List of Illinois Fighting Illini in the NFL draft

This is a list of Illinois Fighting Illini football players in the NFL draft.

Key

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

Selections

Year	Round	Pick	Player	Team	Position
1937	8	77	Elvin Sayre	Detroit Lions	C
1939	20	187	Jim McDonald	Detroit Lions	C
1940	15	139	Mel Brewer	Green Bay Packers	G
	20	189	Jim Reeder	Green Bay Packers	T
1941	21	195	Tom Riggs	Washington Redskins	T
1943	26	244	Eddie McGovern	Chicago Cardinals	B
1944	1	11	Tony Butkovich	Cleveland Rams	B
	8	71	Alex Agase	Green Bay Packers	G
	14	133	John Genis	Brooklyn Dodgers	T
	14	137	Don Griffin	Green Bay Packers	B
	26	265	Ray Grierson	Brooklyn Dodgers	E
1945	9	82	Les Joop	Detroit Lions	T
	12	115	Mike Kasap	Detroit Lions	T
	26	268	Ray Florek	Cleveland Rams	B
1946	2	11	Mac Wenskunas	Chicago Cardinals	C
	2	14	Julie Rykovich	Chicago Bears	B
	11	99	Chick Maggioli	Washington Redskins	B
	12	104	Frank Bauman	Chicago Bears	E
	14	129	Stan Sprague	Washington Redskins	E
	19	174	Tom Gallagher	Chicago Bears	B
	27	255	Butch Kalens	New York Giants	G
1947	9	70	Art Dufelmeier	Chicago Cardinals	B
	9	75	Dwight Eddleman	Chicago Bears	B
	11	93	Russ Steger	Los Angeles Rams	B
	23	213	Lou Levanti	Los Angeles Rams	C
	30	285	Jack Pierce	Chicago Bears	B
	32	299	Bob Prymuski	Los Angeles Rams	G
1948	3	15	Les Bingaman	Detroit Lions	T
	8	61	Bob Cunz	Green Bay Packers	T
	13	107	Russ Steger	Detroit Lions	B
	13	111	Perry Moss	Green Bay Packers	B
	15	131	Lou Agase	Green Bay Packers	T
1949	13	123	Al Mastrangeli	Green Bay Packers	C
	13	131	Lyle Button	Philadelphia Eagles	T
	14	140	Tony Klimek	Chicago Cardinals	E
	18	178	Herb Siegert	Washington Redskins	G
	23	227	Walt Kersulis	Los Angeles Rams	E
1950	14	175	Lyle Button	Washington Redskins	T
	23	294	Walt Kerulis	Pittsburgh Steelers	E
	28	356	Johnny Karras	Detroit Lions	B
	29	369	Russ Steger	Detroit Lions	B
1951	5	51	Lynn Lynch	Chicago Cardinals	G
	8	91	Dick Raklovits	Detroit Lions	B
	13	153	Wayne Siegert	Detroit Lions	T
	13	158	Paul Douglass	New York Giants	B
	18	216	Chuck Brown	Chicago Bears	G
	20	234	Al Tate	San Francisco 49ers	T
	27	324	Al Brosky	Los Angeles Rams	B
1952	2	16	Johnny Karras	Chicago Cardinals	B
	4	41	Chuck Ulrich	Philadelphia Eagles	T
	16	187	Marv Berschet	Washington Redskins	T
	16	189	Herb Neathery	Cleveland Browns	B
	18	212	Tommy O'Connell	Chicago Bears	B
	20	231	Chuck Boerio	Green Bay Packers	C
	21	247	Dick Jenkins	Washington Redskins	T
	26	312	Joe Vernasco	Cleveland Browns	E
	30	353	Don Stevens	Philadelphia Eagles	B
1953	5	61	Rex Smith	Philadelphia Eagles	E
	16	191	Eric Kuykendall	Cleveland Browns	B
	19	225	Pete Bachouros	Philadelphia Eagles	B
1954	1	6	Stan Wallace	Chicago Bears	RB
	1	12	John Bauer	Cleveland Browns	G
	2	21	Rocky Ryan	Philadelphia Eagles	E
	14	162	Ken Miller	Chicago Bears	B
