The 2019 NFL draft had record numbers.
The league said Monday that more than 600,000 attended over the three days in Nashville, Tenn., easily eclipsing the 250,000 that came to watch two years ago in Philadelphia. Nielsen reports that the draft on ESPN, ABC and NFL Network averaged 6.1 million viewers at any given time over the three days.
The SEC and Georgia made their own splash. Here’s how much influence the conference wielded in Nashville, Tenn.:
Record days for SEC
A record 64 players — nine in the first round alone — from the SEC were taken in all seven rounds. The SEC had two dozen more picks than any other conference.
Seven teams did not make a first-round selection as the Raiders (4, 24, 27) and Giants (6, 17, 30) made six of the first 32 selections — a first since 1967.
Three of those selections came from the SEC: The Raiders used two of those picks on Alabama's Josh Jacobs and Mississippi State's Johnathan Abram. The Giants selected Georgia's Deandre Baker.
Roll tied
Alabama once again had the most selections with 10. The Tide had at least one player selected in each round but the seventh round. (Conversely, Penn State had one player selected in each round but the first.)
This is just the second time since 1970 that a single school has ended the most picks in consecutive drafts. Southern Cal repeated as top drafted school in 2008 and ’09.
Bulldogs get picked
Georgia was second in the conference with seven picks. The most Bulldogs ever taken in one draft was eight in 2002 and 2013. Six were drafted, including three in the first round, last year. They went:
» 1st round: CB Deandre Baker (Giants)
» 2nd: WR Mecole Hardman (Chiefs)
» 4th: WR Riley Ridley (Bears)
» 5th: LB/DE D'Andre Walker (Titans)
» 6th: C Lamont Gaillard (Cardinals)
» 7th: TE Isaac Nauta (Lions), WR Terry Godwin (Panthers)
In total, 18 players with Georgia ties were selected. The state of Georgia has averaged 18.6 NFL Draft picks since 2010.
No. 56 merry-go-round
The Chiefs selected Georgia's Mecole Hardman with the 56th overall pick (2nd round). That pick was held by three other teams — Chicago, New England and Los Angeles Rams — before finally falling to Kansas City in a trade.
Falcons and SEC
For the first time since 2013, the Atlanta Falcons didn't select a player from an SEC school. There were 38 trades executed during the three-day draft. The Falcons moved up three times and picked:
» First round (No. 11) - select G Chris Lindstrom
» First round (No. 31) - via Rams select OT Kaleb McGary
» Fourth round (No. 111) - via Lions select CB Kendall Sheffield
» Fourth round (No. 135) - via Raiders select DE John Cominsky
» Fifth round (No. 152) - select RB Qadree Ollison
» Fifth round (No. 172)- select CB Jordan Miller
» Sixth-round pick (No. 203) - via Rams select WR Marcus Green
