Some Texas Longhorns-centric NFL Draft fun facts and stats
Will the UT football program set some program records in this week's draft?
The 2025 NFL Draft will be held this weekend in Green Bay, with the first round beginning tonight. In anticipation of what should be a very good weekend for the Texas Longhorn football program, I’ve been sharing some fun facts on X (formerly Twitter) about UT’s history with the draft, and I thought this would be a good place to compile some of them.
Texas is poised to match or possibly break a number of program records relating to the draft.
The most Longhorns ever picked in a single draft is 17. That number was achieved in the 1984 NFL Draft, which lasted for 12 rounds and featured 336 total picks. The NFL Draft has since been shortened, and has featured just seven rounds since 1994. The league has added more franchises since then, and rule changes have added compensatory picks to the pile, so over the past decade some drafts have had as few as 254 selections or as many as 262.
Last year’s NFL Draft saw 11 Texas Longhorns picked, which was touted as a record for the first seven rounds of a draft, but this is an imperfect comparison to previous years. In that legendary 1984 draft, the final pick of the seventh round was #196 overall. Ten of the seventeen Longhorns drafted that year went in the first seven rounds, but 14 were taken within the first 243 picks, a number more equivalent to the picks in a seven-round draft now.
Most Longhorns selected through pick #257
This week’s draft is slated to include 257 total picks. I looked at previous draft years and found the ones that featured the most Longhorns taken within the first 257 picks.
1984 — 14
1982 — 12
2024 — 11
1942, 1944, and 1948 — 10
1952 — 9
1947 — 8
I think the Longhorns have a more than decent chance of matching 1984’s record, and will all but certainly surpass last year’s figure.
Most Longhorns drafted in the first 32 picks
It would be a shock if three Longhorns — namely offensive tackle Kelvin Banks, defensive back Jahdae Barron, and wide receiver Matthew Golden — are not taken in the first round tonight. No other Longhorn is projected to go in the first round tonight, but this should be the third time that three Longhorns are picked within the first 32 picks of an NFL Draft, the first two occasions being in 1942 and 1980.
In the 1942 draft, halfback Orban “Spec” Sanders was the 6th overall pick, followed at #11 by blocking back Vernon Martin, and end Malcolm Kutner at #26. Every draft since 1967 — the first one conducted after the AFL-NFL merger — has featured at least 26 picks in the first round, but prior drafts had considerably shorter rounds. In 1942 when UT All-American Mal Kutner was taken with the #26 pick, he was actually the first pick of the 4th round!
In the 1980 draft, former Longhorn wide receiver and Olympic sprinter Johnny “Lam” Jones was the 2nd overall pick. Johnnie Johnson, who was twice a consensus All-American cornerback, was taken fifteen picks later at #17. And Derrick Hatchett, another star in the defensive secondary who was named a 2nd team All-American by the Associated Press in 1979, was picked at #24.
It doesn’t seem likely that another Longhorn will hear their name called in tonight’s first round after Banks, Barron, and Golden, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility.
Most Longhorns drafted in the top 100
Defensive lineman Alfred Collins is widely projected as a 2nd-3rd round pick. Opinions vary on safety Andrew Mukuba, quarterback Quinn Ewers, tight end Gunnar Helm, defensive tackle Vernon Broughton, defensive end Barryn Sorrell, offensive lineman Cam Williams, offensive lineman Hayden Conner, and running back Jaydon Blue, but most of them should have a draftable grade on just about every team’s board.
There is also speedy wide receiver Isaiah Bond, who in most years would easily be a top 2-3 round pick, but his projection is murky due to a recent arrest for sexual assault. Bond has publicly professed his innocence in the matter and has filed a federal lawsuit against the woman accusing him of assault, claiming that she made false statements against him.
The Longhorns seem assured of having at least 12 players drafted this week. That number becomes 13 if Isaiah Bond’s legal issues don’t scare every team into taking him off their board, and goes to 14 or higher if a franchise takes a late round flier on a boarderline prospect like receiver and return specialist Silas Bolden, or linebacker David Gbenda.
The aforementioned Kelvin Banks, Jahdae Barron, and Matthew Golden should all be taken within the first 30 picks, and possibly before pick #20. If enough of the others who have projections between the 2nd and 4th rounds get taken within the first 100 picks, that could set another UT record.
