PHILADELPHIA (April 28, 2017) – FIU tight end
Jonnu Smith has been selected by the Tennessee Titans in the 3
rd round (100
th pick) of the 2017 NFL Draft.
Smith becomes the seventh Panther in FIU history to be selected in the NFL Draft and the first since 2013 (Johnathan Cyprien – second round/pick 33; Tourek Williams – sixth round/pick 179).
This past season, Smith appeared and started in 11 games for the Panthers. The native of Ocala, Florida, caught 42 passes for 506 yards and four touchdowns. He became the fifth player in FIU history to register over 2,000 yards receiving during a career (2,001 yards). Smith averaged 12.0 yards-per-catch and 46.0 yards-per-game in 2016. He finished his career registering at least one reception in every game he played (43-straight – second-most in school history). Smith caught the game-winning touchdown pass at Charlotte – his first TD catch of the season. He opened the season with a season-high eight catches for 83 yards versus Indiana (Sept. 1). A Second-Team All-C-USA selection in 2016, Smith was a Preseason First-Team All-Conference USA honoree by
Athlon and
Phil Steele and was named to the John Mackey Award Watch List.
For his career, Smith recorded 178 receptions for 2,001 yards and 18 touchdowns. Among all positions, Smith ranks No. 4 all-time in career receptions, No. 5 in career receiving yards and No. 3 in career receiving touchdowns in the FIU record books.
At pick No. 100, Smith's selection is the third-highest in FIU history behind Cyprien (No. 33 in 2013) and T.Y. Hilton (No. 92 in 2012).
The NFL Draft will resume on Saturday, April 29, with rounds 4-7.
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Riccardo Silva Stadium.
About FIU:
Florida International University is classified by Carnegie as a "R1: Doctoral Universities - Highest Research Activity" and recognized as a Carnegie Community Engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as business, engineering, computer science, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes almost $9 billion each year to the local economy and is ranked second in Florida in Forbes Magazine's "America's Best Employers" list. FIU graduates are consistently among the highest paid college graduates in Florida and are among the leaders of public and private organizations throughout South Florida. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission with multiple state-of-the-art research facilities including the Wall of Wind Research and Testing Facility, FIU's Medina Aquarius Program and the Advanced Materials Engineering Research Institute. FIU has awarded more than 220,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, the Miami Beach Urban Studios, and Tianjin, China. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and more than 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
