Notes on the NFL draft

The Heisman Trophy has a long and illustrious history with the NFL draft.

Of the 81 Heisman winners eligible for drafting, 54 have been selected in the first round. Twenty of them were taken with the first overall pick and 37 within the first five selections. Just four Heisman winners have not been drafted (two of them had military obligations, one went to the NBA and one had multiple knee injuries that affected his draft stock).

Reigning Heisman winner Derrick Henry continued that tradition last week when he was drafted as the 14th pick of the second round (45th overall) by the Tennessee Titans in the 2016 NFL draft. His second round selection breaks a string of eight-consecutive first round Heisman winners, though he did become the 60th to be drafted in either of the first two rounds of a professional football draft.

Other notes:

• By taking Henry a year after selecting Marcus Mariota, Tennesse joins Detroit (1989/90 and 1937/38) and Tampa Bay (1986/87) as teams that selected Heisman winners in consecutive drafts.
• Henry is the first Heisman running back since Herschel Walker to not be selected in the NFL’s first round, though it should be noted that Walker signed with the USFL after his junior season, opting out of the NFL process. Prior to Walker, the last Heisman running back not selected in the first round was USC’s Mike Garrett, a second-round AFL pick in 1966.
• Henry continues recent early-entry Heisman successes. The last eight Heisman winners all passed on their final years of college eligibility before being selected in either the first or second rounds. The last Heisman winner to play his senior season was Tim Tebow (who won the award as a sophomore).

Here’s a historical breakdown of the Heisman and the professional draft (NFL/AFL/USFL):