| Date | May 8–10 |
|---|---|
| Location | Radio City Music Hall in New York City |
| Network | ESPN, NFL Network |
| League | NFL |
| Mr irrelevant | Lonnie Ballentine, S Houston Texans |
| First | Jadeveon Clowney, DE Houston Texans |
| Fewnum | 5 |
| Fewest | Indianapolis Colts |
| Mostnum | 12 |
| Most | New York Jets San Francisco 49ers |
| Overall | 256 |
| Rounds | 7 |
| Prev | 2013 |
| Next | 2015 |
The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting",[1] was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on May 8 through May 10, 2014.[2][3][4] The draft started on May 8, 2014, at 8 p.m. EDT.[5] The draft was moved from its traditional time frame in late April due to a scheduling conflict at Radio City Music Hall.[6]
There was early discussion and rumors leading up to the draft on the future of staying at the current location in New York City, where it had been held since . Given the increased interest the draft had garnered over the past decade,[7] there was belief that the event may have outgrown Radio City Music Hall, which had been the venue for the past eight drafts. The possibility of extending the draft to four days was also being discussed throughout the months leading up to the draft. The NFL decided in that summer that the 2015 NFL draft will take place at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.
The Houston Texans opened the draft by selecting defensive end Jadeveon Clowney from the University of South Carolina. The last time a defensive player was taken with the first overall selection was in 2006, when the Texans selected Mario Williams.[8] The Texans also closed the draft with the selection of safety Lonnie Ballentine of the University of Memphis as Mr. Irrelevant, which is the title given to the final player selected.[9]
The 2014 draft made history when the St. Louis Rams selected Michael Sam in the seventh round. Sam, who became the first openly gay player to ever be drafted in the NFL, was selected 249th out of 256 picks in the draft. After this, Sam's jersey was the second best selling rookie jersey on the NFL's website.[10] Sam came out publicly in the months leading up to the draft, but he never actually made the final roster of an NFL team and was out of the league the same year.[11]
Early entrants
A record 98 underclassmen announced their intention to forgo their remaining NCAA eligibility and declare themselves available to be selected in the draft.[12] When including four players who received degrees but still had eligibility remaining, the number swells to 102.[13] Fourteen underclassmen—plus Teddy Bridgewater who graduated with eligibility remaining—were selected in the draft's first round,[14] including the first four and six of the first ten players selected.[15]
Overview
The following is the breakdown of the 256 players selected by position:
|
|
Determination of draft order
The draft order is based generally on each team's record from the previous season, with teams which qualified for the postseason selecting after those which failed to make the playoffs.[16] The Houston Texans with a 2–14 record in 2013 held the first selection of each round. The Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens finished with identical 8–8 records and strength of schedule ratings, hence a coin flip was used to determine the selection order — the Cowboys won the flip and thus selected ahead of the Ravens.[17]
Player selections
|
Notable undrafted players
| † | Pro Bowler[N 1] |
Trades
In the explanations below, (D) denotes trades that took place during the 2014 draft, while (PD) indicates trades completed pre-draft.
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Supplemental draft
The supplemental draft was held on July 10, 2014. For each player selected in the supplemental draft, the team forfeits its pick in that round in the draft of the following season. Four players were eligible, but for the second straight year no players were selected.[18]
Summary
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) led all college athletic conferences in terms of first round selections with eleven, including the first two picks of the draft.[14] For the first time since the league's second draft in 1937, no player from the University of Texas was selected.[19]
For the second year in succession—and only the second time since 1967—no running back was selected in the first round.[20] The first player taken at the position was Bishop Sankey, who was selected in the second round with the 54th overall pick. This is the latest point in the history of the draft for the first running back to be selected.[21]
Selections by college athletic conference
| Conference | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | Round 7 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCAA Division I FBS football conferences | ||||||||
| The American | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
| ACC | 5 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 42 |
| Big 12 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 17 |
| Big Ten | 4 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 30 |
| C-USA | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
| MAC | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| MWC | 0 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 16 |
| Pac-12 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 34 |
| SEC | 11 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 49 |
| Sun Belt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Ind. | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| NCAA Division I FCS football conferences | ||||||||
| Big Sky | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Big South | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| CAA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Ivy | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| MVFC | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| OVC | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| PFL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| SoCon | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Non-Division I football conferences | ||||||||
| GLIAC (DII) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| MIAA (DII) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| NSIC (DII) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| PSAC (DII) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| RSEQ (CIS) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Schools with multiple draft selections
Selections by position
| Position | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | Round 7 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Center | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| Cornerback | 5 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 33 |
| Defensive end | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 22 |
| Defensive tackle | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 20 |
| Guard | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 14 |
| Linebacker | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 34 |
| Offensive tackle | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 21 |
| Placekicker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Punter | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Quarterback | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 16 |
| Running back | 0 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 19 |
| Safety | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 20 |
| Tight end | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| Wide receiver | 5 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 34 |
| Position | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | Round 7 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offense | 14 | 21 | 22 | 17 | 13 | 21 | 16 | 124 |
| Defense | 18 | 11 | 14 | 23 | 23 | 16 | 24 | 129 |
| Special teams | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
U.S. television coverage
The draft was broadcast live by the NFL Network and ESPN. This marks the 35th year of draft coverage on ESPN, while the NFL Network had covered the draft since its inception in 2004.[22]
The two networks' combined first-round coverage drew a record 32 million viewers according to Nielsen ratings which was a 28 percent increase over the previous year. In total, 45.7 million viewers watched some part of the three-day event, topping the previous record of 45.4 million set in 2010.[23]
In popular culture
- The events of the 2014 film Draft Day, take place during the fictionalized 2014 NFL draft.
