafted
- Ted Wilson (1987, 10th Round, 274th)
- Bernard Ford (1988, 3rd Round, 65th)
- Shawn Jefferson (1991, 9th Round, 240th)
- Charles Lee (2000, 7th Round, 242nd)
- Doug Gabriel (2003, 5th Round, 167th)
- Brandon Marshall (2006, 4th Round, 119th)
- Mike Sims-Walker (2007, 3rd Round, 79th)
- Breshad Perriman (2015, 1st Round, 26th)
- Tre'Quan Smith (2018, 3rd Round, 91st)
- Gabriel Davis (2020, 4th Round, 128th)
- In Josh Heupel's two years at the helm he has had a player drafted in both 2019 and 2020
- Trysten Hill (2019, 2nd Round, 58th)
- Gabriel Davis (2020, 4th Round, 128th)