Penn State football quarterback Sean Clifford goes in fifth round of 2023 NFL Draft
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2023 NFL Draft
The Centre Daily Times has coverage of each round of the 2023 NFL Draft and where Nittany Lions are going.
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Penn State’s all-time leading passer heard his name called Saturday in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Sean Clifford found his team early on the third day of the event, going at No. 149 overall to the Green Bay Packers in the fifth round.
Clifford was not invited to the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine but showed off his athleticism at Penn State’s Pro Day. The 6-foot-2 inch tall quarterback weighed in at 218 pounds and ran a 4.57 40-yard dash.
His career was littered with ups and downs but he ultimately finished on a high note for the Nittany Lions. He won the offensive MVP of the Rose Bowl after leading the team to a 35-21 win where he threw for 279 yards and two touchdowns on 16-of-21 passing.
That was part of a six-year career that included four years as the team’s starting quarterback — with 45 starts — and ended with him leading the program in several all-time marks. That includes the lead in passing yards with 10,382 and passing touchdowns with 84.
Clifford was able to maintain his status as a starter for almost every game after he took over at the beginning of the 2019 season.
The lone exception was in 2020 when his former backup quarterback Will Levis started one game that Clifford eventually came in and finished. Levis was taken No. 33 overall in the draft by the Tennessee Titans.
Clifford was selected as an All-Big Ten honorable mention by the coaches and media in 2019, 2021 and 2022.
This story was originally published April 29, 2023 at 2:30 PM.