	21	252	Jim Baughman	Cleveland Browns	G
	29	341	Claude Taliaferro	Baltimore Colts	B
1955	25	300	Dick Miller	Detroit Lions	T
	30	356	Bob Gongola	San Francisco 49ers	B
1956	7	82	J. C. Caroline	Chicago Bears	B
	12	144	Em Lindbeck	Los Angeles Rams	QB
	14	162	Carnell Neuman	Chicago Cardinals	B
	29	348	Mickey Bates	Los Angeles Rams	B
1957	2	15	Abe Woodson	San Francisco 49ers	B
	5	58	Wayne Bock	Chicago Cardinals	T
	20	231	Percy Oliver	Green Bay Packers	G
	24	282	Gary Francis	Pittsburgh Steelers	E
1958	3	36	Ray Nitschke	Green Bay Packers	LB
	7	84	Bobby Mitchell	Cleveland Browns	RB
	10	110	Carl Johnson	Green Bay Packers	T
	24	282	Rod Hanson	Washington Redskins	E
1959	1	11	Rich Kreitling	Cleveland Browns	WR
	9	107	Jack Delveaux	New York Giants	B
	18	207	Darrell DeDecker	Chicago Cardinals	T
	23	270	Bruce Dollahan	San Francisco 49ers	T
	29	346	Ron Nietupski	Cleveland Browns	T
1960	5	50	Bill Burrell	St. Louis Cardinals	LB
1961	1	3	Joe Rutgens	Washington Redskins	T
	2	20	Bill Brown	Chicago Bears	B
	6	72	Joe Krakoski	Washington Redskins	B
	8	106	Marshall Starks	St. Louis Cardinals	RB
	11	149	Tony Parrilli	San Francisco 49ers	G
	13	176	Ernie McMillan	St. Louis Cardinals	E
	17	238	Larry Lavery	Philadelphia Eagles	T
1962	7	91	Ed O'Bradovich	Chicago Bears	E
	9	123	Chuck Dickerson	Cleveland Browns	T
	18	246	Gary Brown	San Francisco 49ers	T
1963	10	138	Mike Taliaferro	New York Giants	QB
	17	238	Thurman Walker	Green Bay Packers	E
1965	1	3	Dick Butkus	Chicago Bears	LB
	1	13	George Donnelly	San Francisco 49ers	B
	2	15	Archie Sutton	Minnesota Vikings	T
	13	170	Gregg Schumacher	San Francisco 49ers	E
	17	225	Dave Powless	New York Giants	G
1966	1	1	Jim Grabowski	Miami Dolphins	RB
	1	9	Jim Grabowski	Green Bay Packers	RB
	3	42	Don Hansen	Minnesota Vikings	LB
	4	57	Ron Acks	Minnesota Vikings	DE
	16	240	Sam Price	New York Giants	RB
	17	254	Gary Eickman	New York Giants	T
	18	268	Kai Anderson	New York Giants	C
	18	270	Dale Greco	Minnesota Vikings	DT
1967	10	250	Bruce Sullivan	Washington Redskins	DB
	12	298	Preston Pearson	Baltimore Colts	DB
1968	2	39	Cyril Pinder	Philadelphia Eagles	RB
	2	53	John Wright	Atlanta Falcons	WR
	8	202	Terry Miller	Detroit Lions	LB
	9	224	Bob Robertson	Houston Oilers	C
	9	241	Ken Kmiec	Dallas Cowboys	DB
1969	3	78	Rich Johnson	Houston Oilers	RB
	5	127	Tony Pleviak	Atlanta Falcons	DE
	10	256	Bob Naponic	Houston Oilers	QB
1971	6	142	Doug Dieken	Cleveland Browns	T
1973	4	80	Mike Wells	Minnesota Vikings	QB
	9	214	Tab Bennett	San Diego Chargers	LB
	10	251	Willie Osley	Kansas City Chiefs	DB
	10	255	Larry Allen	Green Bay Packers	LB
	12	308	Larry McCarren	Green Bay Packers	C
1974	7	171	Gerry Sullivan	Cleveland Browns	T
	16	412	Octavus Morgan	Pittsburgh Steelers	LB
1975	5	110	Revie Sorey	Chicago Bears	G
	6	151	Tom Hicks	Chicago Bears	LB
