List of Kentucky Wildcats in the NFL draft
The University of Kentucky Wildcats football team has had 212 players drafted into the National Football League (NFL) since the league began holding drafts in 1936.[1] Because of the NFL—AFL merger agreement, the history of the AFL is officially recognized by the NFL and therefore this list includes the AFL draft (1960–1966) and the common draft (1967–1969). This includes 17 players taken in the first round and one overall number one pick, Tim Couch in the 1999 NFL draft.
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). 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.
Key
[edit]| 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 |
| * | Selected to an all-star game (AFL All-Star game, NFL All-Star game or Pro Bowl) | ||||
| † | Won a league championship (AFL championship, NFL championship, or Super Bowl) | ||||
| ‡ | Inducted into Pro Football Hall of Fame | ||||
Selections
[edit]Supplemental Draft
[edit]| Year | Round | Pick | Player | Team | Position | Notes |
| 1979 | 6 | 0 | Rod Stewart | Buffalo Bills | RB | — |
Notable undrafted players
[edit]Note: No drafts were held before 1920
| Year | Player | Position | Debut Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Cal Withrow | C | San Diego Chargers | — |
| 1974 | Doug Kotar | RB | Pittsburgh Steelers | — |
| 1979 | Thom Dornbrook | C | Pittsburgh Steelers | — |
| 1987 | Cornell Burbage | WR | Dallas Cowboys | — |
| 2002 | Chris Demaree | DT | San Diego Chargers | — |
| 2022 | Josh Ali | WR | Atlanta Falcons | — |
| 2023 | Tashawn Manning | G | Baltimore Ravens | — |
| Keidron Smith | DB | Miami Dolphins | — | |
| DeAndre Square | LB | Los Angeles Rams | — | |
| 2024 | Brenden Bates | TE | Chicago Bears | — |
| Jeremy Flax | OT | Minnesota Vikings | — | |
| Tayvion Robinson | WR | Baltimore Ravens | — | |
| 2025 | Zion Childress | S | Dallas Cowboys | — |
| Marques Cox | OT | Denver Broncos | — | |
| 2026 | Ja'Mori Maclin | WR | Buffalo Bills | — |
