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Under Armour Senior Bowl
Players Have Major Impact On
2008 NFL Draft
Game continues to
establish itself as premier pre-draft event as 11 first-round picks and
82 of the total players selected during the draft participated in 2008
event.
MOBILE, Ala. (April 28, 2008) -- Under Armour Senior Bowl officials
announced today the results of another successful NFL Draft as 82
players that participated in the 2008 game were selected, including 11
players that were taken in the first round. This is the 4th straight
year that the game has had 10 or more players drafted in the first round
and the game has had double-digit first-round picks in 10 of the past 11
drafts.
Since 1999, 111 Senior
Bowl players have been drafted in the first round and the game has
averaged 11 first-round picks. During the same period, a total of 877
players have been selected in the draft.
Among the game’s
first-round picks were 2 top 10 selections. This was the 11th straight
year in which a Senior Bowl player was selected among the draft’s top 10
picks. U.S.C. defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis was the first Senior Bowl
player off the board as he was taken with the 7th overall pick by the
New Orleans Saints. Two picks later, another Senior Bowler from U.S.C.
was taken as linebacker Keith Rivers was selected by the Cincinnati
Bengals.
In addition to the game’s
11 first-round picks, there were 37 more Senior Bowl players taken in
the second and third rounds representing a total of 48 picks in the
draft’s first 3 rounds. This number is especially significant when
considering that 31 underclassman were also selected during the same
period (99 total picks).
The 2008 game produced the
first senior player selected at 8 different positions (RB, FB, WR, C,
ILB, OLB, CB, P) and the first overall player selected at 6 different
positions (WR, FB, C, OLB, CB, P). There were 5 different positions in
which every player that participated in the 2008 game was drafted (QB,
FB, OT, C, DT).
On the offensive side of
the ball, the 2008 game featured the first 3 senior running backs, 8 of
the first 10 senior wide receivers, 3 of the first 5 senior offensive
tackles, 3 of the first 5 senior offensive guards, and the first 5
centers drafted.
Defensively, the game
featured 8 of the first 9 senior defensive tackles, the first 4 senior
inside linebackers, the first 5 senior outside linebackers, 8 of the
first 10 senior cornerbacks, and 3 of the first 4 senior safeties
drafted.
The strength of the
relationship between the Senior Bowl and the NFL was very evident during
the 2008 draft as 31 of the 32 teams selected at least 1 Senior Bowl
player and 27 of those teams selected 2 or more players. There were 8
teams (Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, New Orleans,
Seattle, Washington) that selected 4 or more players from the 2008 game
and there were 14 teams that selected a Senior Bowl player with its
first pick. Chicago, New Orleans, Seattle, and Washington led all teams
in number of Senior Bowl players drafted as 5 players were selected by
each team.
The future stars of the
2009 NFL Draft class will take the field at the 60th annual Under Armour
Senior Bowl that is set for Saturday, January 24, 2009 at Ladd-Peebles
Stadium. The game and practices will again be nationally televised on
the NFL Network. For more information, contact the Senior Bowl office at
251-438-2276 or visit the organization’s website at
www.seniorbowl.com.
2008 UNDER ARMOUR
SENIOR BOWL FIRST-ROUND DRAFT PICKS
PICK PLAYER POSITION NFL
TEAM COLLEGE
7 SEDRICK ELLIS DT NEW ORLEANS USC
9 KEITH RIVERS OLB CINCINNATI USC
11 LEODIS MCKELVIN CB BUFFALO TROY
14 CHRIS WILLIAMS OT CHICAGO VANDERBILT
16 DOMINQUE RODGERS-CROMARTIE CB ARIZONA TENN. STATE
17 GOSDER CHERILUS OT DETROIT BOSTON COLLEGE
18 JOE FLACCO QB BALTIMORE DELAWARE
21 SAM BAKER OT ATLANTA USC
24 CHRIS JOHNSON RB TENNESSEE EAST CAROLINA
28 LAWRENCE JACKSON DE SEATTLE USC
29 KENTWAN BALMER DE SAN FRANCISCO NORTH CAROLINA
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