- The 2014 NFL draft was also featured in The League.
References
Notes
- ^ Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro Bowl at any time in their career.
General references
- ^ Hiro, Brian (April 21, 2010). "NFL: Draft's popularity shows no signs of abating". North County Times. Archived from the original on April 25, 2010. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
- ^ Brinson, Will (May 28, 2013). "2014 NFL Draft date set for May 8–10 at Radio City in New York". Eye on Football (blog). CBS Sports. Archived May 9, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
- ^ "NFL Draft Locations". FootballGeography.com. October 2, 2014. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
- ^ Salomone, Dan (October 2, 2014). "NFL Draft headed to Chicago in 2015". Giants.com. New York Giants. Archived from the original on September 30, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
- ^ "2014 NFL Draft notes". National Football League. Archived May 6, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
- ^ "Roger Goodell: Draft shifts to May". ESPN. May 22, 2013. Archived November 2, 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
- ^ Gagnon, Brad (April 22, 2013). "How the NFL Draft became the biggest non-sporting sports event". The Guardian. Archived February 28, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
- ^ "2014 NFL Draft round 1 notes". National Football League. Archived May 14, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
- ^ Corbett, Jim (May 11, 2014). "'Mr. Irrelevant' Lonnie Ballentine could prove title wrong". USA Today. Archived May 14, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
- ^ Silver, Michael. "St. Louis Rams draft Michael Sam, make NFL history". NFL.com. Archived May 12, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
- ^ Connelly, Chris (February 10, 2014). "Mizzou's Michael Sam says he's gay". Outside the Lines (blog). ESPN. Archived April 26, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
- ^ "98 Players Granted Special Eligibility for 2014 NFL Draft". National Football League. January 19, 2014. Archived May 2, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
- ^ Heitner, Darren (January 19, 2014). "No Need To Bash The Record Ninety-Eight Underclassmen Declaring For NFL Draft". Forbes. Archived April 15, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
- ^ Wilner, Barry (May 9, 2014). "NFL draft 2014: Texans take South Carolina's Clowney first overall; Manziel goes to Cleveland". National Post. AP. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
- ^ Gribble, Andrew (May 10, 2014). "Tracking the underclassmen: Close to 40 percent don't hear their name called at 2014 NFL Draft". Alabama Crimson Tide Sports (blog). The Birmingham News. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
- ^ "Complete order of first round of 2011 NFL Draft determined". NFL.com. January 2, 2011. Archived November 25, 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
- ^ Reynolds, Jeff (February 19, 2014). "2014 NFL Draft: Cowboys win coin flip vs. Ravens, pick 16th". NFLDraftScout.com. CBS Sports. Archived February 24, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
- ^ Huguenin, Mike (July 10, 2014). "No players selected in 2014 NFL Supplemental Draft". NFL.com. NFL Enterprises LLC. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
- ^ Trotter, Jake (May 11, 2014). "NFL teams ignore Longhorns". ESPN. Archived May 12, 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Chappell, Bill (May 9, 2014). "NFL Draft's First Round: Manziel Slides, No Running Backs Taken". The Two-Way (blog). NPR. Archived May 16, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
- ^ Davis, Charles (May 15, 2014). "What 2014 NFL Draft told us about state of college football". NFL.com. Archived May 16, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
- ^ Deitsch, Richard (May 4, 2014). "Inside the wall-to-wall coverage of the 2014 NFL draft". Media Circus (blog). Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on May 5, 2014. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
- ^ "Record 45.7 Million Viewers for 2014 NFL Draft". National Football League. May 12, 2014. Archived May 14, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 14, 2014.