Tampa, April 27, 2024 – University of South Florida offensive line donovan jennings (Tampa) and Byron Matos (Dominican Republic) was signed as an NFL free agent on Saturday shortly after the final round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Jennings signed with the Green Bay Packers and Matos with the Miami Dolphins, with both players having close contracts after the draft.
He became the centerpiece of the Bulls' offense for the first time in five seasons. jennings He played in a total of 55 games and started 45 games, tied for seventh place, setting a USF record. He started all 12 games at left tackle in 2021, helping the Bulls to a program-record 421 rushing yards against Temple and was named second-team all-conference. He helped block Jordan Cronkright's 1,000-yard rushing season in 2018, giving the team a total of 2,517 yards on the ground. The 2022 season was shortened to four games due to injury, but he returned in 2023 and was the biggest upset in program history as USF went from 1-11 to 7-6 and returned to a bowl game for the first time in five years. contributed to.protect the quarterback byram browns On the left side, he helped a first-year starter set USF season records for passing yards (3,292), passing touchdowns (26) and completion percentage (64.6%), with a team-best 809 yards. , led the Bulls' offense to 5,871 yards. , the third-best total in program history.
Matos A 6-9 athlete who transferred from New Mexico State in 2021, he began his career at USF as a basketball player. He progressed to the Bulls football team in the spring of 2022 and appeared in USF's first two games of the 2022 season, playing in a limited special game. The team will take snaps against BYU and some special teams, and the defensive line will take snaps against Howard. He then moved to the offensive line. As a basketball player, he appeared in 28 games and started four for the Bulls in the 2021-22 season, averaging 10.6 minutes per game, 1.5 games per game and 2.7 games per game. He totaled 41 points and 75 rebounds that year, including a season-best nine rebounds and five points in the win over UCF. Matos joined the NFL's International Player Pathway Program (IPPP) in January 2024.
About USF Football
In 2017, USF won 10 games in a row (10-2) with a 38-34 victory over Texas Tech in the Birmingham Bowl. USF is one of only 14 teams in the nation to win at least 20 games over the past two seasons (21-4) and has been ranked in the top 25 for a program-record 20 consecutive weeks, ranking No. It peaked at number 13 in the week. of the 2017 season. The Bulls have won five of their past six bowl appearances and have made nine total bowl appearances (6-3) in 21 seasons, including their current third straight bowl appearance. It is. USF won a program-record 11 games in 2016 (11-2), ending its 14th winning season. The USF program, which first took the field in 1997, reached No. 2 in the rankings in 2007 and has had 28 players selected in the NFL Draft, 14 All-Americans and 32 first-rounders. The team was selected all-conference.
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