NFL DRAFT BY THE NUMBERS: UCF Linebacker Shaquem Griffin Highlights Most Watched Draft Ever

By  //  April 30, 2018

SEC HAD MOST PLAYERS DRAFTED FOR THE 12TH STRAIGHT YEAR

ABOVE VIDEO: Every Pick From Round 1 of the 2018 NFL Draft. 

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA– After 256 picks and three days of pomp, pomp, more pomp, quite a bit of circumstance, and thankfully no controversy, the 2018 NFL Draft is complete.

The leagues’ annual job fair was held at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas and despite a tumultuous 2017 on and off the field, the NFL’s big spring event now held in different cities across the country broke records for television viewership.

The Cleveland Browns held the first pick in this year’s draft and selected Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Baker Mayfield from Oklahoma.

The last player selected, the selection dubbed “Mr. Irrelevnt,” was Trey Quinn from Southern Methodist University. Quinn played college football at LSU and SMU and holds the all-time high school record for most career yards receiving yards with  6,566.

The 2018 NFL Draft by the numbers:

ABOVE VIDEO: The 2017 National Champion UCF Knights had four players drafted, including Shaquem Griffin, who was selected by the Seattle Seahawks with the 141st pick in the fifth round.

5- The Cleveland Browns have now held the No.1 overall pick five times in franchise history, four of those times coming since 1999. Bobby Garrett (1954), Tim Couch (1999), Courtney Brown (2000), Myles Garrett (2017) and now Baker Mayfield (2018).

5- Since 1999, the Browns have selected a quarterback more times than any position in the opening round with five.

29- Baker Mayfield will be the 29th different signal caller to become a quarterback for the Cleveland Browns since they returned to the NFL in 1999. Tyrod Taylor, whom the Browns acquired during this past off-season, is the 28th.

25 Percent- The 2018 NFL Draft is one for the record books. With a combined 3.57 household rating and 5.5 million viewers, the 2018 NFL Draft is officially the highest rated and most-watched Draft ever.

The 2018 NFL Draft was covered across NFL Network, FOX, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes and the broad distribution helped grow the combined rating and viewership by 25 percent and 20 percent respectively over 2017.

16- There were 16 first round trades, the most since there were 19 in 2012.

24- Number of players drafted from college teams in Florida. Florida State and Miami tied with six each while the Gators sent five more to the NFL. The 2017 National Champion UCF Knights had four players drafted, including Shaquem Griffin, who was selected by the Seattle Seahawks with the 141st pick in the fifth round.

The Knights superstar his reunited with his twin brother, Shaquil, who was picked in the third-round last year by Seattle and plays cornerback. South Florida had two players drafted while Florida International had one.

29, 18 and 33- Once again in 2017, every team in the NFL threw the ball more than they ran it. Miami led the league putting the ball in the air nearly 64 percent of the time while the Jaguars did so just 50.5 percent of the time. So, it stands to reason that the most defensive players drafted were a combination of cornerbacks (29) and safeties (18) while the most offensive players taken were wide receivers with 33 of them selected.

53- For the 12th year in a row, the Southeastern Conference had the most NFL draft picks with 53. The SEC a little over half of that total, 27, coming on Day 3 of the draft.

36- Side note to the 53 SEC players drafted, 36 were from the western division of the conference.

12- Defending National champion Alabama led all colleges with 12 total picks. Georgia linebacker Roquan Smith was the highest player selected from the SEC, going No. 8 overall to the Chicago Bears. That number ties Ohio State in 2016 for the most in a draft over the last 13. Texas had 17 players selected in 1984, the most since 1970.

4- Four of the 12 players selected were taken in the first round, the most of any school. It’s the fourth time since 2011 the Crimson Tide have had four players selected in the first round.

After making several trades down on the first night and then picking their first player at No.25 overall, the Baltimore Ravens traded with the Super Bowl Champion Eagles for the final pick  (32) of the first round and used it to draft the 2016 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Lamar Jackson from Louisville. (Image by NFL Communications)

2 and 3- After making several trades down on the first night and then picking their first player at No.25 overall, the Baltimore Ravens traded with the Super Bowl Champion Eagles for the final pick  (32) of the first round and used it to draft the 2016 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Lamar Jackson from Louisville.

The highly talented Jackson was the second Heisman winner selected in the first round Thursday night after the Browns chose Mayfield at No.1. Ironically this was the third time since 2010 this has occurred.

Jamies Winston and Marcus Marriotta were selected first and second overall in the 2015 Draft and in 2010, Sam Bradford and UF great Tim Tebow were drafted No.s 1 and 25 respectively by the St. Louis Rams and Denver Broncos.

11- Roll Tide, even more Bama…With Shaun Dion Hamilton’s selection by the Redskins on Saturday, all 11 of Alabama’s 2016 season-opening defensive starters have been selected in the last two NFL Drafts Nine were chosen in the first three rounds.

UCF Knight Shaquem Griffin Joins Twin Brother At Seattle Seahawks After Selected In NFL DraftRelated Story:
UCF Knight Shaquem Griffin Joins Twin Brother At Seattle Seahawks After Selected In NFL Draft

Second Place is the First Loser- The ACC actually picked up 29 picks on the draft’s final day, finishing with 46 picks. The Big Ten finished in third with 32 picks, while the Pac-12 had 30 and the Big 12 rounded out the Power Five with 20 selections.

70- There were 70 underclassmen selected ion the 2018 NFL Draft. That ties for the most ever taken in a draft (70-2016) and is three more than were chosen last year.

12- The team that selected the most players was the Baltimore Ravens. In his final draft as the team’s General manager, Ozzie Newsome pulled off six trades.

4- It must have been a long weekend for the Tennessee Titans as they had just four total picks in this year’s draft. They had one selection in the first, second, fifth and sixth rounds.

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