LAWRENCE — Austin Booker continues to be on track to be one of the latest Kansas football players selected in the NFL draft.

Booker, who played defensive line for the Jayhawks, transferred from Minnesota ahead of the 2023 season. It didn’t take long, after he arrived, for him to showcase what kind of talent he possessed. And with the draft set to start up Thursday, he isn’t far away from learning where he’ll start out in the professional ranks.

Booker was a star for Kansas defensively, as it reached a second-straight bowl game. He led the Jayhawks in tackles for loss and sacks as he took advantage of the most playing time he’d had in college. As long as he continues to develop, he can enjoy similar success — if not more — at the next level.

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Here are some projections on where Booker could be picked up in this year’s NFL draft:

The Athletic: 3rd round

This projection would see Booker drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the 89th overall pick in the third round.

Sporting News: 3rd round

This projection would see Booker drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 98th overall pick in the third round.

Athlon Sports: 3rd round

This projection would see Booker drafted by the Cleveland Browns with the 85th overall pick in the third round.

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas football's Austin Booker could be 3rd round pick in NFL draft