The LSU Tigers football team has had 326 players drafted into the National Football League (NFL) since the league began holding drafts in 1936. [1] This includes 42 players taken in the first round and three overall number one picks: Billy Cannon (1960 NFL draft), Jamarcus Russell (2007 NFL draft) and Joe Burrow (2020 NFL draft). Six former LSU players have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Steve Van Buren, Y. A. Tittle, Jim Taylor, Johnny Robinson, Alan Faneca, and Kevin Mawae. [2] As of the beginning of the 2015 NFL season, there were 40 former LSU players on active rosters in the NFL, the most of any college program. [3]
Each NFL franchise seeks to add new players through the annual NFL Draft. The draft rules were last updated in 2009. The team with the worst record the previous year picks first, the next-worst team second, and so on. Teams that did not make the playoffs are ordered by their regular-season record with any remaining ties broken by strength of schedule. Playoff participants are sequenced after non-playoff teams, based on their round of elimination (wild card, division, conference, and Super Bowl). [4] Prior to the merger agreements in 1966, the American Football League (AFL) operated in direct competition with the NFL and held a separate draft. This led to a bidding war over top prospects between the two leagues. As part of the merger agreement on June 8, 1966, the two leagues held a multiple round "Common Draft". Once the AFL officially merged with the NFL in 1970, the "Common Draft" became the NFL Draft. [5]
B | Back | K | Kicker | NT | Nose tackle |
C | Center | LB | Linebacker | FB | Fullback |
DB | Defensive back | P | Punter | HB | Halfback |
DE | Defensive end | QB | Quarterback | WR | Wide receiver |
DT | Defensive tackle | RB | Running back | G | Guard |
E | End | T | Offensive tackle | TE | Tight end |
* | Inducted into Pro Football Hall of Fame |
Note: No drafts held before 1920
William Abb Cannon Sr. was an American football halfback and tight end who played in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL). He attended Louisiana State University (LSU), where he played college football as a halfback, return specialist, and safety for the LSU Tigers. At LSU, Cannon was twice named a unanimous All-American, helped the 1958 LSU team win a national championship, and received the Heisman Trophy as the nation's most outstanding college player in 1959. His punt return against Ole Miss on Halloween night in 1959 is considered by fans and sportswriters to be one of the most famous plays in LSU sports history.
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