This year’s NFL draft, held April 29, was expected to include at least one former Stanford player in the first round—draft experts projected defensive lineman Solomon Thomas, ’18, as high as No. 2 overall, and running back Christian McCaffrey, ’18, as high as No. 12. Twenty-three Stanford players have been drafted in the first round since halfback Pete Kmetovic, ’42, MA ’48, was chosen by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1942. And four times, a Cardinal player was the first guy taken in the draft. All four of them were quarterbacks, most recently Andrew Luck, ’12, in 2012. Only two schools have had more than four players drafted No. 1 overall. Can you guess what they are? (The answer is below.*)
*Two schools have had five players drafted first overall—Notre Dame and (prepare to groan) USC.
