Which schools won the NFL draft's first round?
The feverous rush to grade Thursday’s first round of the NFL draft is underway with plenty of analysis of what each of the picks could mean for NFL teams’ futures. While much of that is impossible to accurately assess until the players spend a few seasons with their new pro teams, we can much more precisely break down which college programs won the draft. Sure, college programs benefit from their players not just making the NFL but also shining. Still, there is a huge value in merely getting the school’s name called early and often with millions of viewers tuning into the draft.
To determine which schools had the best night at the draft, I devised a point system. It works largely like the AP poll; the No. 1 pick is worth 32 points, the No. 2 pick is worth 31 points and so on down to the No. 32 pick, which is worth point. However, simply getting players into the first round is an achievement in and of itself with serious value for college programs, so each pick earned 10 extra points. In total, the first overall pick is worth 42 points while the final pick of the first round is worth 11 points.
1. LSU Tigers
RECORD: Points92
With two of the top six picks (Leonard Fournette at No. 4 and Jamal Adams at No. 6), LSU racked up some big early points to carry it to the top spot. Tre’Davious White’s selection at No. 27 put the Tigers over the top.
2. Alabama Crimson Tide
RECORD: Points89
No school had more players selected in the first round than Alabama’s four: Marlon Humphrey, Jonathan Allen, O.J. Howard and Reuben Foster. But with no Crimson Tide player going higher than No. 16, it wasn’t enough to catch LSU.
3. Ohio St. Buckeyes
RECORD: Points79
The Buckeyes’ secondary was easily the top position group of the draft as Marshon Lattimore (No. 11), Malik Hooker (No. 15) and Gareon Conley (No. 24) all got selected Thursday night.
4. Stanford Cardinal
RECORD: Points75
Stanford joined LSU as the only schools with multiple players drafted in the first 10 picks as Solomon Thomas went No. 3 and Christian McCaffrey went No. 8.
5. Clemson Tigers
RECORD: Points67
6. Texas A&M Aggies
RECORD: Points42
One pick was all it took to get the Aggies to No. 6. It helps to have the No. 1 selection overall, Myles Garrett.
7. North Carolina Tar Heels
RECORD: Points41
The Bears gave up an awful lot to trade up and take Mitchell Trubisky, the Tar Heels’ only first-rounder, at No. 2.
8. Western Michigan Broncos
RECORD: Points38
One of only two first-round picks from outside of the Power 5, the Broncos’ Corey Davis went No. 5 overall.
9. Washington Huskies
RECORD: Points34
. Texas Tech Red Raiders
RECORD: Points33
The Red Raiders, with Mahomes’s selection at No. 10, joined Missouri, Ole Miss and UCLA as the only schools that failed to make a bowl game last season to send a player to the first round.
. Michigan Wolverines
RECORD: Points33
The Wolverines got two players drafted in the first round (Jabrill Peppers at No. 25 and Taco Charlton at No. 28) for the first time since 2005.
12. Temple Owls
RECORD: Points30
Haason Reddick, joining Western Michigan’s Davis as the only Group of Five players selected in the first round, became Temple’s highest draft pick since John Rienstra went No. 9 in 1986.
13. Tennessee Volunteers
RECORD: Points29
Derek Barnett put the Volunteers on the board with his selection at No. 14.
14. USC Trojans
RECORD: Points25
USC maintained its all-time lead for the most first-round picks, with Adoree’ Jackson (No. 18) becoming the 80th Trojans player go in Round 1.
15. Wisconsin Badgers
RECORD: Points24
The Badgers had to wait awhile to get on the board but quickly sent two in the tail end of the first round with T.J. Watt at No. 30 and Ryan Ramczyk at No. 32.
16. Utah Utes
RECORD: Points23
Garett Bolles, drafted at No. 20, became the Utes’ second first-round pick in the past decade, joining Star Lotulelei.
17. Florida Gators
RECORD: Points22
Jarrad Davis extended Florida’s streak to five straight years with a first-round pick as he went at No. 21.
18. Missouri Tigers
RECORD: Points21
19. Ole Miss Rebels
RECORD: Points20
Ole Miss had a much quieter night at the first round than last year’s bizarre evening, with tight end Evan Engram the Rebels’ lone selection this year at No. 23.
20. UCLA Bruins
RECORD: Points17
The most-watched draft prospect on UCLA’s 2016 roster, quarterback Josh Rosen, has another year to spend in Westwood (and some big questions to answer), but the Bruins still got into the first round with Takkarist McKinley’s selection at No. 26.
21. Miami (Fla.) Hurricanes
RECORD: Points14
After going from 2009 through 2014 with no first-round picks, Miami got its fourth player taken in Round 1 in the past three drafts with tight end David Njoku’s selection at No. 29.