These are the NFL Drafts which had the most Longhorns taken in the top 100 picks:
1942 — 7
1984 — 6
1944, 1971, 1980, 2010, and 2024 — 5
I’d put the over/under on the number of Longhorns picked in the top 100 of this week’s draft at 5.5. Collins and Helm I think are the Longhorns most likely to be picked after the probable first round trio, and Mukuba and Ewers seem the next-most-likely to get into that range.
Eleven different draft-eligible Longhorns can find at least one mock draft projecting them to go in the first three rounds. It’s highly unlikely that so many will be picked that early, but could Texas have seven or more go within the top 100 picks?
C.J. Vogel of On Texas Football, for example, predicts eight Longhorns to be picked in the first 75 spots!
Any number above six would be the new program standard in the modern draft era, and surpassing seven would be an all-time program record.
“Mr. Irrelevant” and the lowest-drafted Texas Longhorns
Three Texas Longhorns have been the top overall pick in an NFL Draft: linebacker Tommy Nobis in 1966, running back Earl Campbell in 1978, and defensive end Kenneth Sims in 1982.
We’re unlikely to see another Longhorn go #1 until the end of Arch Manning’s college career, but we could see a Longhorn become this draft’s “Mr. Irrelevant”, the nickname given to the final pick in a draft. A number of draft-eligible Longhorns are believed to have scouting grades that could get them picked in the 6th or 7th round, or be a priority free agent target if they go undrafted, so it will be worth watching the final picks of the seventh round to see if any borderline Longhorn prospects get taken.
Two past Longhorns have been Mr. Irrelevant: Jack Rhodes and Walton Roberts.
Jack Rhodes, a native of Lexington, Texas, was picked with the 200th and final selection of the 1939 NFL Draft, which lasted 22 rounds. He was an All-Southwest Conference guard for Texas as a senior in 1938, and was selected to play in the annual East-West game. He graduated from Texas with a B.S. in physical education in 1940 and did not have a pro football career. He served in the Navy during World War II, returned to UT after his discharge and graduated with a Master’s in Education, and went on to attend the University of Houston as a doctoral student and received an Ed.D. in 1950. He was a professor of Health, Safety, and Physical Education at U of H for many years, and was also a sometime assistant football coach.
Halfback Walton Roberts, an all-stater at John Tyler High School before coming to UT, was the 330th and final pick of the 1944 NFL Draft. He had been a backup halfback on UT’s 1941 and 1942 teams and was expected to contend for a starting position as a senior on the 1943 squad, but he was called into active service in the Army in the spring of that year, and he was still in the Army when he was picked in the 1944 NFL Draft. He returned to UT in 1946 and attempted to re-join the Longhorn team, but there was heavy competition for spots in the backfield due to the program not only having several talented returning returning lettermen from the 1945 season, but also several other former players who were back in school after a year or more of military service. Roberts ended up leaving the team a few weeks into the 1946 season. He passed the bar exam in 1949 and had a long career as a lawyer.
Three other Longhorns came within two spots or less of being their draft’s Mr. Irrelevant.
Guard Joe Arnold was the next-to-last pick in the 1952 NFL Draft, going in the 30th round at pick #359.
Tight end Stephen Clark was the next-to-last pick of the 12th and final round of the 1991 draft, going #333 overall.
And cornerback Eric Jeffries was picked in the 12th round with the #333 overall pick in the 1987 NFL Draft, just two spots before Mr. Irrelevant.
In terms of overall pick number, the lowest-drafted Longhorn ever is linebacker Randy Braband, who was pick #417 in the 1973 NFL Draft, which featured 17 rounds and 442 total picks.
In the 30 years since the NFL Draft was reduced to seven rounds, the lowest-drafted Longhorn has been defensive tackle Moro Ojomo, who was pick #249 in the 2023 draft.
Drafted players who transferred to Texas
The transfer portal era has resulted in a lot more players entering the NFL Draft after playing for two or more college programs. Texas has been active in its pursuit of players who enter the portal, and after several years where it felt like most of UT’s incoming transfers rarely made an impact, the Longhorns have benefitted from a number of future pros taking their talents to Austin on their way to the NFL. But the majority of drafted Longhorns are still athletes who signed with Texas out of high school and were developed in the program.
