ESPN: Iowa Among “Best NFL Draft Factories”

Leading up to this weekend’s NFL Draft, ESPN published a feature this week that dives into which college football programs churn out the most All-Pros, Pro Bowlers, sleepers, and long-term starters over the last 15 NFL Drafts.

The Iowa football program fared well in several of these categories.

In terms of sleeper picks according to “approximate value”, Iowa ranked 8th nationally for players drafted anywhere in rounds two, three or four.

When measuring longevity by percentage of draft picks to start for at least eight seasons, the Hawkeyes ranked 10th in the nation — with 8.8 percent of all players drafted eclipsing the 8-year mark as starters.

In terms of producing All-Pros, Iowa was 10th nationally in that category as well, with seven percent of Hawkeye draft picks receiving the honor.

There are currently 24 former Hawkeyes on NFL rosters. There will likely be three — possibly four more — drafted in this weekend’s NFL Draft. Iowa has had multiple players drafted 14 times since the turn of the century.

The data presented in the article — when measured against recruiting rankings — is just further evidence that Iowa develops talent for the next level as well as any program in the country.

Be sure to follow all of this weekend’s draft action and find out where your favorite Hawkeyes end up right here on Black Heart Gold Pants and SBNation.com.