More than 200 UK players have been drafted into the NFL. Here’s a complete history.
Kentucky this weekend will have at least two players selected in the NFL Draft, and depending on how things play out, has an opportunity to set a modern-era record for selections from the school.
The most Wildcats ever picked in a single NFL Draft was nine, in 1951, though the draft then was conducted over 30 rounds with a total of 362 picks (last year’s draft was finished in 255 picks). Since the draft became a seven-round affair in 1994, the most UK players selected is five, from the 2019 class led by edge rusher Josh Allen, the No. 7 overall pick.
Jamin Davis, a linebacker projected by many to go in the first round, and Kelvin Joseph, a first-round hopeful likely to be gone by the end of day two, will be selected, giving UK multiple NFL Draft picks for the third straight year and for the fourth time under head coach Mark Stoops.
Eight other Kentucky players — including local products Drake Jackson (Woodford County) and Landon Young (Lafayette) — are draft eligible. UK would only need half of them to get selected in order to boast a new modern draft-era record.
Last year, Lynn Bowden, who went 80th overall to the Las Vegas Raiders, and Logan Stenberg, drafted in the fourth round by the Detroit Lions, joined a list of more than 200 UK players drafted into the pro ranks going back to 1937.
Who are the other Wildcats that have preceded this year’s class of candidates? Below you’ll find a chart of every UK player drafted into either the NFL or the American Football League, a defunct organization whose history is officially counted as part of the NFL’s since the two leagues merged in the 1960s. Players who were drafted into the AFL are marked with an asterisk.
Only one existing NFL franchise — the Carolina Panthers — has never drafted a UK player. Tim Couch is the only player drafted first overall in Kentucky history; he went to the Cleveland Browns in 1999.
Note: Information cited from Pro Football Reference. Some players are listed twice, as they were selected by both an AFL and NFL franchise in a given year.
