Michigan Football has a chance to make history in the 2024 NFL Draft.
And it doesn’t just have to do with the fact that JJ McCarthy is about to become the Wolverine with best draft quarterback, surpassing his former coach Jim Harbaugh going 26th overall in the 1987 NFL Draft to the Chicago Bears.
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The defending national champion Wolverines – who have already set a record in this NFL draft process with 18 players invited to the NFL combine – have another record they could break: most players selected in a single NFL draft, a mark that currently is owned by Georgia, which had 15 players selected in the 2022 draft.
Highlighted by McCarthy, who ranked in the top five in several mock drafts over the last week, Michigan has a total of 18 eligible players in this year’s NFL Draft:
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Offense: McCarthy, Blake Corum, Roman Wilson, Cornelius Johnson, AJ Barner, Karsen Barnhart, LaDarius Henderson, Trevor Keegan, Trente Jones, Drake Nugent and Zak Zinter
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Defense: Kris Jenkins, Michael Barrett, Mike Sainristil, Junior Colson, Jaylen Harrell, Braiden McGregor and Josh Wallace
The current record for the Wolverines since the NFL draft was shortened to seven rounds in 1994 is 11 players in 2021. That mark is tied for sixth, according to NCAA.com. The next closest number for Michigan is 10 players, in 2020.
Here’s what you officially need to know for most of a program’s selections in a single NFL Draft:
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What is the NFL draft record for most players from a program?
The record for the most players selected in an NFL Draft from a specific program was set in 2022 when 15 Georgia players were selected. The Bulldogs surpassed the previous record set by Ohio State and LSU with 14 players each.
The Bulldogs, who had won the first of two consecutive national championship titles that season by defeating SEC rival Alabama, had five players selected in the first round in 2022 – Travon Walker, Jordan Davis, Quay Walker, Devonte Wyatt and Lewis Cine. This tied for the second-most first-round selections since 1994 with LSU (2020), Ohio State (2016) and Miami (2002), behind only Alabama in 2021 (six first-round picks).
Most players selected in a program’s NFL draft:
Georgia holds the record for the most players selected in a program’s NFL draft, with 15 as of 2022. Ohio State in 2004 and LSU in 2020 each produced 14 players selected in their respective drafts, tying for second behind of the Bulldogs.
Here’s the full list going back to 1994 when the draft expanded to seven rounds, according to the NCAA record book:
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1. 15 players: Georgia (2022)
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T-2. 14 players: Ohio State (2004), LSU (2020)
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T-4. 12 players: Ohio State (2016), Alabama (2018)
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T-6. 11 players: Miami (2002), Oklahoma (2005), USC (2006), USC (2009), Florida State (2013), Florida State (2015) and Michigan (2017)
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T-13. 10 players: Notre Dame (1994), Colorado (1995), Florida State (1995), Penn State (1996), Washington (1998), Tennessee (2002), USC (2008), Louisville (2015), Alabama (2017) , Ohio State (2020), Michigan (2020), Alabama (2021), Ohio State (2021), Alabama (2023) and Georgia (2023)
This article originally appeared in the Detroit Free Press: NFL Draft Record for Most Picks by One School: Michigan Football Could Break It in 2024
