Which college football conference won the 2019 NFL Draft? Where do they all rank in terms of players sent to the next level?
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Three Greatest Draft Picks For Each Team
ACC | Big Ten | Big 12 | Pac-12 | SEC
– 32 Greatest Draft Picks of All-Time
– 2019 1st Round Pick Breakdown & Thoughts
– 2020 Top 32 Prospects First Look
– 2019 NFL Draft Rankings By College No. 1-130
How did all the college football conferences do in the 2019 NFL Draft?
Which ones can brag, which ones sent the most talent off to the league of mercenaries, and which ones have to keep it quiet after the rough run?
So here’s how this works. A conference gets 7 points for each first round draft pick, 6 for a second, 5 for a third, 4 for a fourth, 3 for a fifth, 2 for a sixth, and 1 for a seventh round selection.
11. Sun Belt (2 points)
TOTAL PICKS BY ROUNDS
1st 0, 2nd 0, 3rd 1, 4th 1, 5th 0, 6th 1, 7th 0
2018 NFL Draft Conference Ranking: 11
Everyone else got to have a whole lot of fun over the NFL Draft weekend, but the Sun Belt only got one invite.
Marcus Green. That was it.
The ULM wide receiver was selected by Atlanta late in the sixth round, and that no other school in the league saw a player go – even though Georgia State WR Penny Hart should’ve gone.
Conference Winner: ULM, 1 player, 2 points overall
WR Marcus Green to Atlanta (6th)
T2. Appalachian State 0
T2. Coastal Carolina 0
T2. Georgia Southern 0
T2. Georgia State 0
T2. Troy 0
T2. Arkansas State 0
T2. Louisiana 0
T2. South Alabama 0
T2. Texas State 0
NEXT: No. 10 Best 2019 NFL Draft Conference
10. Conference USA (23 points)
TOTAL PICKS BY ROUNDS
1st 0, 2nd 0, 3rd 4, 4th 0, 5th 0, 6th 1, 7th 1
2018 NFL Draft Conference Ranking: 8
It was a rough run overall for the conference with Florida Atlantic RB Devin Singletary the first one from the league going to the Bills with the tenth pick in the third round, and with just a few random selections coming from there on.
Ole Dominion takes the overall prize with a third and a sixth rounder, but that’s not anything to chirp about in a mediocre all-around draft run for the league as a whole.
Team Winner: Old Dominion, 2 players, 7 points
LB Oshane Ximenes to NY Giants (3rd)
WR Travis Fulgham to Detroit (6th)
2. Florida Atlantic 6
T3. Charlotte 5
T3. Louisiana Tech 5
T5. FIU 0
T5. Marshall 0
T5. Middle Tennessee 0
T5. North Texas 0
T5. Rice 0
T5. Southern Miss 0
T5. UAB 0
T5. UTEP 0
T5. UTSA 0
T5. WKU 0
NEXT: No. 9 Best 2019 NFL Draft Conference
9. Mountain West: (30 points)
TOTAL PICKS BY ROUNDS
1st 0, 2nd 1, 3rd 3, 4th 0, 5th 0, 6th 3, 7th 4
2018 NFL Draft Conference Ranking: 7
There was no Leighton Vander Esch going in the first round this year.
Ugh.
The Mountain West gave away seven players to the big league over the last two rounds, and it had three players taken off the board in the third, but the bulk talent wasn’t there and with just one selection – Hawaii LB Jahlani Tavai to Detroit – going over the first two days.
Boise State only had one player – RB Alexander Mattison to Minnesota – selected, and no one else other than the Rainbow Warriors had two players taken
On the plus side, with Austin Cutting going to Minnesota in the seventh round with the 250th overall pick, Air Force had its first player drafted since 1999 and just its eight player ever selected.
Team Winner: Hawaii, 2 players, 7 points
LB Jahlani Tavai to Detroit (2nd)
WR John Ursua to Jacksonville (7th)
T2. Boise State 5
T2. San Diego State 5
T2. San Jose State 5
T5. Utah State 2
T5. Wyoming 2
T5. Fresno State 2
T8. Air Force 1
T8. Colorado State 1
T10. New Mexico 0
T10. Nevada 0
T10. UNLV 0
NEXT: No. 8 Best 2019 NFL Draft Conference
8: MAC (31 points)
TOTAL PICKS BY ROUNDS
1st 0, 2nd 2, 3rd 1, 4th 1, 5th 0, 6th 5, 7th 0
2018 NFL Draft Conference Ranking: 10
The MAC had just enough players taken to get a little bit of attention after the first round, with Central Michigan CB Sean Bunting the first MAC player gone with the 39th overall pick, and with Northern Illinois OT Max Scharping going to Houston later in the round.
