Carrington Valentine Selected by Green Bay Packers in Seventh Round of NFL Draft
Kentucky junior defensive back Carrington Valentine was chosen in the seventh round by the Green Bay Packers (232nd overall pick) in the 2023 National Football League Draft on Saturday in Kansas City, Missouri.
Valentine, a native of Cincinnati, was a three-year letterwinner who played in 35 career games with 25 straight starting assignments for the Wildcats’ defense. He totaled 199 career tackles with 3.0 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, 16 pass breakups, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
As a junior in 2022, he led UK and ranked ninth in the Southeastern Conference in passes defended with 11 (10 PBU and 1 INT).
During his two seasons as a starter, Kentucky compiled a 17-9 record. The Wildcats went 10-3 in the 2021 season, including a win over Iowa in the Vrbo Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1, 2022. UK went 7-6 in the 2022 season, capped with a loss to Iowa in the Transperfect Music City Bowl.
Valentine was excellent in the classroom as a two-time SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll member and a two-time member of the Dean’s List. Valentine also was on the 2020-21 First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll.
Kentucky/NFL Draft Notes:
- 2023 is the fifth straight year UK has had at least one player taken in the first three rounds.
- Valentine is the 24th player drafted who played under head coach Mark Stoops at Kentucky. Twenty of those selections have come in the last five drafts.
- Valentine is the fifth UK defensive back selected since 2019.
There have been seven other Wildcats who have been drafted by the Packers’ franchise in Joe Bailey (1941), Jay Rhodemyre (1948), Jim Howe and Ben Zaranka (1950), Bob Gain (1951), Babe Parilli (1952) and Randall Cobb (2011).
