NFL Draft by the Numbers

May 1, 2023 by CollegeFootballPoll.com Staff

The 2023 NFL Draft is in the books. In all, 259 players were selected with Alabama quarterback Bryce Young going first and Toledo defensive lineman Desjuan Johnson becoming this year's "Mr. Irrelevant".

In reality, the final pick in the draft has become quite relevant in recent years. Especially with last season's final pick, quarterback Brock Purdy out of Iowa State, starting 8 NFL games and going 7-1 while helping to lead the San Francisco 49ers to the NFL championship game.

Kansas City emerged from the draft as odds-on favorites to repeat as Super Bowl champions at +600, while last year's runner-up Philadelphia Eagles are +850. The Baltimore Ravens, after finally signing Lamar Jackson, have the 8th-best odds at +1800.

The SEC had 31 players taken in the first three rounds and finished with 62 to lead all conferences for the 17 straight year.

2023 NFL Draft Numbers By Conference

NO.	CONFERENCE
62	SEC
55	Big Ten
32	ACC
30	Big 12
27	Pac-12
10	AAC
10	FCS (2 MVFC, and 1 each ASUN, Big Sky, CAA, Ivy, NEC, OVC, SWAC, WAC)
9	Sun Belt
7	MAC
7	Independents (Notre Dame-3, BYU-3, Liberty-1)
5	Mountain West
3	C-USA
2	D2 (1 each Great Lakes (GLAIC), South Atlantic (SAC)

 

The Big 12 was the only conference in which at least half of its teams had a first round selection. Texas Tech OLB Tyree Wilson was the first conference player off the board when the Raiders took him at No. 7. The very next pick was the Falcons' selection of Texas RB Bijan Robinson.

Iowa State defensive lineman Will McDonald IV was selected by the Jets at No. 15, followed by Texas Christian wide receiver Quentin Johnston at No. 21 by the Chargers.

A little later, the Jaguars called Oklahoma offensive tackle Anton Harrison's name at No. 27, and Kansas State outside linebacker Felix Anudike-Uzomah wrapped up the Big 12 first-rounders at No. 31 when he was chosen by the Chiefs.

The Big 12 has four teams entering the conference this year, and three of those four combined to have 10 more players drafted. Houston had 4 while BYU and Cincinnati had 3 apiece. UCF had none.

As for which teams led the draft by number of players selected, we have to go back to the SEC where Alabama and Georgia tied for the most with 10 picks each.

The Crimson Tide had three players go in the first round with Young at No. 1, linebacker Will Anderson, Jr. at No. 3 and running back Jahmyr Gibbs at No. 12

Georgia and Ohio State also had three first rounders with the Bulldogs going at Nos.9, 14 and 30 while the Buckeyes went at Nos. 2, 6 and 20.

The B1G was second in total draft picks taken (55) for the fifth straight year. In addition to the three Buckeyes, the conference also had first-round picks from Iowa (2), Illinois, Northwestern, Maryland and Michigan.

Michigan led all Big Ten schools with 9 players drafted, TCU led the Big 12 with 8, while Clemson and Pitt paced the ACC with 6 each.

Oregon and the most players drafted from the PAC-12 with 6, Houston topped the American with 4, and Old Dominion had 3 of the Sun Belt's total 9 players taken.

Eastern Michigan (with 2) was the only MAC school with more than 1 player drafted, and Boise State matched that accomplishment in the Mountain West.

Wingate (South Atlantic) and Northern Michigan (Great Lakes) are the only D2 schools to have a player drafted while 10 FCS programs had one apiece - North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Sacramento State, Stephen F. Austin, William & Mary, Princeton, Wagner, Kennesaw State, UT-Martin, and Jackson State.

Among the nation's major independents, Notre Dame and BYU each saw three players get drafted while Liberty had one.

A trio of CUSA schools had 1 each - Western Kentucky, Charlotte and UAB.

The 2023 NFL Draft saw three quarterbacks selected in the first round and all went within the first four picks as Ohio State's CJ Stroud at No. 2 over-all, and Florida;s Anthony Richardson at No. 4, joined top pick Young.

If you were an offensive lineman, you had better been a tackle as five of those went in the first round, while no centers or guards were selected . And the only tight end was Utah's Dalton Kincaid at No. 25 to Buffalo.

Pick	Team	Player	POS	College
6.	Arizona (from LAR via DET)	Paris Johnson Jr.	OT	Ohio State
10.	Chicago(from NO through PHI)	Darnell Wright	OT	Tennessee
11.	Tennessee	Peter Skoronski	OT	Northwestern
14.	Pittsburgh (from NE)	Broderick Jones	OT	Georgia
27.	Jacksonville (from BUF)	Anton Harrison	OT	Oklahoma

The defensive line and linebacker positions were in heavy demand in the first round.

Pick	Team	Player	POS	College
3.	Houston (from AZ)	Will Anderson Jr.	LB	Alabama
7.	Las Vegas	Tyree Wilson	DE	Texas Tech
9.	Philadelphia (from CAR through CHI)	Jalen Carter	DT	Georgia
13.	Green Bay (from NYJ)	Lukas Van Ness	DE	Iowa
15.	New York (from GB)	Will McDonald IV	LB	Iowa State
18.	Detroit	Jack Campbell	LB	Iowa
19.	Tampa Bay	Calijah Kancey	DT	Pittsburgh
26.	Dallas	Mazi Smith	DT	Michigan
28.	Cincinnati	Myles Murphy	DE	Clemson
29.	New Orleans (from SF through MIA and DEN)	Bryan Bresee	DT	Clemson
30.	Philadelphia	Nolan Smith	LB	Georgia
31.	Kansas City	Felix Anudike-Uzomah	DE	Kansas State

Four cornerbacks were among the first 24 players off the board.

Pick	Team	Player	POS	College
5.	Seattle (from DEN)	Devon Witherspoon	CB	Illinois
16.	Washington	Emmanuel Forbes	CB	Mississippi State
17.	New England (from PIT)	Christian Gonzalez	CB	Oregon
24.	New York (from JAX)	Deonte Banks	CB	Maryland

How about this draft oddity - four wide receivers were taken in the first round and they all went in succession with picks 20-23 (21 was forfeited by Miami).

Pick	Team	Player	POS	College
20.	Seattle	Jaxon Smith-Njigba	WR	Ohio State
21.	Miami	Forfeited	**	**
21.	Los Angeles	Quentin Johnston	WR	TCU
22.	Baltimore	Zay Flowers	WR	Boston College
23.	Minnesota	Jordan Addison	WR	USC

History

Notre Dame still has the lead in the all-time number of NFL draft picks taken with 525, just ahead of USC's 523.

As one might expect, Alabama leads SEC schools with 401 to tie for 5th all-time with Michigan.