Offensive guard O’Cyrus Torrence became the third Gator drafted in the 2023 National Football League Draft Thursday. The Buffalo Bills picked Torrence with the 59th overall pick in the second round.
Torrence spent the first three years of his career as a Louisiana Ragin’ Cajun under then-Louisiana head coach Billy Napier. Torrence transferred to Florida when Napier joined the Gators ahead of last season.
He only spent one season with Florida, but he appreciated his time in Gainesville. At the Gators’ Pro Day, he wore one cleat with a Florida design and one for Louisiana.
“It was only right for me to support and show my appreciation for both schools by wearing those shoes,” Torrence said.
The former Ragin’ Cajun had an instant impact at UF. The Gators averaged 213.7 rushing yards per game — the 15th best average in college football — with Torrence as the anchor. He and the offensive line led the Gators to 29 rushing touchdowns and gave up only 12 sacks, the 11th fewest total in the country.
Torrence became the fourth Florida offensive lineman and the first since 2001 to ever be named to the Associated Press All-America First Team Dec. 12. He also earned a spot on the Football Writers Association of America All-American Second Team Dec. 9 and became a Walter Camp First Team All-American Dec. 8.
The 6-foot-5-inch guard was the first offensive guard in UF history to be named a Consensus All-American. Torrence added his name to the list of Florida football players with a brick outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium; he was the first Gator since Kyle Pitts in 2020.
Torrence lost weight in the pre-draft process, he said. He played at around 345 to 350 pounds last season but dropped to 330 pounds for the NFL Combine.
“I look at most guards in the league at my position — most of them are [in] the low 330s, and I played in the mid 340s,” Torrence said. “I already started to lose the weight so I can be more fluid and comfortable in my sets and things like that to help me out.”
Torrence didn’t allow a single sack through his 1,327 snaps in pass protection during his four-year college career. During his junior year, he gave up a quarterback hit — something that bothered him at the time — and he hopes he can keep it up at the NFL level.
“It’s going to definitely be a challenge every week, even in practice,” Torrence said. “I don’t want to go in too cocky — not saying I’m not gonna give up one — but I’m definitely going to try not to.”
Contact Kyle Bumpers at kbumpers@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @BumpersKyle.
Kyle Bumpers is a fourth-year journalism major and the sports editor of The Alligator. In his free time, he cries about Russell Wilson and writes an outrageous amount of movie reviews on Letterboxd.
