By compiling data from 2006-2015 -- a list of 2,546 picks -- a few trends emerge when it comes to NFL teams and their draft selections. This information suggests a few things: most teams don’t favor players from nearby colleges, but some seem to create pipelines, and the Minnesota Vikings really like Notre Dame athletes.
Here’s your NFL team’s favorite college conference, based on the NFL Draft
Buffalo loves the ACC. The now Chip Kelly-less Eagles had a penchant for Pac-12 athletes. And Jerry Jones can’t get enough Big 12 players.
Full numbers below, but first, a few notes.
Some teams end up picking more players who spent their college careers in nearby conferences, whether due to regional scouting or pure coincidence.
Atlanta, a team that shares its home with the SEC Championship Game, was 46 percent more likely to draft an SEC player than the rest of the NFL.
Dallas, deep in the heart of Big 12 territory, was the conference’s heaviest drafter. The Cowboys were nearly twice as likely as their peers to select a Big 12 player in the past decade.
The Seattle Seahawks struck gold with a fifth-round Stanford cornerback back in 2011, part of their trend toward Pac-12 talent (which seems to include their head coach, Pete Carroll, formerly of USC).
If you’re in the middle of the country, like the Colts, maybe you don’t stray too far in either direction. Indianapolis has the NFL’s smallest skew in favor of its most-drafted conference (SEC) and the third-smallest skew against its least-drafted conference (ACC).
Front office and coaching personnel could also come into play.
The Philadelphia Eagles drafted nine Pac-12 players during former Oregon coach Chip Kelly’s turn at the wheel. In the past 10 years, they’re tied with Cleveland as the team most likely to pick up West Coast talent.
New England Patriots’ coach Bill Belichick has a coaching tree that extends into the Big Ten, including through former Penn State coach Bill O’Brien and former Rutgers coach/current Ohio State coordinator Greg Schiano. Belichick loves Rutgers players, so whichever conference the Scarlet Knights are in would rank highly for the Pats. (Rutgers joined the Big Ten in 2014, and for simplicity we’re counting every team based on current conferences.)
The Buffalo Bills have had a pair of connections to the ACC, thanks to current coach Rex Ryan's son (wide receiver at Clemson since 2013) and former coach Chan Gailey's tenure at Georgia Tech. Five of six draft picks by GM Doug Whaley (a former player at Pitt, newly an ACC team) for Ryan's team in 2015 were ACC players, and Gailey drafted eight more ACC prospects in his three years at the helm. Since 2006, no team has more draft picks from the ACC. A quarter of Buffalo's draft picks since 2010 have come from either Clemson or Florida State.
Here are the top three NFL teams that wind up with -- or without -- prospects from the nation’s Power 5 Conferences.
The skew percentage showcases how much more likely or unlikely a franchise was to draft a player from a certain conference, compared to the league average.
| ACC | |||
| Favored by | Skew | Avoided by | Skew |
| Buffalo | 88.86% | Cincinnati | -51.82% |
| Giants | 44.26% | Chicago | -49.09% |
| Houston | 39.39% | Miami | -38.05% |
| Big Ten | |||
| Favored by | Skew | Avoided by | Skew |
| Washington | 52.66% | Buffalo | -50.98% |
| Pittsburgh | 49.76% | Atlanta | -39.87% |
| New Orleans | 40.48% | Carolina | -35.75% |
| Big 12 | |||
| Favored by | Skew | Avoided by | Skew |
| Dallas | 82.16% | Giants | -69.67% |
| Cincinnati | 72.19% | Jacksonville | -54.51% |
| Denver | 43.76% | New Orleans | -46.44% |
| Pac-12 | |||
| Favored by | Skew | Avoided by | Skew |
| Philadelphia | 85.03% | Detroit | -51.04% |
| Cleveland | 85.03% | Rams | -41.79% |
| Seattle | 49.79% | Washington | -34.42% |
| SEC | |||
| Favored by | Skew | Avoided by | Skew |
| Kansas City | 80.95% | Dallas | -45.03% |
| Atlanta | 46.15% | Baltimore | -35.37% |
| San Francisco | 28.09% | Tampa Bay | -28.57% |
| Non-Power 5 | |||
| Favored by | Skew | Avoided by | Skew |
| Miami | 51.77% | Pittsburgh | -37.51% |
| Jacksonville | 45.54% | Philadelphia | -31.01% |
| Oakland | 26.48% | Cincinnati | -28.33% |
These numbers are purely observational. They don’t predict the future, and they can’t tell us why these teams picked the way they did or how many choices were part of conscious strategies.
However, if you’re looking for the largest preferences on either side of the scale, here are the most preferred and most avoided conferences by team from 2006-2015.
| Team | Favorite Conference | Skew | Least Favorite Conference | Skew |
| Arizona Cardinals | Non-Power 5 | 21.21% | Pac-12 | -28.04% |
| Atlanta Falcons | SEC | 46.15% | Big Ten | -39.87% |
| Baltimore Ravens | Non-Power 5 | 21.96% | SEC | -35.37% |
| Buffalo Bills | ACC | 88.86% | Big Ten | -50.98% |
| Carolina Panthers | Pac-12 | 21.66% | Big Ten | -35.75% |
| Chicago Bears | Big 12 | 36.47% | ACC | -49.09% |
| Cincinnati Bengals | Big 12 | 72.19% | ACC | -51.82% |
| Cleveland Browns | Pac-12 | 85.03% | Big Ten | -24.63% |
| Dallas Cowboys | Big 12 | 82.16% | SEC | -45.03% |
| Denver Broncos | Big 12 | 43.76% | Pac-12 | -13.49% |
| Detroit Lions | Big 12 | 29.38% | Pac-12 | -51.04% |
| Green Bay Packers | Non-Power 5 | 23.72% | Big 12 | -27.81% |
| Houston Texans | ACC | 39.39% | Big 12 | -44.65% |
| Indianapolis Colts | SEC | 14.29% | ACC | -18.49% |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | Non-Power 5 | 45.54% | Big 12 | -54.51% |
| Kansas City Chiefs | SEC | 80.95% | Big 12 | -45.34% |
| Miami Dolphins | Non-Power 5 | 51.77% | ACC | -38.05% |
| Minnesota Vikings | Notre Dame | 210.49% | SEC | -20.56% |
| New England Patriots | Big Ten | 31.09% | ACC | -25.93% |
| New Orleans Saints | Big Ten | 40.48% | Big 12 | -46.44% |
| New York Giants | ACC | 44.26% | Big 12 | -69.67% |
| New York Jets | Big 12 | 67.72% | SEC | -25.97% |
| Oakland Raiders | Non-Power 5 | 26.48% | Big 12 | -31.67% |
| Philadelphia Eagles | Pac-12 | 85.03% | Non-Power 5 | -31.01% |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | Big Ten | 49.76% | Non-Power 5 | -37.51% |
| St. Louis (now L.A) Rams | Big Ten | 27.98% | Pac-12 | -41.79% |
| San Diego Chargers | ACC | 14.36% | Big Ten | -17.54% |
| San Francisco 49ers | SEC | 28.09% | Pac-12 | -25.16% |
| Seattle Seahawks | Pac-12 | 49.79% | Big Ten | -28.21% |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Big Ten | 23.42% | SEC | -28.57% |
| Tennessee Titans | Pac-12 | 44.62% | Big 12 | -23.66% |
| Washington | Big Ten | 52.66% | Pac-12 | -34.42% |
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