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87 Senior Bowl players selected in draft

CHICAGO, ILL. -- The Reese's Senior Bowl once again made a major impact on the NFL Draft, as 87 players from the 2016 game were selected over the three day draft in Chicago, Ill. The 87 picks were the most since 2013, when 94 Senior Bowlers were drafted, and the second-most in the past nine years.

The 87 may be more impressive than the 94 from three years ago when you consider there were a record number of early entrees in this year's draft (107) and a record number selected (71). In 2013, there were 73 early entrees. 

"Once our rosters came together back in January, we felt this would be a strong draft class for us and it was," said Reese's Senior Bowl Executive Director Phil Savage. "The Reese's Senior Bowl is an important step of the evaluation process and both the prospects and NFL clubs benefitted from being in Mobile again this year."

All 32 NFL clubs selected at least one player who parrticipated at the Reese's Senior Bowl. The Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans and Cleveland Browns each selected five Reese's Senior Bowl players. Twenty-six teams selected at least two players from this year's game.
 
"To have all 32 NFL teams draft a player from the Reese's Senior Bowl shows the importance of the event and highlights the emphasis they put on seeing the prospects compete against their peers under the direction of pro coaches," Savage said.
 

Wentz was the highest Senior Bowl selection since 2013 (E.Fisher).

North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz was the first Reese's Senior Bowl player selected, going second overall to the Philadelphia Eagles. Wentz is the highest selection of a Senior Bowl player since Eric Fisher went first overall in 2013. Wentz was one of four first-round selections in a first round dominated by juniors, who made up 21 of the selections. Louisville defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins (12th-Saints), Stanford guard Josh Garnett (28th-49ers) and Louisiana Tech defensive tackle Vernon Butler (30th-Panthers) were the other first-round selections.

Thirteen Reese's Senior Bowl players were drafted in the second round, followed by 16 in the third round, 18 in the fourth, 17 in the fifth, 13 in the sixth and six in the seventh round.

This year's game featured a record eight quarterbacks and seven were drafted. Only Alabama's Jake Coker was undrafted. North Carolina State's Jacoby Brissett went in the third round to the New England Patriots and was followed two picks later by USC's Cody Kessler, who went to the Cleveland Browns. Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott was selected in the fourth round by the Dallas Cowboys, Stanford's Kevin Hogan went to the Chiefs in the fifth round, Arkansas' Brandon Allen went to Jacksonville in the sixth round along with Louisiana Tech's Jeff Driskel (49ers).

The strength of this year's draft was the defensive line, where 15 of the 19 linemen who participated in this year's game were selected.

Three of the game's five Junior Graduates were selected: Eastern Kentucky's Noah Spence (2nd/39th to Bucs), Penn State's Austin Johnson (2nd/43rd to Titans) and Maryland's Quinton Jefferson (5th/147th to Seahawks).