Of the 11 Longhorns drafted in 2024, only three were players who began their career elsewhere.
Wide receiver Adonai Mitchell (picked in the 2nd round at #52 overall) played for one season at Texas after transferring from Georgia.
Running back and special teams contributor Keilan Robinson (5th round, #167 overall) played for three seasons at Texas after spending his freshman year at Alabama.
And safety Ryan Watts (6th round, #195 overall) played two seasons with the Longhorns after playing his first two college seasons at Ohio State.
There could be a slightly higher number of former transfer portal additions who are drafted from Texas this week, depending on whether or not Isaiah Bond is drafted. Bond (Alabama), Quinn Ewers (Ohio State), Matthew Golden (Houston), and Andrew Mukuba (Clemson) all transferred to Texas after beginning their career with other programs. Wide receiver/kick returner Silas Bolden, who could sneak into the 7th round and will, at worst, be a priority undrafted free agent target, transferred in from Oregon State.
But even in a scenario where Texas has 14 or 15 players drafted, the majority of them will be homegrown products and not former transfers. In the long history of Longhorns being drafted by the NFL, it’s an extreme rarity for them to not have played their entire college career at Texas. I could easily be forgetting or overlooking someone, but based on a quick look-over of UT’s all-time draftees, I believe that —aside from players who transferred to UT from the junior college ranks — the last time before 2024 that a player was drafted out of Texas after transferring there was in 1987.
In that year, former Longhorn wide receiver Laron Brown was picked in the 11th round with the #304 overall selection. Brown was a sprinter and football star from Dayton, Ohio who began his career at Tennessee in 1982. He won a letter in football at Tennessee in 1983, and was twice a letterman in track & field and competed in the 400 meters at the 1984 Olympic Trials. He moved to Austin in 1985 along with his then-wife and fellow sprinter Benita Fitzgerald, who had won the gold medal in the women’s 100-meter hurdles at the 1984 Summer Olympics and intended to train with Terry Crawford, then the UT women’s track coach. Brown enrolled at Texas and walked on with the football team, and after becoming eligible he was a member of the 1986 Longhorn squad.
The tumultuous 1940s provide a few more examples of players being drafted by the NFL after transferring to Texas, though during World War II players were often transferred from one college to another not completely of their own accord but due to their service in the reserves of one military branch or another, or their participation in one of the Navy’s officer training programs.
One of these days I’ll write a piece on the 1943 Longhorns, the team that stands in program history as the one most affected by transfers. Three student-athletes who transferred to Texas in that year were picked in the 1944 NFL Draft.
West Texas native Jim Callahan, a star running back who had been elected co-captain of Texas Tech’s 1943 team, was transferred by the Navy to Texas, which hosted a V-5 officer training program on its campus. He joined the Longhorn football team, made the All-SWC first team that season, and was picked in the 2nd round (13th overall) of the 1944 NFL Draft.
California native Marcel Gres, who was part of the Navy’s V-12 officer training program, was transferred to Texas from Santa Clara University. He was UT’s starting left tackle in 1943, was named to the AP’s All-SWC second team and honorable mention All-America team, and was picked in the 18th round (#180 overall) in the 1944 draft.
Edward “Buck” Gillenwater, a native of Memphis, Texas, was also transferred by the Navy from Texas Tech to Texas that year. He evidently did not play for the Longhorns after his transfer, but he was drafted in the 23rd round (#232 overall) in 1944, and officially was a UT draft pick.
There are a few other examples from the post-WWII years, but on the whole the number of Longhorns drafted into the NFL after beginning their college careers elsewhere is a tiny figure. Unless changes are made to the NCAA’s transfer rules that once again require transfers to sit out for a year after changing schools, I’d expect future NFL Drafts to feature more picks from Texas who didn’t start out there (but got there as quick as they could!).
The NFL Draft kicks off tonight at 7:00 Central time, and considering that we’re only three years removed from Texas having zero draft picks in 2022, it should make for great viewing and a clear indication of how far the program and its culture has come since Steve Sarkisian’s hiring as head coach in 2021.
Hook ‘em!