	16	396	Mark Peterson	Kansas City Chiefs	DE
1976	5	139	Lonnie Perrin	Denver Broncos	RB
	9	258	Stu Levenick	Baltimore Colts	T
	10	271	Doug Kleber	Cleveland Browns	T
	14	381	Joe Smalzer	Cleveland Browns	TE
1977	9	250	Scott Studwell	Minnesota Vikings	LB
	10	278	Dan Beaver	Minnesota Vikings	K
1978	9	231	Rich Grimmett	Seattle Seahawks	T
1979	4	99	Derwin Tucker	Los Angeles Rams	DB
	6	147	John Sullivan	Chicago Bears	LB
	8	219	Bruce Thornton	Dallas Cowboys	DT
1980	9	241	Lawrence McCullough	Washington Redskins	WR
1981	5	116	John Gillen	St. Louis Cardinals	LB
	11	281	Mike Sherrod	St. Louis Cardinals	TE
1981s	1	0	Dave Wilson	New Orleans Saints	QB
1982	2	35	Jack Squirek	Los Angeles Raiders	LB
	7	195	Ron Ferrari	San Francisco 49ers	LB
	8	212	Kelvin Atkins	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	LB
1983	1	15	Tony Eason	New England Patriots	QB
	6	155	Mike Bass	New England Patriots	K
	8	221	Mike Martin	Cincinnati Bengals	WR
	9	231	Adam Lingner	Kansas City Chiefs	C
	12	313	Oliver Williams	Chicago Bears	WR
1984	4	95	Mitchell Brookins	Buffalo Bills	WR
	6	147	Dwight Beverly	Indianapolis Colts	RB
	6	156	Don Thorp	New Orleans Saints	DT
	8	215	Ed Brady	Los Angeles Rams	LB
	9	227	Mike Johnson	Houston Oilers	DE
	11	290	Bob Stowe	Indianapolis Colts	T
	11	298	Mark Butkus	Chicago Bears	DT
	12	328	Moe Bias	Los Angeles Rams	LB
	12	333	Mike Weingrad	Miami Dolphins	LB
1985	4	92	Mike Heaven	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	DB
	10	253	Chris Babyar	Buffalo Bills	G
	11	284	John Ayres	Atlanta Falcons	DB
1986	2	47	Jack Trudeau	Indianapolis Colts	QB
	3	82	David Williams	Chicago Bears	WR
	4	83	Craig Swoope	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	DB
	4	104	Jim Juriga	Denver Broncos	T
	6	147	Thomas Rooks	Minnesota Vikings	RB
	7	172	Chris White	Indianapolis Colts	K
	8	207	Cap Boso	Pittsburgh Steelers	TE
	9	225	Bob Sebring	Houston Oilers	LB
	10	251	Guy Teafatiller	Buffalo Bills	DT
1987	8	212	Mark Dennis	Miami Dolphins	T
	10	264	Jerry Reese	Atlanta Falcons	TE
1988	1	25	Scott Davis	Los Angeles Raiders	DE
	3	82	Mike Piel	Los Angeles Rams	DT
	5	134	Keith Taylor	New Orleans Saints	DB
	7	181	Darryl Usher	New England Patriots	WR
	11	295	Bobby Dawson	Pittsburgh Steelers	DB
1989	3	62	Keith Jones	Atlanta Falcons	RB
1990	1	1	Jeff George	Indianapolis Colts	QB
	2	50	Mike Bellamy	Philadelphia Eagles	WR
1991	1	26	Henry Jones	Buffalo Bills	DB
	4	87	Moe Gardner	Atlanta Falcons	DT
	5	132	Darrick Brownlow	Dallas Cowboys	LB
	6	152	Mel Agee	Indianapolis Colts	DT
	7	191	Chris Green	Miami Dolphins	DB
	9	236	Howard Griffith	Indianapolis Colts	RB
1992	7	189	Elbert Tuener	Houston Oilers	WR
	12	328	Kameno Bell	Miami Dolphins	RB
	12	329	Tim Simpson	Cleveland Browns	C
1993	1	13	Brad Hopkins	Houston Oilers	T
1994	7	221	Filmel Johnson	Buffalo Bills	DB
1995	2	48	Ken Dilger	Indianapolis Colts	TE
