The 2024 NFL Draft is complete after a three-day marathon that again saw Michigan dominate and plenty of other notable college storylines. Here’s what you need to know coming out of the draft if you’re a college football fan.
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TEXAS IS BACK (IN THE DRAFT)
A decade ago, the 2014 NFL Draft came and went without a Texas Longhorn selected for the first time since 1937. That ignominious moment — a few months after the program parted ways with Mack Brown — only further emphasized that the annual contender Brown built over a 16-year-run had derailed.
Ten years later, the Longhorns are back on the tracks and gaining steam.
Texas produced a common-draft era program record 11 draft picks in 2024. That’s the second-most in the draft behind only Michigan (13). There were plenty of other historic marks set, too:
– Texas’ combined five first- and second-round draft picks were more than the program produced in 2006 (four) coming off a national championship.
– Texas had two skill players drafted in the first two rounds for the first time in the common-draft era.
– Texas produced a pair of Day 1 or 2 linemen — on either side of the ball — for the first time since 2007.
That draft success is a credit to many things — and several of the players drafted were found by Tom Herman‘s staff — but, mostly, it’s a signal that Steve Sarkisian is consistently developing in Austin for the first time in what feels like forever.
Texas never lacked talent. It annually ranked in the top 10 of recruiting rankings. What it failed to do was turn elite talent into draftable prospects.
Success and draft-quality players is a chicken or the egg query. You don’t really get one on the highest level of college football without the other. So, it’s no surprise to see Texas’ first conference championship since 2009 corresponding with a draft pick run the program has never seen.
It’s all because of development.
The Longhorns aren’t done, either. Kelvin Banks, Quinn Ewers and Isaiah Bond all project as 2025 first-round candidates. The fruits of back-to-back-to-back top-six classes have yet to show up on draft day either.
This likely isn’t a flash-in-the-pan for Texas in terms of a NFL Draft run. It’s just the start.