Lots of receivers—and those who defend them

Like the previous four years, more than 30 wide receivers were selected in this year's NFL draft. Unlike the previous four years, just as many players were selected at another position--cornerback. Wide receivers, however, prevailed over cornerbacks in the first round, six to five.

The number of players selected by position in the past five drafts with the number of first-round selections in red:

                      2001   2002   2003   2004   2005

QUARTERBACKS            11     15     13     17     13
                         1      3      4      4      3
RUNNING BACKS           15     18     14     15     20
                         3      2      2      3      3
FULLBACKS                5      8      9      3      5
                         0      0      0      0      0
WIDE RECEIVERS          34     34     36     31     31
                         6      3      3      7      6
TIGHT ENDS              15     24     14     16     10
                         1      3      1      2      1
OFFENSIVE TACKLES       19     16     20     23     24
                         3      4      3      2      2
GUARDS                  12     13     15      9     14
                         1      1      0      1      1
CENTERS                 10      7     10     10     11
                         0      0      1      0      1
DEFENSIVE ENDS          22     23     27     23     21
                         3      4      5      3      4
DEFENSIVE TACKLES       26     19     23     24     18
                         6      4      6      3      3
INSIDE LINEBACKERS      10      7     13     11     15
                         0      1      0      1      0
OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS     17     20     17     19     16
                         1      1      1      1      2
CORNERBACKS             25     28     25     29     31
                         4      4      4      4      5
SAFETIES                20     24     23     19     21
                         2      2      2      1      1
KICKERS/PUNTERS          5      5      3      6      5
                         0      0      0      0      0

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COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning