This is a list of second overall National Football League (NFL) draft picks . The NFL draft is an annual sports draft in which National Football League teams select newly eligible players for their rosters. Thirteen players selected second overall have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame : Sid Luckman (1939), George McAfee (1940), Les Richter (1952), Bob Brown (1964), Tom Mack (1966), Randy White (1975), Tony Dorsett (1977), Lawrence Taylor (1981), Eric Dickerson (1983), Marshall Faulk (1994), Tony Boselli (1995), Julius Peppers (2002), and Calvin Johnson (2007).[ 1] Sports Illustrated chose Taylor as the best player selected second overall.[ 2]
Nine Heisman Trophy winners have been selected at the spot: Glenn Davis (1946), Billy Vessels (1952), John David Crow (1957), Tony Dorsett (1977), Reggie Bush (2006), Robert Griffin III (2012), Marcus Mariota (2014), Jayden Daniels (2024), and Travis Hunter (2025). The Cleveland / St. Louis / Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals have each had nine selections at the spot, the most in the NFL.[ 1]
List
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Key
List of second overall picks[ 1]
Year
Name
Position
College
NFL team
Notes
1936 Riley Smith QB
Alabama Boston Redskins College Football Hall of Fame
1937 Ed Goddard QB/HB
Washington State Brooklyn Dodgers
1938 Jim McDonald HB
Ohio State Philadelphia Eagles
1939 Sid Luckman ‡ QB
Columbia Chicago Bears Pro Football Hall of Fame
1940 George McAfee ‡ HB
Duke Philadelphia Eagles Pro Football Hall of Fame
1941 John Kimbrough FB
Texas A&M Chicago Cardinals College Football Hall of Fame
1942 Jack Wilson HB
Baylor Cleveland Rams Appeared in only 10 NFL games, 3 as a starter
1943 Joe Muha FB
VMI Philadelphia Eagles 2x All-Pro
1944 Pat Harder *FB
Wisconsin Chicago Cardinals 3× first-team All-Pro; College Football Hall of Fame
1945 Paul Duhart QB/HB
Florida Pittsburgh Steelers Appeared in only 13 NFL games, 7 as a starter
1946 Dub Jones *HB
LSU Chicago Cardinals 2× AAFC champion, 3× NFL champion
1947 Glenn Davis *HB
Army Detroit Lions Heisman Trophy (1946)
1948 Skip Minisi HB
Penn New York Giants College Football Hall of Fame
1949 John Rauch QB
Georgia Detroit Lions College Football Hall of Fame
1950 Adrian Burk *QB
Baylor Baltimore Colts 2× Pro Bowl
1951 Bob Williams QB
Notre Dame Chicago Bears College Football Hall of Fame
1952 Les Richter ‡ LB
California New York Yanks [ a] Pro Football Hall of Fame
1953 Billy Vessels HB
Oklahoma Baltimore Colts Heisman Trophy (1952)
1954 Lamar McHan QB
Arkansas Chicago Cardinals
1955 Max Boydston E
Oklahoma Chicago Cardinals
1956 Earl Morrall *QB
Michigan State San Francisco 49ers 3× Super Bowl champion, NFL Most Valuable Player (1968)
1957 Jon Arnett *HB
