Recap: Notre Dame & The NFL Draft

Since the National Football League began drafting players in 1936 — starting with the initial draft on Feb. 8, 1936, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia — Notre Dame football players have been selected by NFL teams on 504 occasions. The total rises to 565 selections to the professional ranks when you include the AFL (37) and AAFC (24) drafts.

• Notre Dame’s 504 players drafted is the second-most of any school. USC is tops on the list with 506.
• No school has been more consistent in terms of supplying players to the NFL. Notre Dame has had a player selected in 83 of the 84 NFL Drafts (only miss was in 1937; *1977 Notre Dame had a supplemental draft pick). Ohio State has also had a player chosen in 83 of 84 NFL Drafts.
• With Texas failing to have a player selected in the 2014 NFL Draft, Notre Dame has the longest streak of at least one player drafted at 81 straight years (when including the NFL supplemental draft)
• Sixty-nine Notre Dame players have been selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. Only Ohio State (83) and USC (81) have had more.
• Notre Dame had a school record four players chosen in the first round of the 1946 and 1993 drafts, respectively.
• The Irish have had five players (tied with USC for the most) chosen as the first pick in the entire draft–QB Angelo Bertelli by Boston in 1944, QB Frank Dancewicz by Boston in 1946, E Leon Hart by Detroit in 1950, B Paul Hornung by Green Bay in 1957 and DT Walt Patulski by Buffalo in 1972.
• In 1936, Bill Shakespeare was not only the first Notre Dame player drafted into the NFL but also the program’s inaugural first-round selection (third overall to the Pittsburgh Steelers).
• Among the top-six schools for all-time NFL Draft picks, Notre Dame has the second-most first-round selections since 2010 with nine. Ohio State has 13.

Most Picks by School

Picks	Schools	#1 Picks	First Rounders	First Rounders (2010s)
506	USC	5	81	7
504	Notre Dame	5	69	9
452	Ohio State	3	83	13
394	Oklahoma	5	46	8
369	Michigan	2	48	6
365	Alabama	2	63	28
359	Nebraska	3	33	2
356	Penn State	2	37	2
349	Florida	0	52	13
347	Miami, Fla.	2	63	4
345	Tennessee	2	45	5
345	Texas	3	43	2
338	LSU	2	42	10
330	Georgia	4	35	9
322	UCLA	1	35	6
313	Michigan State	1	37	3

Here’s a listing of first-round selections by NFL teams with the overall pick in parentheses:

• 1936: B Bill Shakespeare, Pittsburgh Pirates (3)
• 1944: QB Angelo Bertelli, Boston Yanks (1); B Creighton Miller, Brooklyn Dodgers (3)
• 1945: B Frank Szymanski, Detroit Lions (6); E John Yonakor, Philadelphia Eagles (9)
• 1946: QB Frank Dancewicz, Boston Yanks (1); QB John Lujack, Chicago Bears (4); T George Connor, New York Giants (5); B Emil Sitko, Los Angeles Rams (10)
• 1949: QB Frank Tripucka, Philadelphia (9); G Bill Fischer, Chicago Cardinals (10)
• 1950: E Leon Hart, Detroit Lions (1)
• 1951: QB Bob Williams, Chicago Bears (2); C Jerry Groom, Chicago Cardinals (6)
• 1954: T Art Hunter, Green Bay Packers (3); B John Lattner, Pittsburgh Steelers (7); B Neil Worden, Philadelphia Eagles (9)
• 1955: QB Ralph Guglielmi, Washington Redskins (3); T Frank Varrichione, Pittsburgh Steelers (6); B Joe Heap, New York Giants (8)
• 1957: B Paul Hornung, Green Bay Packers (1)
• 1959: B Nick Pietrosante, Detroit Lions (6)
• 1960: QB George Izo, St. Louis Cardinals (2); E Monty Stickles, San Francisco 49ers (11)
• 1965: WR Jack Snow, Minnesota Vikings (8)
• 1967: DT Alan Page, Minnesota Vikings (15); G Tom Regner, Houston Oilers (23); G Tom Seiler, New York Jets (12)
• 1968: DE Kevin Hardy, New Orleans Saints (7)
• 1969: T George Kunz, Atlanta Falcons (2); E Jim Seymour, Los Angeles Rams (10)
• 1970: DT Mike McCoy, Green Bay Packers (2)
• 1972: DE Walt Patulski, Buffalo Bills (1); DB Clarence Ellis, Atlanta Falcons (15); DT Mike Kadish, Miami Dolphins (25)
• 1975: DT Mike Fanning, Los Angeles Rams (9)
• 1976: DT Steve Niehaus, Seattle Seahawks (2)
• 1978: TE Ken MacAfee, San Francisco 49ers (7); DE Ross Browner, Cincinnati Bengals (8); DB Luther Bradley, Detroit Lions (11)
• 1980: RB Vagas Ferguson, New England Patriots (25)
• 1982: LB Bob Crable, New York Jets (23)
• 1983: TE Tony Hunter, Buffalo Bills (12)
• 1984: RB Greg Bell, Buffalo Bills (26)
• 1986: DT Eric Dorsey, New York Giants (19)
• 1988: WR Tim Brown, Los Angeles Raiders (6)
• 1989: OT Andy Heck, Seattle Seahawks (15)
• 1991: CB Todd Lyght, Los Angeles Rams (5)
• 1992: TE Derek Brown, New York Giants (14)
• 1993: QB Rick Mirer, Seattle Seahawks (2); FB Jerome Bettis, Los Angeles Rams (10); CB Tom Carter, Washington Redskins (17); TE Irv Smith, New Orleans Saints (20)
• 1994: DT Bryant Young, San Francisco 49ers (7); OG Aaron Taylor, Green Bay Packers (16); FS Jeff Burris, Buffalo Bills (27)
• 1997: DE Renaldo Wynn, Jacksonville Jaguars (21)
• 1999: OT Luke Petitgout, New York Giants (19)
• 2003: C Jeff Faine, Cleveland Browns (21)
• 2007: QB Brady Quinn, Cleveland Browns (22)
• 2012: WR Michael Floyd, Arizona Cardinals (13); S Harrison Smith, Minnesota Vikings (29)
• 2013: TE Tyler Eifert, Cincinnati Bengals (21)
• 2014: OL Zack Martin, Dallas Cowboys (16)
• 2016: OL Ronnie Stanley, Baltimore Ravens (6); WR Will Fuller, Houston Texans (21)
• 2018: OG Quenton Nelson, Indianapolis Colts (6); OT Mike McGlinchey, San Francisco 49ers (9)
• 2019: DT Jerry Tillery, Los Angeles Chargers (28)

 

Most Drafts With Picks (1936-2019, 84 drafts)

Drafts	School	Drafts with no selections
83	Notre Dame	1937
83	Ohio State	1998
82	Oklahoma	1962, '95
82	USC	1936, '38
82	Michigan	1936, '38
82	Michigan State	1938, '40
81	Purdue	1994, '97, 2019
81	Texas	1936, '37, 2014
81	LSU	1938, '42, '93
80	Alabama	1960, '61, '70, 2008
80	Georgia	1936, '37, '41, '92

* Al Hunter was selected in the 1977 NFL supplemental draft 

• Notre Dame became the first school to ever produce three of the first five NFL Draft picks in a single year. In 1946, Frank Dancewicz went No. 1, Johnny Lujack went No. 4 and George Connor went No. 5. Remarkably, Emil Sitko went No. 10.
• In addition to the Irish in ’46, Oklahoma (’10), Michigan State (’67) and USC (’77) each had three top-five selections in a single draft.
• Notre Dame was the first school to ever produce four of the first 10 NFL Draft picks in a single year as well.
• In addition to the Irish in ’46, Michigan State (’67) had four top-10 selections in a single draft.
• Notre Dame and Oklahoma are the only two schools that have ever produced the top pick in consecutive NBA (Austin Carr went No. 1 in 1971) and NFL (Walt Patulski went No. 1 in the 1972) Drafts. Oklahoma had Blake Griffin (NBA) and Sam Bradford (NFL) in 2010.

