Last week’s NFL Draft was a bit light on Big Ten talent; the conference finished third behind the SEC (59) and Pac-12 (43) with 42 selections throughout the weekend. This, of course, takes into account last season’s conference construction where USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington — schools joining the Big Ten in 2024 — were still Pac-12 members.
Perhaps more glaring was the lack of Big Ten players selected in the first round. Only Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. and Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy were selected within the top-10 picks, while only four Big Ten players were picked on Thursday overall (Penn State’s Olu Fashanu at 11 and Chop Robinson at 21).
When broken down by team, Michigan led the nation with a school-record 13 draft choices, but Penn State was the only other Big Ten school of the 15 to have at least five players chosen. This is a good thing. In reality, it’s a sign of the talent returning to the conference and the those joining it this summer.
Ohio State only had four players chosen this year (the same number as Illinois and Iowa), not because the Buckeyes didn’t have NFL talent, rather because they kept most of it. Washington, Oregon and USC combined to have 25 players selected, including five first-round picks (one of UCLA’s two players chosen was a first-round pick as well).
Then there’s Michigan. The Wolverines had 13 players from last year’s championship team selected, but you could argue they have better players returning who will be drafted earlier next season. To the chagrin of Texas fans who spent the last month telling me they’d be leaving for Austin, Kenneth Grant and Mason Graham remain in maize and blue, as does Will Johnson. All three could be first-round choices next season.
We recently compiled the…
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