	5	144	John Holecek	Buffalo Bills	LB
	5	168	Dana Howard	Dallas Cowboys	LB
	7	226	Scott Turner	Washington Redskins	DB
1996	1	2	Kevin Hardy	Jacksonville Jaguars	LB
	1	3	Simeon Rice	Arizona Cardinals	DE
	3	69	Ken Blackman	Cincinnati Bengals	G
1997	6	181	Dennis Stallings	Houston Oilers	LB
1998	2	37	Robert Holcombe	St. Louis Rams	RB
1999	6	197	J. P. Machado	New York Jets	G
2000	6	169	Neil Rackers	Cincinnati Bengals	K
	7	245	Danny Clark	Jacksonville Jaguars	LB
2001	5	144	Marques Sullivan	Buffalo Bills	T
	6	174	Jameel Cook	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	RB
2002	5	158	Kurt Kittner	Atlanta Falcons	QB
2003	2	36	Eugene Wilson	New England Patriots	DB
	4	124	Brandon Lloyd	San Francisco 49ers	WR
	5	160	David Diehl	New York Giants	G
	5	173	Tony Pashos	Baltimore Ravens	T
	7	226	Walter Young	Carolina Panthers	WR
2004	5	159	Sean Bubin	Jacksonville Jaguars	T
	7	233	Christian Morton	New England Patriots	DB
2005	2	60	Kelvin Hayden	Indianapolis Colts	DB
	4	122	Duke Preston	Buffalo Bills	C
2007	7	237	Alan Ball	Dallas Cowboys	DB
2008	1	23	Rashard Mendenhall	Pittsburgh Steelers	RB
2009	1	25	Vontae Davis	Miami Dolphins	DB
	5	155	Xavier Fulton	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	T
	6	204	Will Davis	Arizona Cardinals	DE
2010	2	39	Arrelious Benn	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	WR
	3	68	Jon Asamoah	Kansas City Chiefs	G
	5	132	Michael Hoomanawanui	St. Louis Rams	TE
2010s	7	0	Josh Brent	Dallas Cowboys	DT
2011	1	18	Corey Liuget	San Diego Chargers	DT
	2	57	Mikel Leshoure	Detroit Lions	RB
	3	72	Martez Wilson	New Orleans Saints	LB
	7	243	Nate Bussey	New Orleans Saints	LB
2012	1	26	Whitney Mercilus	Houston Texans	DE
	1	30	A. J. Jenkins	San Francisco 49ers	WR
	2	44	Jeff Allen	Kansas City Chiefs	T
	2	48	Tavon Wilson	New England Patriots	DB
2013	3	86	Hugh Thornton	Indianapolis Colts	G
	4	100	Akeem Spence	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	DT
	5	150	Terry Hawthorne	Pittsburgh Steelers	DB
	7	226	Michael Buchanan	New England Patriots	DE
2016	2	44	Jihad Ward	Oakland Raiders	DE
	6	221	Ted Karras	New England Patriots	G
	7	245	Clayton Fejedelem	Cincinnati Bengals	DB
2017	3	68	Dawuane Smoot	Jacksonville Jaguars	DE
2019	7	216	Nick Allegretti	Kansas City Chiefs	G
2021	3	87	Kendrick Green	Pittsburgh Steelers	G
	5	167	Nate Hobbs	Las Vegas Raiders	DB
2022	3	97	Kerby Joseph	Detroit Lions	DB
	6	184	Vederian Lowe	Minnesota Vikings	T
	6	207	Doug Kramer	Chicago Bears	C
2023	1	5	Devon Witherspoon	Seattle Seahawks	DB
	2	47	Quan Martin	Washington Commanders	DB
	3	66	Sydney Brown	Philadelphia Eagles	DB
	5	163	Chase Brown	Cincinnati Bengals	RB
2024	2	36	Johnny Newton	Washington Commanders	DT
	3	71	Isaiah Adams	Arizona Cardinals	G
	3	82	Tip Reiman	Arizona Cardinals	TE
	6	187	Casey Washington	Atlanta Falcons	WR

