Jadeveon Clowney became the first player from South Carolina to be selected No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft since 2000.
Photo by Ron McCann
The 2014 NFL Draft had its fair share of memorable moments. Jadeveon Clowney will never forget going No. 1 overall, while Johnny Manziel will never forget sitting in the green room just a bit longer than he may have expected.
Here at MaxPreps we always like to look at things through the high school lens, so we took a look back at the last 20 years of the NFL Draft to see what kind of interesting tidbits and fun facts we could dig up.
Some of them may surprise you.
2014 NFL Draft Fun Facts
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Jadeveon Clowney is the first athlete from the state of South Carolina taken No. 1 overall since Courtney Brown in 2000.
- Clowney's former teammate at
South Pointe (Rock Hill, S.C.),
Stephon Gilmore, went No. 10 overall in 2010.
- 14 states did not have a former high school player taken in the draft.
- A total of 46 percent of all picks came from either Georgia, Texas, California or Florida.
- Florida had the most picks with 44 total.
- Florida had eight players selected in the first round.
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St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) had four more picks this year, bringing its total to 19 in the past 21 years.
- Gregg Robinson (pick No. 2) and
Odell Beckham (12) become the 27th and 28th players from Louisiana drafted in the first round over the past 20 years.
- Beckham joins Peyton and Eli Manning as first-round picks from
Newman (New Orleans).
Blake Bortles, Oviedo
Photo by Chad Pilster
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Blake Bortles joins Andrew Wadsworth (1998), Gerard Warren (2001), Andre Johnson (2003) and Trent Richardson (2012) as players taken No. 3 overall from the state of Florida.
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Central (Miami) and
Serra (Gardena, Calif.) each had three grads drafted.
-
Ben Gardner and
Shelby Harris both played at
Homestead (Mequon, Wis.), and both were drafted in the 7th round.
- 16 players were drafted to teams in their home state: Derek Carr, Keith McGill and Travis Carrie (Raiders), Marcus Martin (49ers), Jason Verrett (Chargers). Kevin Pamphile and Kadeem Edwards (Buccaneers), Blake Bortles and Brandon Linder (Jaguars). Mike Campanaro (Ravens), Mo Alexander and E.J. Gaines (Rams), Bennett Jackson (Giants), Avery Williamson (Titans), Ahmad Dixon (Cowboys), Jared Abbrederis (Packers).
- Of the
Final 2013 Xcellent 25 — Miami Central (4) had three players.
De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) (8) had one.
-
Jordan Tripp of
Big Sky (Missoula, Mont.) was the second player from Montana taken in last 20 years. He was taken in round 5 by the Dolphins. Ryan Leaf was the other, in 1998.
- In the first round, three players were drafted from the the Sac-Joaquin Section in the Greater Sacramento area:
Brandin Cooks (Lincoln),
Jason Verrett (Rodriguez) and
Deone Bucannon (Vanden).
- For the second straight year
Long Beach Poly (Calif.) did not have a grad drafted. They have had someone drafted in 12 of the past 21 years.
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Glades Central (Belle Glade, Fla.) now has 11 total NFL Draft picks.
Kelvin Benjamin makes the fourth first-round pick.
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Weston Richburg and
Crockett Gillmore played together as
Bushland (Texas). They both played at Colorado State and were both got drafted in 2014.
