Friday, May 1, 2020

The Draft Broken Down By Numbers

The 2020 NFL Draft kicked off a week ago. Here's a look back at the draft through some numbers that came out of it.

The Minnesota Vikings came out of the three days of drafting with a lot of new football players. The 15 players selected is an NFL record for a seven-round draft. They also added two picks in the 2021 NFL Draft. 

Draft Picks by Conference:
63 SEC
48 Big 10
32 Pac-12
27 ACC
21 Big 12 
17 AAC
10 Conference USA
10 MWC
8   Sun Belt
7   Independent
3   MAC
2   CAA
1   MAIAA
1   MIAC
1   MVFC
1   OVC
1   PFL
1   SAC

By College:
14 LSU
10 Michigan
10 Ohio State
9   Alabama
7   Clemson
7   Florida
7   Georgia
7   Utah
6   Auburn
6   Notre Dame
5   Iowa
5   Minnesota
5   Penn State
5   TCU

3   Cal
Go Bears!

Draft Picks by Position:
38 Linebackers
34 Receivers
27 Cornerbacks
22 Safeties
20 Offensive tackles
19 Running backs
19 Guards
17 Defensive tackles
17 Defensive ends
13 Quarterbacks
12 Tight ends
8   Centers
3   Kickers
3   Nose tackles
2   Punters
1   Long snappers

As many nose tackles as kickers?

A similar breakdown of the giant draft class of the Vikings:

By Conference:
4 SEC
3 Big Ten
2 Pac-12
2 Big-12
1 ACC
1 Mountain West
1 American
1 Washburn

By Position:
3 Cornerbacks
3 Offensive linemen
3 Defensive linemen
2 Receivers
2 Safeties
1 Linebacker
1 Quarterback

States with the most players drafted per capita:
1. Hawaii
2. Louisiana
3. Mississippi
4. Alabama
5. Georgia

How did the 255 players selected rate as high school prospects?
Five-star: 19
Four-star: 73
Three-star: 110
Two-star: 32
Not ranked: 21
How do you like me now?

The curious drafting strategy of the Green Bay Packers churned up this statistical nugget.

Touchdown Passes to first-round draft picks:
293 Peyton Manning
135 Eli Manning
127 Brett Favre
105 Tom Brady
104 Drew Brees
84   Dan Marino
74   Fran Tarkenton
69   Ben Roethlisberger
35   Philip Rivers
1     Aaron Rodgers

That single touchdown pass went to tight end Marcedes Lewis. It's amazing that the under-the-radar free agency signing of the big tight end provided Rodgers with his first first-round talent.

It's fun to bash the Packers. But it should be pointed out that a big reason that they haven't selected receivers in the first round has been due to the tremendous success that they've had drafting receivers in the second round. Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, and Randall Cobb. When we include pass-catchers selected in the second round to the above table we get a whole other story.

Touchdown Passes to first- and second-round draft picks:
309 Peyton Manning
273 Tom Brady
215 Eli Manning
192 Aaron Rodgers
167 Brett Favre
165 Drew Brees
157 Fran Tarkenton
150 Dan Marino
116 Philip Rivers
100 Ben Roethlisberger

The Packers have surrounded Rodgers with high-end pass-catching talent. They just didn't do so this year.

Number of fans completely happy with their team's draft:
0

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