With a lazy NFL offseason weekend, I wanted to look at something more big-picture than Pittsburgh Steelers specific. How many players get an opportunity to play in the league? Someone who at least has a story, I practiced at the NFL level, even if that’s all the story they have to tell. After all, there are far more names like that than there at T.J. Watt’s of the world.
Draftnik Josh Buchanan, small school expert, did the impressive legwork of calculating things over the past three classes. Sharing his data yesterday, he broken down by position the number of rookies in minicamps around the league. Those include the 250-plus draft picks, all undrafted free agent signings, and all players invited on a try out basis.
Here are the 3-year averages by position and division for how many players get a chance in the NFL. The totals include all draft picks, signings, and tryouts. pic.twitter.com/J4aghqHSwT
— Josh (@joshbdraft) May 19, 2024
By the averages, here’s the top three largest player pools.
Wide Receiver – 159
Cornerback – 114
Defensive Tackle – 85
It’s little surprise to see receiver and corner grab the top two spots. Teams need depth given the number of players on the field at any given time and stamina considerations, needing to be able to cycle and rotate to keep fresh legs. They’re also positions that simply tend to have the deepest talent pools. The top athletes, the recent draft classes have had quality receiver classes while cornerback has been consistently solid. Teams just need a bunch of each position to get through a rookie minicamp practice.
Though a drop off, defensive tackle is third on the list. Teams have been prioritizing interior pass rush, players who can collapse the pocket instead of just potent EDGE rushers.
Excluding specialists and fullbacks, here’s the three-fewest positions brought in.
Center – 33
Free Safety – 44
Quarterback – 45
To be fair, there are likely guards and maybe even some tackles listed at their position who can also play center. Ditto with safety. Quarterback third-lowest is interesting given how important the position is. But teams simply carry fewer of them than most other positions. In rookie minicamp, having just two quarterbacks should be enough to get you through the three days.
But from a year-over-year standpoint, we see some trends. More quarterbacks have been signed each year over the past three classes. Wide receivers may have peaked in 2022. Cornerback numbers have come down. And the small pool of specialists to begin with has also withered away. Small schoolers aren’t getting as many looks, though the transfer portal may be the reason there, allowing FCS and D2 standouts to bump up to bigger schools.
Overall, per Buchanan’s numbers, an average of 1,070 rookies are in rookie minicamp at some capacity. That works out to 33.4 per team. For the Steelers’ 2024 group, they had 35: seven draft picks, five undrafted free agents, and 23 total tryouts (two were veteran NFL players). Remove the vets and that perfectly matches what the three-year average has been. The league offers plenty of opportunity. The downside is the majority of those 1,000-plus list won’t make it to Week 1 on an active roster.