The pickings were a little slim for most of Day Three, but the five players went in the fifth round to do just enough to come up with a wee bit better draft season than 2018.
Team Winner TIE: Central Michigan, 2 players, 8 points
CB Sean Bunting to Tampa Bay (2nd)
CB Xavier Crawford to Houston (6th)
Northern Illinois, 2 players, 8 points
OT Max Scharping to Houston (2nd)
LB Sutton Smith to Pittsburgh (6th)
3. Toledo 7
4. Eastern Michigan 4
T5. Akron 2
T5. Bowling Green 2
T7. Buffalo 0
T7. Kent State 0
T7. Miami Univ. 0
T7. Ohio 0
T7. Ball State 0
T7. Western Michigan 0
NEXT: No. 7 Best 2019 NFL Draft Conference
7. Independents (34 points)
TOTAL PICKS BY ROUNDS
1st 1, 2nd 1, 3rd 2, 4th 2, 5th 0, 6th 1, 7th 1
2018 NFL Draft Conference Ranking: 9
As always, Notre Dame did most of the heavy lifting for the world of the Independents, but UMass helped the cause with WR Andy Isabella going to Arizona in the second around, and BYU chimed in with LB Sione Takitaki taken in the third by the Browns.
Okay, so Notre Dame carried the group with six players selected – it should’ve been a whole lot better. LB Te’von Coney should’ve been taken, and CB Julian Love was much, much better than a fourth round pick. DT Jerry Tillery was the star of the bunch with the Chargers taking him late in the first round.
Team Winner: Notre Dame, 6 players, 23 points
DT Jerry Tillery to LA Chargers (1st)
WR Mile Boykin to Baltimore (3rd)
CB Julian Love to NY Giants (4th)
LB Drue Tranquille to LA Chargers (4th)
RB Dexter Williams to Green Bay (6th)
TE Alize Mack to New Orleans (7th)
2. UMass 6
3. BYU 5
T4. Army 0
T4. Liberty 0
T4. New Mexico State 0
NEXT: No. 6 Best 2019 NFL Draft Conference
6. American Athletic (40 points)
TOTAL PICKS BY ROUNDS
1st 1, 2nd 2, 3rd 1, 4th 2, 5th 1, 6th 1, 7th 3
2018 NFL Draft Conference Ranking: 6
Over the last few years, the league has settled in at the best of the Group of Five leagues at sending good players to the next level.
For the second straight year, it got a player in the first round with Houston’s Ed Oliver going to the Bills with the ninth overall pick. Temple CB Rock Ya-Sin went with the second pick in the second round, and UCF DT Trysten Hill was taken at the 58th overall spot by Dallas.
Unlike all of the other Group of Five leagues, the American Athletic had a player taken in every round. Temple had a good draft, and thanks to the Memphis running back tandem of Darrell Henderson (3rd round to the Rams), and Tony Pollard (4th round to the Cowboys), there was something to chirp about.
Team Winner: Houston, 3 players, 13 points
DT Ed Oliver to Buffalo (1st)
CB Isaiah Johnson to Oakland (4th)
LB Emeke Egbule to LA Chargers (6th)
2. Temple 10
3. Memphis 9
4. UCF 6
T5. Cincinnati 1
T5. Tulane 1
T7. Connecticut 0
T7. East Carolina 0
T7. Navy 0
T7. SMU 0
T7. Tulsa 0
T7. USF 0
NEXT: No. 5 Best 2019 NFL Draft Conference
5. Big 12 (104 points)
TOTAL PICKS BY ROUNDS
1st 3, 2nd 3, 3rd 5, 4th 6, 5th 2, 6th 3, 7th 4
2018 NFL Draft Conference Ranking: 5
The league stepped it up this season with 26 players selected after sending 20 to the NFL in 2018 and finishing behind the American Athletic Conference in 2017.
And the Big 12 was still the fifth among the Power Five conferences.