USC Los Angeles Rams College Football Hall of Fame; 5× Pro Bowl
1958 John David Crow *HB
Texas A&M Chicago Cardinals Heisman Trophy (1957)
1959 Dick Bass *FB
Pacific Los Angeles Rams 3× Pro Bowl
1960 George Izo QB
Notre Dame St. Louis Cardinals
1961 Norm Snead *QB
Wake Forest Washington Redskins 4× Pro Bowl
1962 Roman Gabriel QB
NC State Los Angeles Rams College Football Hall of Fame; 4× Pro Bowl, NFL Most Valuable Player (1969)
1963 Jerry Stovall *DB
LSU St. Louis Cardinals 3× Pro Bowl
1964 Bob Brown ‡ T
Nebraska Philadelphia Eagles Pro Football Hall of Fame
1965 Ken Willard *FB
North Carolina San Francisco 49ers 4× Pro Bowl
1966 Tom Mack ‡ G
Michigan Los Angeles Rams Pro Football Hall of Fame
1967 Clint Jones HB
Michigan State Minnesota Vikings College Football Hall of Fame
1968 Bob Johnson C
Tennessee Cincinnati Bengals College Football Hall of Fame
1969 George Kunz *T
Notre Dame Atlanta Falcons 8× Pro Bowl
1970 Mike McCoy DT
Notre Dame Green Bay Packers
1971 Archie Manning QB
Ole Miss New Orleans Saints 2× Pro Bowl
1972 Sherman White DE
California Cincinnati Bengals
1973 Bert Jones QB
LSU Baltimore Colts Pro Bowl (1976), NFL Most Valuable Player (1976)
1974 Bo Matthews HB
Colorado San Diego Chargers
1975 Randy White ‡ DT
Maryland Dallas Cowboys Pro Football Hall of Fame
1976 Steve Niehaus DT
Notre Dame Seattle Seahawks NFC Defensive Rookie of the Year (1976)
1977 Tony Dorsett ‡ HB
Pittsburgh Dallas Cowboys Heisman Trophy (1976)
1978 Art Still *DE
Kentucky Kansas City Chiefs 4× Pro Bowl
1979 Mike Bell DE
Colorado State Kansas City Chiefs
1980 Lam Jones WR
Texas New York Jets
1981 Lawrence Taylor ‡ LB
North Carolina New York Giants Pro Football Hall of Fame, 2× Super Bowl champion (XXI, XXV)
1982 Johnie Cooks LB
Mississippi State Baltimore Colts
1983 Eric Dickerson ‡ HB
SMU Los Angeles Rams Pro Football Hall of Fame
1984 Dean Steinkuhler T
Nebraska Houston Oilers Outland Trophy (1983)
1985 Bill Fralic G
Pittsburgh Atlanta Falcons 4× Pro Bowl
1986 Tony Casillas DT
Oklahoma Atlanta Falcons College Football Hall of Fame
1987 Cornelius Bennett LB
Alabama Indianapolis Colts 5× Pro Bowl
1988 Neil Smith DE
Nebraska Kansas City Chiefs NFL 1990s All-Decade Team, 6× Pro Bowl
1989 Tony Mandarich T
Michigan State Green Bay Packers
1990 Blair Thomas HB
Penn State New York Jets
1991 Eric Turner DB
UCLA Cleveland Browns 2× Pro Bowl
1992 Quentin Coryatt LB
Texas A&M Indianapolis Colts
1993 Rick Mirer QB
Notre Dame Seattle Seahawks
1994 Marshall Faulk ‡ HB
San Diego State Indianapolis Colts Pro Football Hall of Fame
1995 Tony Boselli ‡ T
USC Jacksonville Jaguars Pro Football Hall of Fame
1996 Kevin Hardy LB
Illinois Jacksonville Jaguars Pro Bowl (1999)
1997 Darrell Russell DT
USC Oakland Raiders 2× Pro Bowl
1998 Ryan Leaf QB
Washington State San Diego Chargers