 

Irish Drafted By Position

Pos	Total	First Rounders	Last First Rounder (Year)	Last Overall (Year)
OT	62	8	Mike McGlinchey (2018)	Mike McGlinchey (2018)
DB	56	6	Harrison Smith (2012)	Julian Love (2019)
OG	55	5	Quenton Nelson (2018)	Quenton Nelson (2018)
LB	55	1	Bob Crable (1982)	Drue Tranquill (2019)
RB	39	7	Jerome Bettis (1993)	Dexter Williams (2019)
C	31	4	Jeff Faine (2003)	Nick Martin (2016)
DT	30	8	Jerry Tillery (2019)	Jerry Tillery (2019)
TE	30	6	Tyler Eifert (2013)	Alizé Mack (2019)
QB	22	9	Brady Quinn (2007)	DeShone Kizer (2017)
WR	23	5	Will Fuller (2016)	Miles Boykin (2019)
DE	21	4	Renaldo Wynn (1997)	Stephon Tuitt (2014)
FB	10	2	Nick Pietrosante (1959)	Marc Edwards (1997)
P	3	0	None	Hunter Smith (1999)
K	1	0	None	Bob Thomas (1974)
Back	38	2	Creighton Miller (1944)	Tom MacDonald (1964)
End	29	2	Leon Hart (1950)	Phil Sheridan (1966)

• Notre Dame has now had at least six players selected in four of the last seven NFL Drafts (2019, 2016, 2014 and 2013)
• Jerry Tillery, Los Angeles Chargers’ 28th-overall pick in the first round, was the first Irish defensive lineman chosen in the first round of the NFL Draft since Renaldo Wynn was the 21st-overall pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1997
• Tillery was the first Notre Dame defensive tackle selected in the NFL Draft’s opening round since Bryant Young (No. 7 overall of the San Francisco 49ers) in 1994
• Tillery became the 15th Notre Dame player ever drafted by the Chargers and first in the opening round
• Miles Boykin was the 21st Irish player to be drafted in the top three rounds of the NFL Draft under Kelly (nine drafts), which surpasses the total of top three round selections over the 13 NFL drafts prior to his arrival
• Boykin is the 10th wideout in school history to be taken in the top three rounds of the NFL Draft and third under head coach Brian Kelly
• Notre Dame tight end Alizé Mack was selected in the seventh round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints
• Mack was the sixth Irish tight end drafted, four in the top four rounds, under Kelly
• Mack was the eighth-straight Notre Dame starting tight end chosen in the NFL Draft
• Notre Dame’s opening day starter at tight end has developed into an eventual NFL Draft pick in each of the past 15 seasons
• Five other former Notre Dame players signed with NFL teams as undrafted free agents. That quintet includes Tyler Newsome, Los Angeles Chargers; Sam Mustipher, Chicago Bears; Alex Bars, Chicago Bears; Te’von Coney, Oakland Raiders and Nick Coleman, Oakland Raiders.
• Quenton Nelson (sixth pick of the 2018 draft by the Indianapolis Colts), Mike McGlinchey (ninth pick of the 2018 draft by the San Francisco 49ers), Ronnie Stanley (sixth pick of the 2016 draft by the Baltimore Ravens) and Zack Martin (16th pick of the 2014 draft by the Dallas Cowboys) give the Irish a quartet of offensive lineman drafted in the first round since 2014.
• Nelson is the highest selected offensive guard in the NFL Draft since Bill Fralic went second overall to the Atlanta Falcons in 1985
• Notre Dame has had four offensive linemen drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft since 2014 — the most of any school in the FBS
• Notre Dame is the first school in 37 years and just the second in NFL Draft history to have four offensive linemen selected in the top 16 picks over a five-year span
• Nelson and McGlinchey were the first two offensive linemen selected in the 2018 NFL Draft, which marked the first time since 1991 that the top two offensive linemen drafted were from the same school
• It marked just the third time in the last 60 years that the top two offensive lineman drafted were from the same school
• It marked just the third time in the last 50 years that two offensive linemen from the same school were chosen among the top 10 selections of the draft
• Notre Dame has had 16 offensive linemen in school history drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft — third most of any school in the FBS
• Notre Dame has had eight offensive linemen in school history drafted in the top 10 of the NFL Draft — second most of any school in the FBS
• In the past six drafts, Notre Dame has seen six offensive linemen selected in the first three rounds in Nelson, Stanley, McGlinchey, Zack Martin, Nick Martin and Chris Watt (third round pick of the San Diego Chargers in 2014). Over the previous 12 years (2002-13), only two Notre Dame offensive linemen were drafted in the first three rounds in Jeff Faine (first round pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2003) and Ryan Harris (third round pick of the Denver Broncos in 2007)

