Once again, Clemson leaves its mark on NFL Draft
By: will-vandervort May 1, 2019

There were a lot of people, including this writer, that thought Clemson would have more than six players taken in last week’s 2019 NFL Draft. Not that there is anything wrong with six players selected in the NFL Draft.

However, I was expecting at least three more. I was surprised, like many of you, not to hear Mitch Hyatt’s named called. I knew he had slipped in the draft and would perhaps go fourth round or later, but I was not expecting him not to be drafted.

I was also surprised I did not hear Albert Huggins or Mark Fields names called. It appeared they had both improved their stock with great workouts in at the NFL Scouting Combine and that they too would be drafted. But, as we all know, neither happened.

However, Clemson’s six draft picks is nothing to be sour about. The Tigers’ six selections, which started with Clelin Ferrell’s No. 4 overall pick by the Oakland Raiders in the first round, ties for the second most in the Dabo Swinney era and the fifth most in Clemson history.

It’s actually the fourth time in Swinney’s 10-plus years as a head coach he has had at least six players selected in an NFL Draft. He had nine players selected in 2016 and six in 2011 and 2017.

As you all know by now, besides Ferrell, Clemson had Christian Wilkins (No. 13 to the Miami Dolphins) and Dexter Lawrence (No. 17 to the New York Giants) also picked in the first round. It marked the first time in Clemson history the program had three players selected in the first round of an NFL Draft.

Cornerback Trayvon Mullen went in the second round (No. 40 overall) to the Oakland Raiders, while defensive end Austin Bryant was picked in the fourth round (No. 117 overall) by the Detroit Lions. Wide receiver Hunter Renfrow was the last Tiger picked. Renfrow went to Oakland as well with the No. 149th overall pick in the fifth round.

Renfrow’s selection by the Raiders in the fifth round gave Oakland three players from the same school in a single draft for the first time in the franchise’s history. It represents only the second time Clemson has had three players drafted by the same team in a single draft, joining three selections from Clemson by the New York Giants in 1983.

Clemson’s six picks led the ACC, outpacing Miami (five), Boston College (four) and NC State (four) among conference programs to produce at least four picks this year. Clemson has produced at least five picks in five of the last six drafts, joining Alabama and Ohio State as one of only three programs in the country to do so.

So, it was not a bad draft class. It’s just a little surprising that it was not better.

OTHER CLEMSON NOTES FROM THE NFL DRAFT

  • Has now placed 29 players in the NFL Draft over the last five years, tied with the 2013-17 drafts for the program’s most prolific five-year stretch since the NFL adopted the seven-round format in 1994.
  • Produced three first-round picks for the first time in school history, surpassing the previous record of two, set in the 1979, 1982, 2015 and 2017 NFL Drafts.
  • With the six selections, Swinney has had 57 draft picks during his full-time tenure in Clemson, dating back to the 2009 season. He and Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher are tied for the fourth-most draft picks of any coach in that time frame, and the duo ranks tied for second among head coaches who remain active entering the 2019 season.
  • Clemson’s output marked the 10th time in the Common Draft era (since 1967) that a school produced at least four draft picks on the defensive line in a single draft, joining NC State (2018), LSU (2013), Florida (2007), Wisconsin (2005), Miami (2003), Texas (1992), Miami (1990), Notre Dame (1972) and Grambling State (1970).
  • Produced three players selected as defensive linemen from a single school in a single draft for the first time in NFL Draft history. (Note: In 2006, NC State’s Mario Williams, Manny Lawson and John McCargo went with the Nos. 1, 22 and 26 picks, respectively, though Lawson was officially submitted as a linebacker professionally.)
  • Had a school-record four defensive linemen selected, breaking the previous single-draft school record of three from 2016 (Shaq Lawson, Kevin Dodd and D.J. Reader).
  • Pushed its total of defensive linemen selected in the Swinney era (since the 2009 NFL Draft) to 17.
  • Has now had multiple defensive linemen selected five times in the last nine drafts (2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2019).
  • Had three players selected by a single team in a single draft for only the second time, joining the New York Giants’ selections of Terry Kinard, Andy Headen and Frank Magwood in the famed 1983 NFL Draft.
  • Had two players (Ferrell and Mullen) selected by the same NFL team in the first two rounds of a draft for the first time in school history.
  • Was one of only three schools to produce three first-round picks in 2019 (Alabama and Mississippi State).
  • Had two players selected in the Top 15 in a single draft for the third time in school history, joining the 1960 (Lou Cordileone and Harold Olson) and 2017 NFL Drafts (Deshaun Watson and Mike Williams).
  • Matched its school record for picks in the first two rounds, tying the four selections in Rounds 1-2 in 2016 (Shaq Lawson, Kevin Dodd, Mackensie Alexander and T.J. Green). Clemson’s four defensive selections through the first two days of the draft (Rounds 1-3) were the most of any school in 2019.
  • Has now had at least one draft selection in each of the last 17 drafts since 2003, representing the second-longest streak in school history behind a 24-year streak across the 1951-74 NFL Drafts.
  • Has now had at least one first-round selection in six of the last seven NFL Drafts.
  • Produced five picks from its defense (Ferrell, Wilkins, Lawrence, Mullen and Bryant) prior to its first offensive selection (Renfrow). It marks only the third time in the Common Draft era Clemson has had the first five members of its draft class come from the defensive side of the ball, joining the 1999 and 2016 NFL Drafts, both of which featured defensive selections with the first six picks of their respective classes.
  • Renfrow joins Clemson’s fraternity of NFL wide receivers, a group that combined for 34 receiving touchdowns in the NFL in 2018, the most by wide receivers from any school.

–Clemson Athletic Communications contributed to this column