The kid from Kentwood is NFL bound.
Record-setting Nebraska receiver Trey Palmer was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the 14th pick (191st overall) in the sixth round of the NFL Draft on Saturday.
Welcome home, @treythekiid3! 🙏#GoBucs pic.twitter.com/aeUMApKxrX
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) April 29, 2023
Palmer caught attention of NFL scouts last season with his blistering speed. He validated that speed at the NFL Combine, posting a 4.33-second 40—the fastest among receivers and third-fastest of the entire combine.
The Louisiana native transferred to Nebraska ahead of the 2022 season after spending three seasons at LSU. Palmer had 41 catches for 458 yards and three touchdowns amid a loaded receiver room as a Bayou Bengal. He quickly established himself as the Huskers go-to threat last season with eight catches in the overseas season opener. Palmer finished the season with 1,043 receiving yards, the most in program history. His 71 catches last season set a program record for receivers. He also set a new program single-game receiving record with 237 yards against Purdue.
“He’s just got the kind of personality you want to be around,” former head coach Scott Frost said of Palmer last spring. “He came into the huddle one time earlier in spring during a two-minute drill and said, ‘Just throw me a deep ball and this thing will be over,’ and two plays later we threw him a deep ball and it was over. You like to see that kind of confidence and energy coming into the huddle and on the field every day.”
Palmer’s pure athleticism stood out to scouts throughout the process. He returned a kickoff and punt for touchdowns at LSU, utilizing his championship-caliber speed. Palmer returned four of Nebraska’s five punt returns in 2022 and took out three kickoff returns. The former 5-star recruit impressed throughout Senior Bowl practices but a hamstring injury kept him from playing in the game.
“I don’t have goals,” Palmer previously said. “I go day by day, get better day by day, get better on my techniques and routes, and when the game comes I just play football.”
This is the second year in a row a Nebraska receiver was selected in the NFL Draft. The Green Bay Packers picked Samori Touré in the seventh round of last year’s draft.
