The 2016 NFL Draft kicks off tonight at 8 p.m. Check out these #ACCFootball draft notes supplied by @theACC.
In last year’s NFL Draft, the Atlantic Coast Conference had nine players chosen in the first round, which tied for the highest total nationally.
Over the past two years, the ACC has had 89 players chosen in the NFL Draft, the second-highest total of any conference in the nation.
Florida State’s 11 2015 draftees allowed it to set an NFL Draft record for the most players chosen in the three-year span. The Seminoles had 11 taken in 2013, seven in 2014 and 11 more last year for total of 29, besting the previous high of 28 set by Miami (2002-2004).
A very young league in 2015, the ACC returns many of its top performers in 2016. The number of highly talented returners and statistical leaders tells the story of why the conference not projected to have as high a total of draftees this year. The ACC is set to return nine of its top 10 rushers; nine of its top 10 passers; nine of its top 10 in receiving yardage and eight of its top ten in total offense. The ACC had a league-record seven 1,000-yard rushers in 2015 and all seven return in 2016.
In each of the last 11 NFL Drafts, the ACC has had at least 31 players drafted each year.
Over the last decade, the ACC has had 60 of its former players taken in the first round of the NFL Draft, the second-highest total of any conference in the nation.
Miami has had a player chosen in ever NFL Draft since 1975, or 41 consecutive years. The Hurricanes look to continue that streak as cornerback Artie Burns is projected to be drafted in the first or second rounds.
Florida State and Virginia have had a player chosen in each of the last 32 drafts, or every year since 1984. Virginia Tech has had a player chosen in each of the last 22 NFL Drafts.
Over the last 11 NFL Drafts, or since the 2006 Draft, a total of 401 players have been drafted from the ACC, the second highest total of any conference nationally, and more than 80 draftees more than the next closest league.
Since the 2006 NFL Draft, the ACC has had 24 defensive ends or outside linebackers selected in the first two rounds, far and away the most of any conference. The next highest total was 18. (Using positions determined by the NFL for the draft).
Clemson has had at least four selections in the NFL Draft each of the last seven years, the only ACC school that can make that claim. Clemson’s seven-year run of at least four players drafted is the longest by an ACC school since Florida State had at least four selected 10 consecutive years from 1992-2001.
In 2015, 30 players were drafted from the ACC’s Atlantic Division, including 11 from Florida State, 10 from Louisville, five from Clemson, three from Boston College and one from Wake Forest. That total ranked ahead of the individual totals of four FBS conferences.
When Virginia Tech’s Kendall Fuller is drafted this week, he will become the fourth Fuller brother to have played at Virginia Tech and be drafted into the NFL. Older brother Vince was a fourth-round pick of the Tennessee Titans in 2005. Older brothers Corey, who was selected in the sixth round by Detroit in 2013 and Kyle, who was tabbed on the first round by the Chicago Bears in 2014, have also been drafted.
(Thanks to Mike Finn, Associate Commissioner, Football Communications, for the notes!)