Notes

Dave Wilson was drafted in the 1981 Supplemental Draft.

Notable undrafted players

Note: No drafts held before 1920

Debut year	Player	Position	Debut team	Notes
1925	Red Grange	HB	Chicago Bears	—
1966	T. J. Jackson	WR/DB	Philadelphia Eagles	—
1981	Earnest Adams	LB	Philadelphia Eagles	—
1982	Calvin Thomas	RB	Chicago Bears	—
1983	Darryl Byrd	LB	Los Angeles Raiders	—
	John Janata	T	Chicago Bears	—
	Tim Norman	T	Chicago Bears	—
1984	Vince Osby	LB	San Diego Chargers	—
1985	Dave Edwards	DB	Pittsburgh Steelers	—
	Rick Schulte	T	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	—
1986	Alec Gibson	DE	Washington Redskins	—
1987	Ron Bohm	DT	St. Louis Cardinals	—
	Lance Harkey	LB	Los Angeles Raiders	—
	Scott Kehoe	T	Miami Dolphins	—
	Steve Pierce	WR	Cleveland Browns	—
	Brett Wilson	RB	Minnesota Vikings	—
1988	Dave Harbour	C	Washington Redskins	—
	Jeff Markland	TE	Pittsburgh Steelers	—
	Mike Scully	C	Washington Redskins	—
1990	African Grant	DB	Miami Dolphins	—
1991	Frank Hartley	TE	Los Angeles Rams	—
1994	Greg Engel	LS	San Diego Chargers	—
1999	Garrett Johnson	DT	New England Patriots	—
	Ryan Schau	C	Philadelphia Eagles	—
2001	Nate Hodel	LS	Carolina Panthers	—
	Fred Wakefield	DE	Arizona Cardinals	—
	Josh Whitman	TE	Buffalo Bills	—
2002	Brandon Moore	G	New York Jets	—
2004	Carey Davis	RB	Indianapolis Colts	—
2006	Steve Weatherford	P	New Orleans Saints	—
2007	Pierre Thomas †	RB	New Orleans Saints	Super Bowl Champion (XLIV)
2008	Jeremy Leman	LB	Minnesota Vikings	—
	Jason Reda	K	Cleveland Browns	—
2010	Jeff Cumberland	TE	New York Jets	—
2012	Derek Dimke	K	Detroit Lions	—
2013	Justin Green	CB	New York Giants	—
	Justin Staples	DE	Cleveland Browns	—
2015	Matt LaCosse	TE	New York Giants	—
2016	Geronimo Allison	WR	Green Bay Packers	—
	Josh Ferguson	RB	Indianapolis Colts	—
2017	Carroll Phillips	DE	Jacksonville Jaguars	—
2021	Josh Imatorbhebhe	WR	Jacksonville Jaguars	—
2023	Kody Case	WR/RS	Indianapolis Colts	—
	Isaac Darkangelo	LB	Detroit Lions	—
	Tommy DeVito	QB	New York Giants	—
	Alex Palczewski	OT	Denver Broncos	—
	Jamal Woods	DT	Indianapolis Colts	—
2024	Julian Pearl	OT	Baltimore Ravens	—
	John Paddock	QB	Atlanta Falcons	—
	Keith Randolph Jr.	DT	Chicago Bears	—
	Isaiah Williams	WR	Detroit Lions	—