1999 Donovan McNabb *QB
Syracuse Philadelphia Eagles 6× Pro Bowl
2000 LaVar Arrington *LB
Penn State Washington Redskins Bednarik Award (1999), 3× Pro Bowl
2001 Leonard Davis *G
Texas Arizona Cardinals 3× Pro Bowl
2002 Julius Peppers ‡ DE
North Carolina Carolina Panthers Pro Football Hall of Fame
2003 Charles Rogers WR
Michigan State Detroit Lions Biletnikoff Award (2002)
2004 Robert Gallery T
Iowa Oakland Raiders Outland Trophy (2003)
2005 Ronnie Brown *HB
Auburn Miami Dolphins Pro Bowl (2008)
2006 Reggie Bush HB
USC New Orleans Saints Heisman Trophy (2005)
2007 Calvin Johnson ‡ WR
Georgia Tech Detroit Lions Pro Football Hall of Fame
2008 Chris Long DE
Virginia St. Louis Rams 2× Super Bowl champion, Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year (2018)
2009 Jason Smith T
Baylor St. Louis Rams
2010 Ndamukong Suh *DT
Nebraska Detroit Lions NFL 2010s All-Decade Team; 5× Pro Bowl
2011 Von Miller LB
Texas A&M Denver Broncos 2× Super Bowl champion, NFL 2010s All-Decade Team; 8× Pro Bowl
2012 Robert Griffin III QB
Baylor Washington Redskins Heisman Trophy (2011), Offensive Rookie of the Year , Pro Bowl (2012)
2013 Luke Joeckel T
Texas A&M Jacksonville Jaguars Outland Trophy (2012)
2014 Greg Robinson T
Auburn St. Louis Rams
2015 Marcus Mariota QB
Oregon Tennessee Titans Heisman Trophy (2014)
2016 Carson Wentz QB
North Dakota State Philadelphia Eagles Bert Bell Award (2017), Pro Bowl (2017)
2017 Mitchell Trubisky QB
North Carolina Chicago Bears Pro Bowl (2018)
2018 Saquon Barkley HB
Penn State New York Giants Offensive Rookie of the Year , Offensive Player of the Year (2024), 3x Pro Bowl
2019 Nick Bosa DE
Ohio State San Francisco 49ers Defensive Rookie of the Year , Defensive Player of the Year (2022), 5× Pro Bowl
2020 Chase Young DE
Ohio State Washington Redskins Defensive Rookie of the Year , Pro Bowl (2020)
2021 Zach Wilson QB
BYU New York Jets
2022 Aidan Hutchinson DE
Michigan Detroit Lions 2 x Pro Bowl
2023 C. J. Stroud QB
Ohio State Houston Texans Offensive Rookie of the Year , Pro Bowl (2023)
2024 Jayden Daniels QB
LSU Washington Commanders Heisman Trophy (2023), Offensive Rookie of the Year , Pro Bowl (2024)
2025 Travis Hunter CB/WR
Colorado
Jacksonville Jaguars Heisman Trophy (2024)
2026 David Bailey OLB
Texas Tech
New York Jets
Second overall picks by NFL team
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The Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals have each held the second overall pick a total of nine times, the most of any NFL team. This includes the Rams' time in Cleveland and St. Louis and the Cardinals' time in Chicago and St. Louis. The Baltimore Ravens , Buffalo Bills , New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the only teams that have never had the second overall pick.
