A pair of University of Missouri football standouts were selected Thursday night in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft, as sophomore DE Aldon Smith and junior QB Blaine Gabbert were taken seventh and 10th overall, by the San Francisco 49ers and the Jacksonville Jaguars, respectively.
This marks the first time in Mizzou history that two Tigers have gone in the top 10 in the same draft.
Prior to 2011, Mizzou had a total of five top-10 draft picks in school history.
Gabbert and Smith give Mizzou five first-round draft picks in the last three years .
Previously, WR Jeremy Maclin (No. 19 to Philadelphia in 2009) became the first Tiger to play under Gary Pinkel to become a first-round pick.
He was joined in that same draft by DL Ziggy Hood (No. 32 to Pittsburgh) to mark the first time since 1977 that two Tigers went in the first round in the same draft.
That feat was followed in 2010 when LB Sean Weatherspoon became the third first-rounder in two years (No. 19 to Atlanta).
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