List of Marshall Thundering Herd in the NFL draft

The Marshall Thundering Herd football team, representing Marshall University, has had 283 players drafted into the National Football League (NFL) since the league began holding drafts in 1936.[1][A 1] This includes three players taken in the first round. The New England Patriots have drafted the most Marshall players with five. Four former Thundering Herd have been selected to a Pro Bowl, six former Thundering Herd have won a league championship with their respective teams, and one former Thundering have been selected to both a Pro Bowl and won a league championship.

Randy Moss was drafted 21st overall by the Minnesota Vikings in the 1998 NFL Draft.

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).[4]

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". When the AFL officially merged with the NFL in 1970, the "Common Draft" simply became the NFL Draft.[2][3][5]

B Back 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 a Pro Bowl
Won an NFL/Super Bowl championship
Selected to a Pro Bowl and won an NFL/Super Bowl championship

Selections

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Chad Pennington was drafted eighteenth overall by the New York Jets in the 2000 NFL Draft.
 
Byron Leftwich was drafted seventh overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2003 NFL Draft.
 
Ahmad Bradshaw was drafted 250th overall by the New York Giants in the 2007 NFL Draft.
 
Vinny Curry was drafted 59th overall by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2012 NFL Draft.
Year Round Pick Overall Player Team[A 2] Position Notes
1939 17 1 151 Ev Elkins Chicago Cardinals B
18 2 162 Frank Huffman Chicago Cardinals E
1940 14 6 126 Jack Morlock Detroit Lions B
1941 7 3 53 Jim Roberts Pittsburgh Steelers C
1942 13 10 120 Jackie Hunt Chicago Bears B
1948 21 8 193 Charlie Snyder Pittsburgh Steelers T
1950 13 13 170 Norm Willey* Philadelphia Eagles B Pro Bowl (1954, 1955)[6]
All-Pro (1954)[6]
1954 13 12 157 Jim Swierczek Detroit Lions B
1955 18 5 210 Albie Maier Pittsburgh Steelers G
1956 8 12 97 Len Hellyer Cleveland Browns B
1958 15 1 170 Ray Dunlap Chicago Cardinals B
24 11 288 Jim O'Connor Cleveland Browns T
1959 29 3 338 Jim O'Connor Chicago Cardinals T
1962 17 10 234 Rucker Wickline Detroit Lions C
1964 18 13 251 Mike Hicks Green Bay Packers G
1965 16 1 211 Tom Good New York Giants B
1967 14 12 353 Andy Socha Washington Redskins RB
1983 7 18 186 Carl Lee* Minnesota Vikings DB Pro Bowl (1988, 1989, 1990)[7]
All-Pro (1988)[7]
1989 4 28 112 Michael Barber San Francisco 49ers WR Super Bowl champion (XXIV)[8]
6 25 164 Sean Doctor Buffalo Bills TE
1993 8 2 198 Troy Brown New England Patriots WR Pro Bowl (2001)[9]
Super Bowl champion (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX)[10][11][12]
1998 1 21 21 Randy Moss* Minnesota Vikings WR Pro Bowl (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007)[13]
All-Pro (1998, 2000, 2003, 2007)[13]
NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year (1998)[13]
Pro Football Hall of Fame Inductee (2018)
5 25 148 John Wade Jacksonville Jaguars C
2000 1 18 18 Chad Pennington New York Jets QB NFL Comeback Player of the Year (2006, 2008)[14]
2 12 43 Rogers Beckett San Diego Chargers DB
3 26 88 Doug Chapman Minnesota Vikings RB
6 9 175 James Williams Seattle Seahawks WR
2001 2 20 51 Paul Toviessi Denver Broncos DE
2002 7 32 243 Chris Massey St. Louis Rams FB
2003 1 7 7 Byron Leftwich Jacksonville Jaguars QB Super Bowl champion (XLIII)[15]
3 20 84 Chris Crocker Cleveland Browns DB
4 25 122 Steve Sciullo Indianapolis Colts T
2004 2 22 54 Darius Watts Denver Broncos WR
2005 6 32 206 Johnathan Goddard Detroit Lions DE Super Bowl champion (XLI)
2007 7 40 250 Ahmad Bradshaw New York Giants RB Super Bowl champion (XLII, XLVI)[16][17]
2011 5 28 159 Lee Smith New England Patriots TE
2012 2 27 59 Vinny Curry Philadelphia Eagles DE Super Bowl champion (LII)[18]
2013 2 27 59 Aaron Dobson New England Patriots WR Super Bowl champion (XLIX)[19]
2014 6 23 199 Garrett Scott Seattle Seahawks T
2015 7 30 247 Darryl Roberts New England Patriots DB
2020 5 14 159 Justin Rohrwasser New England Patriots K
7 29 243 Chris Jackson Tennessee Titans DB
2021 4 33 138 Josh Ball Dallas Cowboys T
2022 7 38 259 Nazeeh Johnson Kansas City Chiefs DB Super Bowl champion (LVII, LVIII)[20]
2024 5 30 165 Rasheen Ali Baltimore Ravens RB
6 25 201 Micah Abraham Indianapolis Colts DB

Notes

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  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. ^ This is the team that drafted the player, not their most recent team.

