ACC Has 42 Players Chosen In the 2014 NFL Draft

Greensboro, N.C. — The  Atlantic Coast Conference had a total of 42 players selected in the 2014 National Football League Draft , including 27 drafted on Saturday at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

The 42 players were the second-highest in ACC history, bettered only by the total of 51 in 2006, when the Conference set a record for a 12-team league.

The 42 players were also the second-highest total of any conference in this year’s NFL Draft, bettered only by the SEC’s 48. The Pac 12 was third with 34 followed by the Big 10 (29) and the Big 12 (16) and Mountain West (16).
The ACC had more players chosen on Saturday afternoon than any other conference.

Florida State led all ACC schools with seven players chosen as each of the conference’s 14 teams had at least one player taken in this year’s draft. FSU has now had 18 players drafted in the National Football League over the past two years.

Clemson and North Carolina each had five players selected while Boston College had four. Georgia Tech, Miami, Pitt, Virginia and Virginia Tech all had three players chosen followed by Syracuse with two while Duke, NC state, Wake Forest and Maryland had one player chosen apiece.

Since the 2005 season the ACC has now had 353 players chosen in the NFL Draft, including 56 first-round picks.
All 31 ACC players drafted last year in the 2013 NFL Draft are still in the NFL, while 60 of the 62 players drafted in the past two seasons are still in the NFL (.967).  Of the 97 ACC players drafted in the past three NFL Drafts, 87, or 89.7 percent are still in the NFL, 78.3 percent are still with the teams that drafted them.

The ACC, which had five starting quarterbacks in the NFL last year and saw three others start games during the season, saw three more of its quarterbacks drafted including Virginia tech Logan Thomas (4th round, 120), Pitt’s Tom Savage (4th round, 135) and Clemson’s Tahj Boyd (7th round, 213).

The league had five first-round picks selected on Thursday; 10 players chosen on the second and third rounds on Friday and an impressive total of 27 players chosen today in rounds fourth through seven.

Miami, Florida State and Virginia all saw their consecutive draft strings continue.

Miami has had a player selected in every NFL Draft since 1974, or 41 consecutive years. Virginia and Florida State have each had a player chosen each year since 1983, or a total of 32 straight years.

The ACC began the draft in a strong fashion with four players selected among the first 14 players chosen.