📈 2024 NFL Draft Exclusive

🏈 #1 Overall Draft Picks

If you read our last issue you might’ve seen our sports trivia question that looked something like this:

❓ 4 Univerisites are tied for producing the most first overall picks in the NFL draft (5 players each)…how many universities can you name?

Well, if you were able to nail Georgia, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and Southern California our Master’s tournament hats are off to you.

In the competitive landscape of college football, few metrics resonate like the ability to churn out NFL number-one draft picks. So the bar chart we're starting with today is a testament to the programs that have perfected the art of developing athletes for the pros. Georgia, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and Southern California have each seen five of their players selected as the first overall pick in the NFL Draft, a testament to the strong football heritage these schools share.

Here’s the full list below of schools with 3 or more players to go #1 overall in the NFL draft, however...I have a feeling we’ll have a new leader after tonight (Caleb Williams👀) :

Georgia (5) — Travon Waker (2022), Matthew Stafford (2009), Harry Babcock (1953), Charley Trippi (1945), Frank Sinkwich (1943)

Notre Dame (5) — Walt Patulski (1972), Paul Hornung (1957), Leon Hart (1950), Frank Dancewicz (1946), Angelo Bertelli (1944)

Oklahoma (5) — Kyler Murray (2019), Baker Mayfield (2018), Sam Bradford (2010), Billy Sims (1980), Lee Roy Selmon (1976)

Southern California (5) — Carson Palmer (2003), Keyshawn Johnson (1996), Ricky Bell (1977), O.J. Simpson (1969), Ron Yary (1968)

Auburn (4) — Cam Newton (2011), Aundray Bruce (1988), Bo Jackson (1986), Tucker Frederickson (1965)

Stanford (4) —Andrew Luck (2012), John Elway (1983), Jim Plunkett (1971), Bobby Garrett (1954)

LSU (3) — Joe Burrow (2020), JaMarcus Russell (2007), Billy Cannon (1960)

Ohio State (3) — Orlando Pace (1997), Dan Wilkinson (1994), Tom Cousineau (1979)

Texas (3) — Kenneth Sims (1982), Earl Campbell (1978), Tommy Nobis (1966)

🏈 NFL Draft Appeal

Radio City Music Hall was always the staple setting of the NFL Draft, until the NFL did what the NFL does, and realized how much money and fan engagement there was to be made by taking the NFL Draft to different cities each year like the SuperBowl. Covid being a major outlier in 2020 that kept any fans or even teams from attending a Draft, the NFL Draft has become a destination for fans to come together and see the new generation of players to their respective teams. 

We will see how Detroit fares this upcoming weekend, but numbers indicate (at least in the last five years) that no city can touch Pre-Covid Nashville in 2019. Bringing over 600,000 fans to the Music City, Nashville provided a model that cities today can replicate moving forward. Heck, Vegas had the draft stage on the Bellagio Fountains! But, Kansas City was impressive in 2023 and Detroit will try to out do it with the “Detroit vs Everybody” approach. Jon Barker, Senior VP of NFL Global Event Ops & Production has stated, “For everything that we have been told by everybody that live in Detroit, Detroit will beat Kansas City!”

On the tv ratings side of the Draft, viewership numbers continue to show fans crave NFL Football year round. When the season ends, the NFL has found a way to monetize and dominate the headlines until Week 1 kickoff the following year in September whether it is The Combine, Free Agency, OTAs, The Draft, etc. The NFL and Roger Goodell have their eyes on one thing - $$$. 

🏈 Mock Draft Accuracy

 Coinciding with the rise in popularity of the NFL Draft, has come the infatuation with Mock Drafts and Drafts simulations. Mock drafts have gotten better I believe though, as they used to be released by media members as “what I would do” or “what I think (team X) should do” to now being “what I’m hearing around the league”, so mock drafts have developed “sources” for lack of a better word. Either way, we decided to check the accuracy of Mock Drafts in the First Round dating back to 2016. Should we be sharing the latest mock drafts with friends to show who is slotted to our team or getting our hopes up that QB1 or WR1 falls to us? Lets find out…

From NFLmockdraftdatabase.com, who compiles mock drafts and and slot the consensus, most popular player to go at each position in mock drafts put out by various NFL Media members, we decided to check for accuracy. It does help that mock drafts are starting to be used as a sort of reporting tool, but it truly shows that once draft night begins, anything can happen. And the player you’ve had pinpointed to your team for months is off the board in the pick right in front of your team.