Notable undrafted players

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Note: No drafts held before 1920

Debut year Player name Position Debut NFL/AFL team Notes
1946 Frank Gatski C Cleveland Browns Pro Bowl (1956)
NFL champion (1950, 1954, 1955)
1960 Jim Barton C Dallas Texans
1984 Terry Echols LB Pittsburgh Steelers
1987 Alan Huff DT Pittsburgh Steelers
Sam Manos C Cincinnati Bengals
1993 Mike Bartrum* TE Kansas City Chiefs Pro Bowl (2005)
1996 Chris Parker RB Jacksonville Jaguars
1997 Eric Kresser QB Cincinnati Bengals
Billy Lyon DT Kansas City Chiefs
Jamie Wilson T Carolina Panthers
1999 Chris Hanson* P Cleveland Browns Pro Bowl (2002)
Jermaine Wiggins TE New York Jets
2000 Giradie Mercer DT Philadelphia Eagles
Andre O'Neal LB Kansas City Chiefs
Jason Starkey C Arizona Cardinals
2001 J. R. Jenkins K Baltimore Ravens
Nate Poole WR Arizona Cardinals
2002 Max Yates LB Minnesota Vikings
2004 Jason Rader TE Atlanta Falcons
2008 Doug Legursky C Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl champion (XLIII)
2009 C. J. Spillman DB San Diego Chargers
2010 Daniel Baldridge T Jacksonville Jaguars
Albert McClellan LB Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl champion (XLVII, LIII)
2011 Mario Harvey LB Pittsburgh Steelers
2012 Omar Brown DB Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl champion (XLVII)
2014 Gator Hoskins TE Miami Dolphins
2015 Neville Hewitt LB Miami Dolphins
2017 Emanuel Byrd TE Kansas City Chiefs
Michael Clark WR Green Bay Packers
2019 Ryan Bee DE Washington Redskins
Kaare Vedvik P New York Jets
2020 Omari Cobb LB Kansas City Chiefs
2021 Tavante Beckett LB Detroit Lions
2023 Steven Gilmore Jr. CB Detroit Lions
2024 Elias Neal LB Los Angeles Rams
Dalton Tucker OL Indianapolis Colts

References

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General
  • "Draft History by School–Marshall". National Football League. Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  • "NFL Players who attended Marshall University". databaseFootball.com. Archived from the original on March 7, 2008. Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  • "Marshall Players/Alumni". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2010.
Specific
  1. ^ DraftHistory.com
  2. ^ a b Cross, B. Duane (January 22, 2001). "The AFL: A Football Legacy". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on December 17, 2009. Retrieved September 17, 2009.
  3. ^ a b "NFL History by Decade: 1961–1970". NFL. Retrieved September 17, 2009.
  4. ^ Clayton, John (March 26, 2009). "Draft order to change for playoff teams". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on February 18, 2010.
  5. ^ "Time Changes for 2008 NFL Draft". NFL. April 22, 2008. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved September 17, 2009.
  6. ^ a b "Norm Willey Stats". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Carl Lee Stats". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  8. ^ "1989 San Francisco 49ers Starters, Roster, & Players". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  9. ^ "Troy Brown Stats". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  10. ^ "2001 New England Patriots Starters, Roster, & Players". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  11. ^ "2003 New England Patriots Starters, Roster, & Players". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  12. ^ "2004 New England Patriots Starters, Roster, & Players". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  13. ^ a b c "Randy Moss Stats". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  14. ^ "Chad Pennington Stats". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  15. ^ "2008 Pittsburgh Steelers Starters, Roster, & Players". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  16. ^ "2007 New York Giants Starters, Roster, & Players". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  17. ^ "2011 New York Giants Starters, Roster, & Players". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  18. ^ "2017 Philadelphia Eagles Starters, Roster, & Players". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  19. ^ "2014 New England Patriots Starters, Roster, & Players". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  20. ^ "2022 Kansas City Chiefs Roster & Players". Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
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