It’s never a bad thing to have the No. 1 overall pick two years in a row, but after Kyler Murray went to Arizona, the league had to wait until the 25th pick when OU’s Marquise Brown went to Baltimore. In a slight surprise, TCU DE LJ Collier went to Seattle.
West Virginia managed to finish second among the Big 12ers helped by having four players taken in the middle rounds, and TCU ended up third thanks to Collier going in the 1st and LB Ben Banogu going to the Colts in the second.
The big surprise? Texas. This will change in a big, big way next year, but it only had two players go and didn’t have a player drafted until DE Charles Omenihu went to Houston in the fifth.
Team Winner: Oklahoma, 8 players, 38 points
QB Kyler Murray to Arizona (1st)
WR Marquise Brown to Baltimore (1st)
G Cody Ford to Buffalo (2nd)
OT Bobby Evans to LA Rams (3rd)
G Dru Samia to Minnesota (4th)
G Ben Powers to Baltimore (4th)
PK Austin Seibert to Cleveland (5th)
RB Rodney Anderson to Cincinnati (6th)
2. West Virginia 21
3. TCU 14
4 .Iowa State 9
5. Kansas State 8
T6. Baylor 5
T6. Oklahoma State 5
8. Texas 4
9. Texas Tech 1
10. Kansas 0
NEXT: No. 4 Best 2019 NFL Draft Conference
4. ACC (113 points)
TOTAL PICKS BY ROUNDS
1st 7, 2nd 2, 3rd 3, 4th 4, 5th 5, 6th 4, 7th 2
2018 NFL Draft Conference Ranking: 2
The league loaded up the NFL with fresh bodies all throughout the 2018 NFL Draft to end up finishing second among all the Power Five programs. This year?
Meh.
Clemson didn’t have quite the amazing draft season that you might think, and that’s a good thing. Three parts of the great defensive line went in the first round, but just three Tigers were taken the rest of the way, partly because the defending national champs are beyond loaded with underclassmen. The talent is coming over the next few years.
Even with the down year overall for the conference, it got to show off when the rest of the world actually cares. Seven players were selected in the first round, and Clemson CB Trayvon Mullen made it eight players taken in the top 40 – second only to the SEC.
Louisville and Virginia Tech took a year off with no one getting taken, and Syracuse and Georgia Tech were way light, too. That’s going to change over the next few seasons.
Next year, expect the ACC to be in the top three again.
Team Winner: Clemson, 6 players, 34 points
DE Clelin Ferrell to Oakland (1st)
DT Christian Wilkins to Miami (1st)
DT Dexter Lawrence to NY Giants (1st)
CB Trayvon Mullen to Oakland (2nd)
DE Austin Bryant to Detroit (4th)
WR Hunter Renfrow to Oakland (5th)
2. NC State 18
3. Boston College 17
4. Miami 12
5. Florida State 9
6. Virginia 8
7. Duke 7
8. Wake Forest 4
T9. North Carolina 3
T9. Pitt 3
11. Syracuse 1
T12. Louisville 0
T12. Georgia Tech 0
T12. Virginia Tech 0
NEXT: No. 3 Best 2019 NFL Draft Conference
3. Pac-12 (123 points)
TOTAL PICKS BY ROUNDS
1st 3, 2nd 5, 3rd 3, 4th 6, 5th 7, 6th 3, 7th 6
2018 NFL Draft Conference Ranking: 4
The league stepped it up a little bit more after finishing fourth among the Power Five conferences last year. It might be a wee bit of a stunner considering the conference was so mediocre and with just three first round picks, but the back half of the draft was loaded with Pac-12ers.
Washington was the easy star with three second rounders to go along with OT Kaleb McGary going to Atlanta late in the first, but Stanford an Utah made some noise with each spreading out five picks over five rounds.
USC was young last season, and it showed with just four players selected. UCLA was really young, and it showed with one Bruins taken – it was TE Caleb Wilson in the Mr. Irrelevant spot with the last pick in the draft.
