EMU's Jose Ramirez drafted in Round 6 by Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The 2022 MAC Defensive Player of the Year will get a shot in the NFL.
Eastern Michigan edge rusher Jose Ramirez was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the 19th pick of the sixth round (No. 196 overall) in the 2023 NFL draft on Saturday in Kansas City, Missouri. He’s the fourth MAC player selected in this year’s draft, and the second in the sixth round, with WMU linebacker Zaire Barnes going 12 picks earlier to the N.Y. Jets.
Ramirez led the MAC with 12 sacks and 19½ tackles-for-loss in 12 games for the Eagles in 2022, his third season in the program, and also had 66 tackles. That followed a 2021 season in which he had 11 TFLs, 6½ sacks and 62 tacjles en route to a third-team All-MAC nod.
DAY 3: 10 players the Detroit Lions could target in final rounds
BIG PROJECT: Lions take OL Colby Sorsdal in 5th round of NFL draft: 'I got hives from how excited I am'
Ramirez performed well at the scouting combine, turning in a 4.73 40-yard time and his athleticism score (70) ranked 16th among edge rushers.
The 6-foot-2, 242-pounder is from Lake Alfred, Florida — a little over 50 miles to the east of Tampa. His road to the Bucs was far from short. After graduating from Auburndale High School, he enrolled early at Arizona and redshirted the 2017 season. But he never played for the Wildcats.
Ramirez then transferred to Riverside City College in California for the 2018 campaign. He spent a season there before arriving in Ypsilanti in 2019 for four games, with no stats. The next season, 2020, he had 27 tackles, 2½ TFLs and two sacks in just six games.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jose Ramirez goes from EMU to Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2023 NFL draft
