List of Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens in the NFL Draft

The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team, representing the University of Delaware, has had 29 players drafted into the National Football League (NFL) since the league began holding drafts in 1936.[1][A 1] This includes one player taken in the first round, Joe Flacco in the 2008 NFL Draft.[1] The Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders franchise has drafted the most Fightin' Blue Hens with five.[1] Fifteen NFL teams have drafted at least one player from Delaware.[1] Two former Blue Hens have been selected to Pro Bowls: Rich Gannon, who earned four selections as a member of the Raiders after being selected in the fourth round of the 1987 NFL draft by the New England Patriots,[4] and Mike Adams, who earned two selections as a member of the Indianapolis Colts after going undrafted in 2004.[5]

Joe Flacco was drafted 18th overall by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2008 NFL Draft. He is the highest drafted Blue Hen in NFL Draft history, and the only one taken in the first round.

Each NFL franchise seeks to add new players through the annual NFL Draft. The draft rules were last updated in 2009. The team with the worst record the previous year picks first, the next-worst team second, and so on. Teams that did not make the playoffs are ordered by their regular-season record with any remaining ties broken by strength of schedule. Playoff participants are sequenced after non-playoff teams, based on their round of elimination (wild card, division, conference, and Super Bowl).[6]

Before the merger agreements in 1966, the American Football League (AFL) operated in direct competition with the NFL and held a separate draft. This led to a massive bidding war over top prospects between the two leagues. As part of the merger agreement on June 8, 1966, the two leagues would hold a multiple round "Common Draft". Once the AFL officially merged with the NFL in 1970, the "Common Draft" simply became the NFL Draft.[2][3][7]

Key
B Back[A 2] K Kicker NT Nose tackle
C Center LB Linebacker FB Fullback
DB Defensive back P Punter HB Halfback
DE Defensive end QB Quarterback WR Wide receiver
DT Defensive tackle RB Running back G Guard
E End T Offensive tackle TE Tight end
† Selected to an all-star game
‡ Won a league championship
♦ Selected to an all-star game and won a league championship

Drafts

American Football League
Year Round Pick Overall Player name Position AFL team[A 3] Notes
1960 N/A N/A N/A Leon Dombrowski LB Oakland Raiders —

National Football League
See also: National Football League Draft
Year Round Pick Overall Player name Position NFL team[A 3] Notes
1943 32 5 300 Bo Bogovich G Washington Redskins —
1947 21 2 187 Paul Hart B Boston Yanks —
1947 30 3 278 Tom Stalloni T Pittsburgh Steelers —
1955 11 10 131 Tom Redfield E Chicago Bears —
1962 15 10 206 Dick Broadbent E Detroit Lions —
1964 10 14 140 Mike Brown B Chicago Bears —
1967 11 11 274 Herb Slattery G New York Jets —
1971 6 11 141 Conway Hayman G Washington Redskins —
1971 8 18 200 Ted Gregory DE New York Giants —
1971 15 25 389 Bob Young DE Dallas Cowboys —
1973 10 9 243 Joe Carbone DE New York Jets —
1973 13 25 337 Dennis Johnson DT Washington Redskins —
1976 17 22 481 Nate Beasley FB Oakland Raiders —
1979 9 11 231 Jeff Komlo QB Detroit Lions —
1980 6 7 145 Scott Brunner QB New York Giants —
1981 12 28 332 Phil Nelson TE Oakland Raiders —
1983 6 17 157 George Schmitt CB St. Louis Cardinals —
1985 5 23 135 Dan Reeder RB Los Angeles Raiders —
1987 4 14 98 Rich Gannon† QB New England Patriots Pro Bowl (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003)[4]
1987 12 4 311 Joe McGrail DT Buffalo Bills —
2002 5 31 203 Jamin Elliott WR Chicago Bears —
2004 6 1 166 Shawn Johnson DE Oakland Raiders —
2004 6 20 185 Andy Hall QB Philadelphia Eagles —
2007 7 5 215 Ben Patrick TE Arizona Cardinals —
2008 1 18 18 Joe Flacco‡ QB Baltimore Ravens Won Super Bowl XLVII
2012 4 3 98 Gino Gradkowski‡ C Baltimore Ravens Won Super Bowl XLVII
2015 5 35 171 Nick Boyle TE Baltimore Ravens —
2018 5 8 145 Bilal Nichols DT Chicago Bears —
2019 2 28 60 Nasir Adderley S Los Angeles Chargers —

Notes
  1. Because of the NFL–AFL merger agreement, the history of the AFL is officially recognized by the NFL and therefore this list includes the AFL Draft (1960–1966) and the Common Draft (1967–1969).[2][3]
  2. In American and Canadian football, a back is a player who is lined up behind the linemen, the players who line up closest to the line of scrimmage.
  3. This is the team that drafted the player, not their most recent team.

References
General
  • "Draft History by School–Delaware". National Football League. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
  • "NFL Players who attended University of Delaware". databaseFootball.com. Archived from the original on 2008-03-07. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
  • "Delaware Players/Alumni". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
Specific
  1. "Delaware Drafted Players/Alumni". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
  2. Cross, B. Duane (2001-01-22). "The AFL: A Football Legacy". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 2009-10-20. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
  3. "NFL History by Decade: 1961–1970". NFL. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
  4. "Rich Gannon". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
  5. "Mike Adams". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  6. Clayton, John (2009-03-26). "Draft order to change for playoff teams". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 2010-01-26.
  7. "Time Changes for 2008 NFL Draft". NFL. 2008-04-22. Archived from the original on 2012-10-26. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
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