Wait until next year – Oregon is going to be a massive player in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Team Winner: Washington, 8 players, 36 points
OT Kaleb McGary to Atlanta (1st)
CB Byron Murphy to Arizona (2nd)
TE Drew Sample to Cincinnati (2nd)
S Taylor Rapp to LA Rams (2nd)
DT DT Greg Gaines to LA Rams (4th)
LB Ben Burr-Kirven to Seattle (5th)
CB Jordan Miller to Atlanta (5th)
RB Myles Gaskin to Miami (7th)
2. Stanford 20
3. Utah 19
4. USC 15
5. Arizona State 11
T6. Oregon 9
T6. Washington State 9
8. Colorado 2
T9. Arizona 1
T9. UCLA 1
T11. Cal 0
T11. Oregon State 0
NEXT: No. 2 Best 2019 NFL Draft Conference
2. Big Ten (162 points)
TOTAL PICKS BY ROUNDS
1st 7, 2nd 2, 3rd 7, 4th 7, 5th 8, 6th 5, 7th 4
2018 NFL Draft Conference Ranking: 3
Yeah, the league is still a distant No. 2, but it was a really, really good draft.
After finishing third in the rankings last season, the Big Ten bounced back in a big, big way thanks to seven first round picks and a loaded midsection.
Nebraska and Purdue didn’t show up – that’s coming over the next few years – and Illinois only had one player drafted – C Nick Allegretti to Kansas City in the seventh – but the whole league had a little bit to boost about.
Ohio State was the predictable star of the show, but Michigan did its part, Iowa’s tight end tandem of TJ Hockenson to Detroit and Noah Fant to Denver made noise in the first round, and Wisconsin gave up four players to show off a wee bit.
Team Winner: Ohio State, 9 players, 41 points
DE Nick Bosa to San Francisco (1st)
QB Dwayne Haskins to Washington (1st)
WR Parris Campbell to Indianapolis (2nd)
WR Terry McLaurin to Washington (3rd)
CB Kendall Sheffield to Atlanta (4th)
G Michael Jordan to Cincinnati (4th)
OT Isaiah Prince to Miami (6th)
RB Mike Weber to Dalls (7th)
2. Michigan 27
3. Iowa 22
4. Penn State 21
5. Wisconsin 14
6. Maryland 13
7. Michigan State 9
T8. Indiana 4
T8. Rutgers 4
T10. Minnesota 3
T10. Northwestern 3
12. Illinois 1
T13. Nebraska 0
T13. Purdue 0
NEXT: No. 1 Best 2019 NFL Draft Conference
1. SEC (260 points)
TOTAL PICKS BY ROUNDS
1st 9, 2nd 14, 3rd 6, 4th 6, 5th 10, 6th 10, 7th 9
2018 NFL Draft Conference Ranking: 1
It’s easy to get interested in the nine SEC players that went in the first round, but why is this the best conference in college football year after year? Great recruiting leads to more talent leads to loading up the NFL Draft for all three days.
With 14 players going in the second round, 23 of the first 64 picks came from the SEC. With 64 selections overall, over a quarter of the 2019 NFL Draft was made up by SEC players.
And that’s without Tennessee showing up.
The Vols didn’t have anyone drafted, but everyone else had a little something to get excited about.
Mississippi State was a big deal over the first few days with three first rounders and five players selected overall, Georgia spread out its seven picks, and Ole Miss had three players taken in the second round.
Of course, the draft was owned by Alabama and its ten players drafted – that’s as many as the entire Mountain West – making it 22 over the last two drafts.
Team Winner: Alabama, 10 players, 49 points
DT Quinnen Williams to NY Jets (1st)
OT Jonah Williams to Cincinnati (1st)
RB Josh Jacobs to Oakland (1st)
TE Irv Smith to Minnesota (2nd)
RB Damien Harris to New England (3rd)
DE/LB Christian Miller to Carolina (4th)
S Deionte Thompson to Arizona (5th)
C Ross Pierschbacher to Washington (5th)
LB Mack Wilson to Cleveland (5th)
DT Isaiah Buggs to Pittsburgh (6th)
2. Mississippi State 29
T3. Georgia 24
T3. Ole Miss 24
5. Kentucky 23
6. Texas A&M 20
7. Florida 21
8. LSU 17
9. Auburn 16
10. South Carolina 10
11. Arkansas 9
12. Vanderbilt 8
13. Missouri 7
14. Tennessee 0
Three Greatest Draft Picks For Each Team
ACC | Big Ten | Big 12 | Pac-12 | SEC
– 32 Greatest Draft Picks of All-Time
– 2019 1st Round Pick Breakdown & Thoughts
– 2020 Top 32 Prospects First Look
– 2019 NFL Draft Rankings By College No. 1-130
