Draft history of current NFL white starters

[referendum]

The annual disappointments that we see every year at draft time, inspired me to do a little research about current white starters in the NFL and how they were drafted, or not. I included a few partial starters, like Steward Bradley and Dennis Pitta.
Drafted in the first round: 54
2nd round 31
3rd round 19
4th round 23
5th round 11
6th round 10
7th round 8

Undrafted starters 23

The undrafted starters as of now are the following offensive linemen, Sendlein, Pears, Snow, Robinson, Roland, Evans Dietrich Smith, Wendell, Conolly, De la Puente, Briesel, Boone, and Dahl, Yeatman. Fullbacks Kuhn, Collins, Hynoski. WR's Welker, Amendola. Defense, Gibson, De Vito and Gregory.

White undrafted players can still fight their way into the league, but obviously its much more difficult, especially for non-O lineman.

 

[Woody]

^ That is discouraging.

On a more positive note, The Vikings picking up Line could be a very good thing. I think it signals that the Vikings want to trade Gerhart, as he is going into his contract year and they will get nothing for him after this year. He's worth far more to a team like the Rams than he is to the Vikings. I see a trade happening...

 

[dwid]

the odds of a White player becoming a starter is not too far off from being an UDFA than being drafted after the 4th round.

 

[seattlefan]

I thought the same thing about Zach Line to Minnesota, he might be Gerhart's replacement, which is a good thing if Toby can end up on a team without a top RB on it.

 

[Don Wassall]

54 White starters from the first round and 31 from the second round means that almost all White players who are taken in the early rounds fulfill their potential. Only 5 or 6 Whites are taken in the first round on average, and the average NFL career is only around 5 years, so almost all Whites taken early pan out, whereas the black bust rate is very high.

The NFL should be what it was in the integrated days of the 1960s and early '70s, at least two-third to three-fourths White, and likely higher given the noticeably shrinking pool of black talent.

 

[white is right]

I thought the same thing about Zach Line to Minnesota, he might be Gerhart's replacement, which is a good thing if Toby can end up on a team without a top RB on it.

Line is fighting Poly Matt Asiata for the third tailback spot. I can't see him beating out Jerome Felton for the fullback spot as Felton is huge and was just signed to a decent contract for a fullback.