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).[5]
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 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]
The first Connecticut player to be taken in the NFL draft was Walt Trojanowski in the sixth round of the
1946 NFL draft. From 1946–1994, the Huskies had fourteen players drafted into the NFL over the span of forty-eight years. The rate at which UConn alumni were selected would significantly increase following the Huskies' upgrade from
Division I-AA to
Division I-A in 2000.[6][Note 2] Beginning in
2005 and continuing through 2015, Connecticut has had twenty-five players picked over eleven NFL drafts. In
2009 four UConn alumni were taken in the first two rounds of the draft. The most Connecticut players to be selected in a single NFL draft was five in
2013, including three in the third round, one in the fourth round, and one in the sixth round.
^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). The AFL and NFL held a
common draft from 1967–1969; UConn had no players selected during that period.[2][3]
^
abBeatty played the first ten games for the Giants during the
2011 season but after that was placed on
injured reserve due to a
detached retina. He did not play in Super Bowl XLVI.[8]
^While Beatty was the first Connecticut draftee to play on a Super Bowl-winning team, he was not the first alumnus to be a Super Bowl champion.
Nick Giaquinto went undrafted and subsequently won
Super Bowl XVII with the
Washington Redskins.[9][10]
^This is the team that drafted the player, not the player's most recent team.
^
abCross, B. Duane (January 22, 2001).
"The AFL: A Football Legacy". Sports Illustrated. Archived from
the original on December 17, 2009. Retrieved September 17, 2009.
^"1947 BAA Draft". Basketball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC.
Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
^
abAmore, Don (December 18, 2010).
"Walt Dropo Dies". Hartford Courant. Tribune Corporation.
Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
^Mayer, Larry (April 25, 2013).
"These Bears draft picks gained fame in other areas". Chicago Bears. Archived from
the original on April 28, 2013. Walt Dropo (1946, 9th round), Walt Dropo, who declined to sign a contract with the Bears to pursue a baseball career...
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).[5]
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 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]
The first Connecticut player to be taken in the NFL draft was Walt Trojanowski in the sixth round of the
1946 NFL draft. From 1946–1994, the Huskies had fourteen players drafted into the NFL over the span of forty-eight years. The rate at which UConn alumni were selected would significantly increase following the Huskies' upgrade from
Division I-AA to
Division I-A in 2000.[6][Note 2] Beginning in
2005 and continuing through 2015, Connecticut has had twenty-five players picked over eleven NFL drafts. In
2009 four UConn alumni were taken in the first two rounds of the draft. The most Connecticut players to be selected in a single NFL draft was five in
2013, including three in the third round, one in the fourth round, and one in the sixth round.
^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). The AFL and NFL held a
common draft from 1967–1969; UConn had no players selected during that period.[2][3]
^
abBeatty played the first ten games for the Giants during the
2011 season but after that was placed on
injured reserve due to a
detached retina. He did not play in Super Bowl XLVI.[8]
^While Beatty was the first Connecticut draftee to play on a Super Bowl-winning team, he was not the first alumnus to be a Super Bowl champion.
Nick Giaquinto went undrafted and subsequently won
Super Bowl XVII with the
Washington Redskins.[9][10]
^This is the team that drafted the player, not the player's most recent team.
^
abCross, B. Duane (January 22, 2001).
"The AFL: A Football Legacy". Sports Illustrated. Archived from
the original on December 17, 2009. Retrieved September 17, 2009.
^"1947 BAA Draft". Basketball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC.
Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
^
abAmore, Don (December 18, 2010).
"Walt Dropo Dies". Hartford Courant. Tribune Corporation.
Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
^Mayer, Larry (April 25, 2013).
"These Bears draft picks gained fame in other areas". Chicago Bears. Archived from
the original on April 28, 2013. Walt Dropo (1946, 9th round), Walt Dropo, who declined to sign a contract with the Bears to pursue a baseball career...