The Marshall Thundering Herd football team, representing Marshall University, has had 46 players drafted into the National Football League (NFL) since the league began holding drafts in 1936.[1] This includes three players taken in the first round. The New England Patriots have drafted the most Marshall players with five. Four former Thundering Herd have been selected to a Pro Bowl, six former Thundering Herd have won a league championship with their respective teams, and one former Thundering have been selected to both a Pro Bowl and won a league championship.
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).
Before 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 massive bidding war over top prospects between the two leagues. As part of the merger agreement on June 8, 1966, the two leagues would hold a multiple round "common draft". When the AFL officially merged with the NFL in 1970, the "Common Draft" simply became the NFL Draft.
| 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 a Pro Bowl | ||||||
| † | Won an NFL/Super Bowl championship | |||||
| ‡ | Selected to a Pro Bowl and won an NFL/Super Bowl championship | |||||
Note: No drafts held before 1920
| Debut year | Player name | Position | Debut NFL/AFL team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | † | C | Cleveland Browns | Pro Bowl (1956) NFL champion (1950, 1954, 1955) |
| 1960 | C | Dallas Texans | — | |
| 1984 | LB | Pittsburgh Steelers | — | |
| 1987 | DT | Pittsburgh Steelers | — | |
| C | Cincinnati Bengals | — | ||
| 1993 | TE | Kansas City Chiefs | Pro Bowl (2005) | |
| 1996 | RB | Jacksonville Jaguars | — | |
| 1997 | QB | Cincinnati Bengals | — | |
| DT | Kansas City Chiefs | — | ||
| T | Carolina Panthers | — | ||
| 1999 | P | Cleveland Browns | Pro Bowl (2002) | |
| TE | New York Jets | — | ||
| 2000 | DT | Philadelphia Eagles | — | |
| LB | Kansas City Chiefs | — | ||
| C | Arizona Cardinals | — | ||
| 2001 | K | Baltimore Ravens | — | |
| WR | Arizona Cardinals | — | ||
| 2002 | LB | Minnesota Vikings | — | |
| 2004 | TE | Atlanta Falcons | — | |
| 2008 | † | C | Pittsburgh Steelers | Super Bowl champion (XLIII) |
| 2009 | DB | San Diego Chargers | — | |
| 2010 | T | Jacksonville Jaguars | — | |
| † | LB | Baltimore Ravens | Super Bowl champion (XLVII, LIII) | |
| 2011 | LB | Pittsburgh Steelers | — | |
| 2012 | † | DB | Baltimore Ravens | Super Bowl champion (XLVII) |
| 2014 | TE | Miami Dolphins | — | |
| 2015 | LB | Miami Dolphins | — | |
| 2017 | TE | Kansas City Chiefs | — | |
| WR | Green Bay Packers | — | ||
| 2019 | DE | Washington Redskins | — | |
| P | New York Jets | — | ||
| 2020 | LB | Kansas City Chiefs | — | |
| 2023 | RB | San Francisco 49ers | — | |
| Steven Gilmore Jr. | CB | Detroit Lions | — |