Irish Picks by Current NFL Team

Picks	Team	First Rounders
41	Bears	Bob Williams (1951), Johnny Lujack (1946)
35	Steelers	Frank Varrichione (1955), Johnny Lattner (1954), Bill Shakespeare (1936)
34	Redskins	Tom Carter (1993), Ralph Guglielmi (1955)
31	Rams	Jerome Bettis (1993), Todd Lyght (1991), Mike Fanning (1975), Jim Seymour (1969), Emil Sitko (1946)
28	Packers	Aaron Taylor (1994), Mike McCoy (1970), Paul Hornung (1957), Art Hunter (1954)
27	Eagles	Neil Worden (1954), Frank Tripucka (1949), John Yonakor (1945)
27	Cardinals	Michael Floyd (2012), George Izo (1960), Jerry Groom (1951), Bill Fischer (1949)
22	Giants	Luke Petitgout (1999), Derek Brown (1992), Eric Dorsey (1986), Joe Heap (1955), George Connor (1946)
21	49ers	Mike McGlinchey (2018), Bryant Young (1994), Ken MacAfee (1978), Monty Stickles (1960)
18	Bills	Jeff Burris (1994), Greg Bell (1984), Tony Hunter (1983), Walt Patulski (1972)
18	Lions	Luther Bradley (1978), Nick Pietrosante (1959), Leon Hart (1950), Frank Szymanski (1945)
17	Patriots	Vagas Ferguson (1980)
16	Chiefs	None
16	Browns	Brady Quinn (2007), Jeff Faine (2003)
16	Chargers	Jerry Tillery (2019)
13	Colts	Quenton Nelson (2018)
12	Saints	Irv Smith (1993), Kevin Hardy (1968)
10	Broncos	None
10	Cowboys	Zack Martin (2014)
10	Vikings	Harrison Smith (2012), Alan Page (1967), Jack Snow (1965)
10	Falcons	Clarence Ellis (1972), George Kunz (1969)
9	Dolphins	Mike Kadish (1972)
9	Bengals	Tyler Eifert (2013), Ross Browner (1978)
9	Seahawks	Rick Mirer (1993), Andy Heck (1989), Steve Niehaus (1976)
8	Titans	Tom Regner (1967)
7	Raiders	Tim Brown (1988)
7	Jets	Bob Crable (1982), Paul Seiler (1967)
6	Ravens	Ronnie Stanley (2016)
5	Buccaneers	Renaldo Wynn (1997)
5	Texans	Will Fuller (2016)
2	Panthers	None

• The Bears franchise has selected the most Notre Dame players (41). The Steelers are next with 35
• The Rams (31) and Giants (21) have drafted the most Irish players in the first round with five apiece

Most Notre Dame Players Selected

16 — 1946 (32 rounds)
15 — 1945 (32 rounds)
13 — 1950 (30 rounds)
11 — 1954 (30 rounds), 1959 (30 rounds), 1969 (15 rounds)
10 — 1944 (32 rounds), 1948 (32 rounds), 1956 (30 rounds), 1975 (12 rounds), 1979 (12 rounds), 1991 (12 rounds), 1994 (seven rounds)

