As is custom, SEC schools and their recruiting grounds dominated the opening round.
Because the NFL Draft isn't just about the NFL, let's try and find college football fans some bragging rights. We've got something really cool along these lines in the works for you, but for now, here are the raw numbers after one night of the 2014 Draft.
By school
Despite Johnny Manziel's tumble, Texas A&M still claimed its expected three along with Louisville, which saw Teddy Bridgewater sneak in at No. 32 and Marcus Smith make a surprise entry. The leaders were followed by the Aggies' new SEC West rivals Alabama and Auburn, along with Ohio State.
| Texas A&M | 3 |
| Louisville | 3 |
| Auburn | 2 |
| Alabama | 2 |
| Ohio State | 2 |
| South Carolina | 1 |
| UCF | 1 |
| Clemson | 1 |
| Buffalo | 1 |
| Oklahoma State | 1 |
| UCLA | 1 |
| North Carolina | 1 |
| Michigan | 1 |
| LSU | 1 |
| Pitt | 1 |
| Virginia Tech | 1 |
| Notre Dame | 1 |
| Tennessee | 1 |
| Oregon State | 1 |
| Michigan State | 1 |
| TCU | 1 |
| Washington State | 1 |
| Florida State | 1 |
| Florida | 1 |
| NIU | 1 |
By conference
The race was for second place. And second place went to the other Southern(ish) conference. The SEC finished with 11, one short of the record set by the ACC in 2007 and tied by the SEC in 2013.
(We're counting Louisville as an AAC team, since its players left before the Cardinals actually played any ACC games.)
| SEC | 11 |
| ACC | 5 |
| American | 4 |
| Big Ten | 4 |
| Pac-12 | 3 |
| Big 12 | 2 |
| MAC | 2 |
| Independents | 1 |
By high school state
No surprises at all. The states at the top regularly produce the country's best prospects and feed into most of college football's best programs. Florida also produced three of the draft's top five (Blake Bortles, Sammy Watkins, and Khalil Mack).
| Florida | 8 |
| Texas | 4 |
| California | 4 |
| Georgia | 4 |
| Alabama | 3 |
| Louisiana | 2 |
| South Carolina | 1 |
| North Carolina | 1 |
| Arizona | 1 |
| Pennsylvania | 1 |
| Maryland | 1 |
| Indiana | 1 |
| New York | 1 |
By recruit rating (based on the 247 Sports Composite)
Only 15 blue-chips in the whole first round? Recruiting ratings are a sham!
(Let's remember that thousands more players earn two-, three-, or zero-star ratings from recruiting services than earn four- or five-stars. Based on probability and championship history, a blue-chip rating is still a valid predictor of college and NFL success.)
| Five | 5 |
| Four | 10 |
| Three | 15 |
| Two | 2 |
| Not rated | 0 |
| Average | 3.56 |