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List of Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens in the NFL draft

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An American football player wearing a red practice jersey (number 5) tossing himself an NFL football while watching a practice.
Joe Flacco was drafted 18th overall by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2008 NFL Draft. He is the highest drafted Blue Hen in NFL Draft history, and the only one taken in the first round.

The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team, representing the University of Delaware, has had 29 players drafted into the National Football League (NFL) since the league began holding drafts in 1936.[1][A 1] This includes one player taken in the first round, Joe Flacco in the 2008 NFL draft.[1] The Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders franchise has drafted the most Fightin' Blue Hens with five.[1] Fifteen NFL teams have drafted at least one player from Delaware.[1] Two former Blue Hens have been selected to Pro Bowls: Rich Gannon, who earned four selections as a member of the Raiders after being selected in the fourth round of the 1987 NFL draft by the New England Patriots,[4] and Mike Adams, who earned two selections as a member of the Indianapolis Colts after going undrafted in 2004.[5]

Each NFL franchise seeks to add new players through the annual NFL Draft. The draft rules were last updated in 2009. The team with the worst record the previous year picks first, the next-worst team second, and so on. Teams that did not make the playoffs are ordered by their regular-season record with any remaining ties broken by strength of schedule. Playoff participants are sequenced after non-playoff teams, based on their round of elimination (wild card, division, conference, and Super Bowl).[6]

Before the merger agreements in 1966, the American Football League (AFL) operated in direct competition with the NFL and held a separate draft. This led to a massive bidding war over top prospects between the two leagues. As part of the merger agreement on June 8, 1966, the two leagues would hold a multiple round "Common Draft". Once the AFL officially merged with the NFL in 1970, the "Common Draft" simply became the NFL Draft.[2][3][7]

Key

[edit]
B Back[A 2] K Kicker NT Nose tackle
C Center LB Linebacker FB Fullback
DB Defensive back P Punter HB Halfback
DE Defensive end QB Quarterback WR Wide receiver
DT Defensive tackle RB Running back G Guard
E End T Offensive tackle TE Tight end
† Selected to an all-star game
‡ Won a league championship
♦ Selected to an all-star game and won a league championship

Selections

[edit]

American Football League

[edit]
See also: American Football League Draft
Year Round Pick Overall Player Team[A 3] Position Notes
1960 N/A N/A N/A Leon Dombrowski Oakland Raiders LB —

National Football League

[edit]
See also: National Football League Draft
Year Round Pick Overall Player Team[A 3] Position Notes
1943 32 5 300 Bo Bogovich Washington Redskins G —
1947 21 2 187 Paul Hart Boston Yanks B —
30 3 278 Tom Stalloni Pittsburgh Steelers T —
1955 11 10 131 Tom Redfield Chicago Bears E —
1962 15 10 206 Dick Broadbent Detroit Lions E —
1964 10 14 140 Mike Brown Chicago Bears B —
1967 11 11 274 Herb Slattery New York Jets G —
1971 6 11 141 Conway Hayman Washington Redskins G —
8 18 200 Ted Gregory New York Giants DE —
15 25 389 Bob Young Dallas Cowboys DE —
1973 10 9 243 Joe Carbone New York Jets DE —
13 25 337 Dennis Johnson Washington Redskins DT —
1976 17 22 481 Nate Beasley Oakland Raiders FB —
1979 9 11 231 Jeff Komlo Detroit Lions QB —
1980 6 7 145 Scott Brunner New York Giants QB —
1981 12 28 332 Phil Nelson Oakland Raiders TE —
1983 6 17 157 George Schmitt St. Louis Cardinals DB —
1985 5 23 135 Dan Reeder Los Angeles Raiders RB —
1987 4 14 98 Rich Gannon† New England Patriots QB Pro Bowl (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003)[4]
12 4 311 Joe McGrail Buffalo Bills DT —
2002 5 31 203 Jamin Elliott‡ Chicago Bears WR Won Super Bowl XXXVIII
2004 6 1 166 Shawn Johnson Oakland Raiders DE —
6 20 185 Andy Hall Philadelphia Eagles QB —
2007 7 5 215 Ben Patrick Arizona Cardinals TE —
2008 1 18 18 Joe Flacco‡ Baltimore Ravens QB Won Super Bowl XLVII
2012 4 3 98 Gino Gradkowski‡ Baltimore Ravens C Won Super Bowl XLVII
2015 5 35 171 Nick Boyle Baltimore Ravens TE —
2018 5 8 145 Bilal Nichols Chicago Bears DT —
2019 2 28 60 Nasir Adderley Los Angeles Chargers DB —

Notes

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  1. ^ Because of the NFL–AFL merger agreement, the history of the AFL is officially recognized by the NFL and therefore this list includes the AFL Draft (1960–1966) and the Common Draft (1967–1969).[2][3]
  2. ^ In American and Canadian football, a back is a player who is lined up behind the linemen, the players who line up closest to the line of scrimmage.
  3. ^ a b This is the team that drafted the player, not their most recent team.

References

[edit]
General
  • "Draft History by School–Delaware". National Football League. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  • "NFL Players who attended University of Delaware". databaseFootball.com. Archived from the original on March 7, 2008. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  • "Delaware Players/Alumni". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
Specific
  1. ^ a b c d "Delaware Drafted Players/Alumni". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  2. ^ a b Cross, B. Duane (January 22, 2001). "The AFL: A Football Legacy". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on December 17, 2009. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  3. ^ a b "NFL History by Decade: 1961–1970". NFL. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Rich Gannon". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  5. ^ "Mike Adams". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  6. ^ Clayton, John (March 26, 2009). "Draft order to change for playoff teams". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on February 18, 2010.
  7. ^ "Time Changes for 2008 NFL Draft". NFL. April 22, 2008. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
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