Team
Picks
Year(s)
Notes
Los Angeles Rams
9
1942 , 1957 , 1959 , 1962 , 1966 , 1983 , 2008 , 2009 , 2014
1 as the Cleveland Rams
3 as the St. Louis Rams
5 as the Los Angeles Rams
Arizona Cardinals
9
1941 , 1944 , 1946 , 1954 , 1955 , 1958 , 1960 , 1963 , 2001
6 as the Chicago Cardinals
2 as the St. Louis Cardinals
1 as the Arizona Cardinals
Indianapolis Colts
7
1950 , 1953 , 1973 , 1982 , 1987 , 1992 , 1994
4 as the Baltimore Colts
3 as the Indianapolis Colts
Detroit Lions
6
1947 , 1949 , 2003 , 2007 , 2010 , 2022
Philadelphia Eagles
6
1938 , 1940 , 1943 , 1964 , 1999 , 2016
Washington Commanders
6
1936 , 1961 , 2000 , 2012 , 2020 , 2024
4 as the Washington Redskins
1 as the Washington Commanders
1 as Boston Redskins
Jacksonville Jaguars
4
1995 , 1996 , 2013 , 2025
New York Jets
4
1980 , 1990 , 2021 , 2026
Atlanta Falcons
3
1969 , 1985 , 1986
Chicago Bears
3
1939 , 1951 , 2017
Kansas City Chiefs
3
1978 , 1979 , 1988
New York Giants
3
1948 , 1981 , 2018
San Francisco 49ers
3
1956 , 1965 , 2019
Cincinnati Bengals
2
1968 , 1972
Dallas Cowboys
2
1975 , 1977
Green Bay Packers
2
1970 , 1989
Las Vegas Raiders
2
1997 , 2004
Both as the Oakland Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers
2
1974 , 1998
Both as the San Diego Chargers
New Orleans Saints
2
1971 , 2006
Seattle Seahawks
2
1976 , 1993
Tennessee Titans
2
1984 , 2015
Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL)
1
1937
Carolina Panthers
1
2002
Cleveland Browns
1
1991
Denver Broncos
1
2011
Houston Texans
1
2023
Miami Dolphins
1
2005
Minnesota Vikings
1
1967
New York Yanks
1
1952
Pittsburgh Steelers
1
1945
Second overall picks by school
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Notre Dame has the most second overall picks with 6. Texas A&M has the second-most second overall picks with 5. Baylor , LSU , Michigan State , North Carolina , Nebraska , Ohio State , and USC are tied for third-most second overall picks with 4 each. Only two schools have had second overall picks in consecutive years: Ohio State with Nick Bosa (2019) and Chase Young (2020), and Notre Dame with George Kunz (1969) and Mike McCoy (1970).
School
Total
Year(s)
Notre Dame
6
1951 , 1960 , 1969 , 1970 , 1976 , 1993
Texas A&M
5
1941 , 1958 , 1992 , 2011 , 2013
Baylor
4
1942 , 1950 , 2009 , 2012
LSU
4
1946 , 1963 , 1973 , 2024
Michigan State
4
1956 , 1967 , 1989 , 2003
North Carolina
4
1965 , 1981 , 2002 , 2017
Nebraska
4
1964 , 1984 , 1988 , 2010
Ohio State
4
1938 , 2019 , 2020 , 2023
USC
4
1957 , 1995 , 2006 , 2008
Oklahoma
3
1953 , 1955 , 1986
Penn State
3
1990 , 2000 , 2018
Alabama
2
1936 , 1987
Auburn
2
2005 , 2014
California
2
1952 , 1972
Colorado
2
1974 , 2025
Michigan
2
1966 , 2022
Pittsburgh
2
1977 , 1985
Texas
2
1980 , 2001
Washington State
2
1937 , 1998
Arkansas
1
1954
Army
1
1947
BYU
1
2021
Colorado State
1
1979
Columbia
1
1939
Duke
1
1940
Florida
1
1945
Georgia
1
1949
Illinois
1
1996
Iowa
1
2003
Kentucky
1
1978
Maryland
1
1975
Mississippi State
1
1982
North Carolina State
1
1962
North Dakota State
1
2016
Ole Miss
1
1971
Oregon
1
2015
Pacific
1
1959
Penn
1
1948
San Diego State
1
1994
SMU
1
1983
Syracuse
1
1999
Tennessee
1
1968
Texas Tech
1
2026
UCLA
1
1957
Virginia
1
2008
VMI
1
1943
Wake Forest
1
1961
Wisconsin
1
1944
Second overall picks by position
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Second overall selections by position
Position
Number of selections
Last year selected
Quarterbacks
24
2024
Running backs
19
2018
Defensive linemen
16
2026
Offensive linemen
13
2014
Wide receivers
3
2007
Linebackers
8
2011
Defensive backs
3
2025
See also
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Notes
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^ The New York Yanks folded prior to the 1952 NFL season. The Dallas Texans would later assume the rights for Richter.
References
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