Hurricanes safety Kinchens picked by Rams in third round

After a quiet first two days to the 2024 NFL Draft for South Florida, close to a dozen players from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties could all find homes in Rounds 4-7 on Saturday.

On Day 1 on Thursday, St. Thomas Aquinas’ Dallas Turner was the lone South Floridian to get picked in Round 1, going to the Vikings at No. 17 after an All-American junior season at Alabama. On Day 2 on Friday after more than 80 picks went by without another player from the Miami metropolitan area getting picked, Northwestern’s Kamren Kinchens became the first player from Miami-Dade County picked with the penultimate selection of Round 3, going to the Rams after an All-American career at Miami.

Day 3 kicked off with Deerfield Beach’s Brandon Dorlus going to the Falcons early in the fourth round.

Round 1, Pick 17: OLB Dallas Turner, Alabama (St. Thomas Aquinas) — Vikings

Turner was twice a Broward County Defensive Player of the Year, according to the Miami Herald, and then became a first-team All-American at Alabama, so it was not surprise to see him be one of the first defensive players picked in the 2024 Draft on Thursday. After offensive players went with the first 14 picks, a run on defenders began and Turner wound up heading to Minnesota after the Vikings traded up to grab the edge rusher. The 6-foot-3, 247-pound linebacker, who spent three seasons at Plantation American Heritage before transferring to play his senior season with the Raiders had 116 tackles and 28 sacks in his final two seasons of high school, then 33 1/2 tackles for loss and 23 1/2 sacks in his three seasons with the Crimson Tide. Turner won a pair of state titles in high school, first as a freshman at American Heritage and then as a senior at St. Thomas Aquinas.

Round 3, Pick 99: S Kamren Kinchens, Miami (Northwestern) — Rams

Kinchens won three state championships with the Bulls and was also the Miami Herald’s MiamiDade County Defensive Player of the Year for Classes 8A-6A as a junior in 2019 when he nabbed nine interceptions to help Northwestern win a fourth straight state title, so a mountain of hype followed him to Coral Gables and the safety still lived up to it. Kinchens was an AllAmerican as a sophomore in 2022 when his six interceptions were tied for the most in the Power Five conferences and then he led the Atlantic Coast Conference in interceptions for the second straight season last year. The 5-11, 202-pound defensive back started 27 games across three seasons with the Hurricanes, taking over as a starter for the final five games of his freshman season in 2021 and never relinquishing his job.

Round 4, Pick 109: DT Brandon Dorlus, Oregon (Deerfield Beach) — Falcons

Dorlus was focused on basketball until high school and it was a good thing he decided to try out football when his father finally urged him to. The 6-3, 283-pound defensive tackle finally tried out the new sport once he got to high school at Calvary Christian Academy and quickly became one of the best players in South Florida, eventually transferring to play his junior and senior seasons with the Bucks, and earning first-team AllBroward County honors as a senior with 74 tackles, 27 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, three forced fumbles. Although he was only a threestar prospect in the 247Sports composite rankings for the Class of 2019, Dorlus wound up at Oregon and earned all-conference honors three times in his five seasons with the

Ducks, including first-team all-conference honors in 2021 and 2023.

Round 4, Pick 146: CB Jarvis Brownlee Jr., Louisville (Carol City) — Titans

Jarvis Brownlee Jr. was one of the fastest-rising prospects out of South Florida in the predraft process, after starring in the 2024 Senior Bowl following a breakout senior season at Louisville last year. The 5-10, 193-pound cornerback was a bit of a late bloomer in high school, virtually unknown as a prospect when he was at Hallandale before transferring to Carol City for his last two years. As a junior, he set a record for the longest interception return at hallowed Nathaniel “Traz” Powell Stadium in Miami, bringing a pick back 108 yards for a touchdown. Brownlee then signed with Florida State and had three uneven seasons with the Seminoles despite starting 15 games. The defensive back then entered the transfer portal, landed with the Cardinals and blossomed into an All-Atlantic Coast Conference performer in Louisville, Kentucky.

Round 5, Pick 171: QB Jordan Travis, Florida State (Benjamin) — Jets

After a massive run on quarterbacks in Round 1, Jordan Travis was only the second quarterback selected after Day 1, and the Jets hope they got a steal by snagging an ultra-productive quarterback with one major injury concern. Travis might have been on his way to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony before he fractured his leg in the penultimate game of the regular season. With Travis in the lineup, Florida State was a real contender for the College Football Playoff. Once Travis went out, the playoff selection committee left out the undefeated Seminoles. Travis, who was the first player drafted out of Palm Beach County this year and started his career with Cardinals before transferring to Florida State after one year, is a true difference maker and transformed from a run threat with a little bit of passing ability to a dynamic passer with the ability to run. As a senior last year, the 6foot-1, 200-pound quarterback threw 3,214 yards, 24 touchdowns and just six interceptions.

Round 7, Pick 226: CB Jaden Davis, Miami (St. Thomas Aquinas) — Cardinals

Jaden Davis came back home to South Florida last year to play one season for the Miami Hurricanes, hoping he’d get a chance to display all he could do as a defensive back and why an NFL team should take a shot on him in the 2024 NFL Draft.

The cornerback out of St. Thomas Aquinas’ decision paid off. The Arizona Cardinals selected the 5-foot-10, 187-pounder with the No. 6 selection of the seventh round Saturday — No. 226 overall — after a solid senior season in Coral Gables.

Davis was also the second former Raider to be picked, following outside linebacker Dallas Turner who went to the Vikings with the No. 17 overall pick in the first round.