Former Syracuse punter Riley Dixon has been selected 228th overall in the seventh round of the NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. He was just the third punter or kicker taken in the draft.

ESPN analyst Mel Kiper ranked Dixon as the No. 2 punter available in the draft. Last season, there were no punters or kickers taken.

The former walk-on punted 65 times for an average of 43.7 yards last year. He booted 18 punts over 50 yards and 28 landed inside the 20-yard line. Dixon forced fair catches on 40.8 and 42.4 percent of his punts the last two years, respectively.

But he made headlines for reasons other than his punting ability. A game-winning touchdown pass in overtime against Villanova in 2014, a 42-yard run against Notre Dame a month later and a fake field goal in September where he hurdled an LSU defender for a first down fueled the #DixonForHeisman social media campaign.

Syracuse linebacker Zaire Franklin called Dixon “probably the most valuable player on our team” during the 2015 season.

Dixon was the first and only Syracuse player selected in this year’s draft.

Published on April 30, 2016 at 5:53 pm

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus