Draft stars: How the first-rounders were rated
There were as many former two-star prospects as five-star prospects (four) taken in the first round of the NFL draft Thursday night.
Two of the former two-star guys starred at Boise State: defensive end/outside linebacker Shea McClellin, who was selected by Chicago, and running back Doug Martin, drafted by Tampa Bay. The other former two-star prospects were Memphis defensive tackle Dontari Poe and Syracuse defensive end Chandler Jones.
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The five-star guys who went in the first round were Alabama running back Trent Richardson, USC offensive tackle Matt Kalil, Notre Dame wide receiver Michael Floyd and Alabama cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick.
Former four-star recruits led the way in the first round, with 13 selected. There were 10 former three-star signees, and one draftee (Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden) graduated high school before the Rivals.com ranking system was in place. Weeden played five seasons of minor-league baseball before enrolling at Oklahoma State to play football in 2007.
Among the conferences, the SEC again had the most first-round selections, with nine. Four of the top 10 picks were SEC players. Five Big 12 players were picked, followed by four from the Big Ten (all after pick 22) and Pac-12, three from the ACC, two each from the Big East, Mountain West and independent ranks and one from Conference USA.
Both independent players were from Notre Dame, which was one of 10 schools that had at least two players picked. Alabama had four, and Baylor, Boise State, Illinois, LSU, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Stanford and USC were the others with two. It was the second year in a row Alabama had four first-rounders.
In terms of high school ball, there were five former Texas prep stars selected. Second-most among the states was Tennessee with three; there were two players each from Alabama, California, Florida, Ohio, Oklahoma and Virginia, and one each from Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin.
Finally, this was the first draft since 1980 that no player from the state of Florida's "Big Three" - Florida, Florida State and Miami - was taken in the first round.
(Click each player's name for prospect profile with high school highlights and more.)
1. QB Andrew Luck, Indianapolis
School: Stanford
High school: Houston Stratford
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 4 pro-style quarterback and No. 68 recruit overall in 2008 class
2. QB Robert Griffin III, Washington
School: Baylor
High school: Copperas Cove (Texas) High
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 4 dual-threat quarterback in 2008 class
3. RB Trent Richardson, Cleveland
School: Alabama
High school: Pensacola (Fla.) Escambia
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 2 running back and No. 6 recruit overall in 2009 class
4. OT Matt Kalil, Minnesota
School: USC
High school: Anaheim (Calif.) Servite
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 3 tackle and No. 11 recruit overall in 2008 class
5. WR Justin Blackmon, Jacksonville
School: Oklahoma State
High school: Ardmore (Okla.) Plainview
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 91 wide receiver in 2008 class
6. CB Morris Claiborne, Dallas
School: LSU
High school: Shreveport (La.) Fair Park
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 58 athlete in 2009 class
7. SS Mark Barron, Tampa Bay
School: Alabama
High school: Mobile (Ala.) St. Paul's
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 5 athlete and No. 55 recruit overall in 2008 class
8. QB Ryan Tannehill, Miami
School: Texas A&M
High school: Big Spring (Texas) High
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 23 dual-threat quarterback in 2007 class
9. LB Luke Kuechly, Carolina
School: Boston College
High school: Cincinnati St. Xavier
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 44 linebacker in 2009 class
10. CB Stephon Gilmore, Buffalo
School: South Carolina
High school: Rock Hill (S.C.) South Pointe
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 6 athlete and No. 84 recruit overall in 2009 class
11. DT Dontari Poe, Kansas City
School: Memphis
High school: Memphis Wooddale
Recruiting ranking:
; Unranked defensive tackle in 2008 class
12. DT Fletcher Cox, Philadelphia
School: Mississippi State
High school: Yazoo City (Miss.) High
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 5 defensive tackle and No. 94 recruit overall in 2009 class
13. WR Michael Floyd, Arizona
School: Notre Dame
High school: St. Paul (Minn.) Cretin-Derham Hall
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 6 wide receiver and No. 27 recruit overall in 2008 class
14. DT Michael Brockers, St. Louis
School: LSU
High school: Houston Chavez
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 10 strongside defensive end and No. 201 recruit overall in 2009 class
15. DE Bruce Irvin, Seattle
School: West Virginia
High school: Stone Mountain (Ga.) Stephenson (went to Mt. San Antonio CC in Walnut, Calif., out of high school
Recruiting ranking:
; out of junior college in 2010 (2-star defensive end out of high school in 2006 class)
16. DE Quinton Coples, New York Jets
School: North Carolina
High school: Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 6 strongside defensive end and No. 105 recruit overall in 2008 class
17. CB Dre Kirkpatrick, Cincinnati
School: Alabama
High school: Gadsden (Ala.) Gadsden City
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 1 cornerback and No. 11 recruit overall in 2009 class
18. DE Melvin Ingram, San Diego
School: South Carolina
High school: Hamlet (N.C.) Richmond Co.
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 21 outside linebacker in 2007 class
19. DE Shea McClellin, Chicago
School: Boise State
High school: Marsing (Idaho) High
Recruiting ranking:
; unranked strongside defensive end in 2007 class
20. WR Kendall Wright, Tennessee
School: Baylor
High school: Pittsburg (Texas) High
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 64 wide receiver in 2008 class
21. DE Chandler Jones, New England
School: Syracuse
High school: Endicott (N.Y.) Union-Endicott
Recruiting ranking:
; unranked tight end in 2008 class
22. QB Brandon Weeden, Cleveland
School: Oklahoma State
High school: Edmond (Okla.) Santa Fe
Recruiting ranking: Was in high school before Rivals.com recruiting rankings existed
23. T Riley Reiff, Detroit
School: Iowa
High school: Parkston (S.D.) High
Recruiting ranking:
; Unranked strongside defensive end in 2008 class
24. G David DeCastro, Pittsburgh
School: Stanford
High school: Bellevue (Wash.) High
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 11 center in 2008 class
25. LB Don'ta Hightower, New England
School: Alabama
High school: Lewisburg (Tenn.) Marshall Co.
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 15 linebacker in 2008 class
26. DE Whitney Mercilus, Houston
School: Illinois
High school: Akron (Ohio) Garfield
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 28 weakside defensive end in 2008 class
27. G Kevin Zeitler, Cincinnati
School: Wisconsin
High school: Milwaukee Wisconsin Lutheran
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 39 guard in 2008 class
28. DE Nick Perry, Green Bay
School: USC
High school: Detroit Martin Luther King
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 2 weakside defensive end and No. 56 recruit overall in 2008 class
29. S Harrison Smith, Minnesota
School: Notre Dame
High school: Knoxville (Tenn.) Knoxville Catholic
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 25 athlete in 2007 class
30. WR A.J. Jenkins, San Francisco
School: Illinois
High school: Jacksonville Terry Parker
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 53 wide receiver in 2008 class
31. RB Doug Martin, Tampa Bay
School: Boise State
High school: Stockton (Calif.) St. Mary's
Recruiting ranking:
; Unranked running back in 2007 class
32. RB David Wilson, New York Giants
School: Virginia Tech
High school: Danville (Va.) George Washington
Recruiting ranking:
; No. 4 running back and No. 40 recruit overall in 2009 class
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