• The most Notre Dame players ever taken in a single draft was 16 in 1946 haul. While the draft included 32 rounds, the 16 Irish players went in the top 20 rounds. Four Notre Dame players went in the top-10 selections (Frank Dancewicz, QB; Johnny Lujack, QB; George Connor, T; Emil Sitko, B)
• The rest of the ’46 draft class included Elmer Angsman (third round), Ed Mieszkowski, (seventh), Pete Berezney (seventh), Bob Skoglund (ninth), Joe Signaigo (10th), George Strohmeyer (13th), Bob Palladino (14th), Fred Rovai (15th), Gasper Urban (17th), Jerry Ford (17th), Bill Heywood (20th) and Frank Ruggerio (20th)
• The NFL Draft went through several reductions in rounds. It became seven rounds in 1994
• The most Irish players drafted in the Brian Kelly era at Notre Dame is eight (2014)

Most Notre Dame Players Selected in First Round

4 — 1946, 1993
3 — 1954, 1955, 1967, 1972, 1978, 1994
2 — 1944, 1945, 1949, 1951, 1960, 1969, 2012, 2016, 2018
1 — 1936, 1950, 1957, 1959, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2013, 2014, 2019

• Nine Notre Dame players have been selected in the first round of the NFL Draft since 2012, which ranks as the third-most in the FBS over the span
• The Irish have as many first-round picks since 2012 than Oklahoma (four) and Michigan (five) combined.

Notre Dame First-Round NFL Draft Picks

Years (drafts)

1995-2011 (17) – 4

2012-2019 (8) – 9

Rank	School	First Round Draft Picks since 2012
1	Alabama	22
2	Ohio State	14
3	Notre Dame	9
	Florida	9
	LSU	9
	Florida State	9

• Kelly has produced three times as many first-round NFL Draft picks (nine) than the three previous Notre Dame head coaches combined (three)
• Only Ara Parseghian (12), Lou Holtz (12) and Frank Leahy (10) have produced more first-round picks during their entire Irish coaching tenures
• Kelly’s total has come over just nine NFL drafts

Rank	Coach (Tenure)	Frist Rounders	NFL Drafts
1	Lou Holtz (1986-96)	12	11
2	Ara Parseghian (1964-74)	12	11
3	Frank Leahy (1941-43, 46-53)	10	11
4	Brian Kelly (2010-)	9	9
5	Dan Devine (1975-80)	5	5
	Terry Brennan (1954-58)	5	5

Most Notre Dame Players Selected in First Two Rounds

6 — 1993
5 — 1967
4 — 1946, 1954, 1955, 1978, 1990, 1994, 2016
3 — 1949, 1969, 1972, 1980, 1991, 2014

• Notre Dame has had 15 players selected in the top two rounds of the draft since 2012, which ranks as the fifth-most in the FBS over the span
• Michigan (seven), Tennessee (four) and Texas (three) have combined to produce 14

Rank	School	Top-Two Round Draft Picks since 2012
1	Alabama	36
2	Ohio State	25
3	LSU	21
4	Florida State	19
5	Notre Dame	15
	Clemson	15
	Florida	15

Most Notre Dame Players Selected in First Three Rounds

7 — 1994
6 — 1967, 1993, 2016
5 — 1946, 1955, 1978, 2014
4 — 1949, 1954, 1972, 1990, 1991, 1997

Most Notre Dame Players Selected in First Seven Rounds

10 — 1994
8 — 1945, 1955, 1972, 1993, 2014
7 — 1946, 1950, 1954, 1967, 1978, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2016

Consecutive Years with First-Rounders

4 — 1967-70, 1991-94
3 — 1944-46, 1949-51, 1982-84, 2012-14

Consecutive Years with Pick in First Three Rounds

18 — 1982-1999
8 — 2001-08
7 — 1964-70
5 — 1972-76, 2010-14

Consecutive Years with Irish Player Drafted (excluding supplemental draft)

41 — 1978-2019*
39 — 1938-1976
* indicates active streak