The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on

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and

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, with additional coverage offered by

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and, for the first time, by NFL Network. Having signed a contract with the Houston Texans on the evening before the draft, Mario Williams, a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

from North Carolina State, became the draft's first pick. The selection surprised many commentators, who predicted that the Texans would draft

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

Reggie Bush or

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Vince Young. Ohio State produced the most first round selections (five), while

produced the most overall selections (eleven). Twenty-seven compensatory and supplemental compensatory selections were distributed amongst seventeen teams;

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, and

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each held three compensatory picks. The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft and before the regular season. The 255 players chosen in the draft were composed of: * 33 Wide receivers * 31

Linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pl ...

s * 26 Safeties * 23 Defensive tackles * 23

Cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create turnove ...

s * 22

Defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

s * 22 Offensive tackles * 20

Offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict in ...

s * 16

Tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense (sports), offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide ...

s * 14

Running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

s * 13

Quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

s * 9 Centers * 3

Fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

s * 2 Kickers * 2 Punters

Player selections

Supplemental draft selections

For each player selected in the Supplemental Draft, the team forfeits its pick in that round in the draft of the following season.

Notable undrafted players

Trades

In the explanations below, (PD) indicates trades completed prior to the start of the draft (i.e. Pre-Draft), while (D) denotes trades that took place during the 2006 draft. ;Round one ;Round two ;Round three ;Round four ;Round five ;Round six ;Round seven

Miscellaneous

* This would be the final draft that Paul Tagliabue would preside over as Commissioner of the National Football League, as he retired on September 1. * Two individuals declared for the draft never having played college football: Jai Lewis, a power forward for the

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of the three delegates present who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings, including s ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team that reached the semifinals of the 2006 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament; and Ed Nelson, a power forward for the

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basketball team. Lewis signed after the draft as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

with the New York Giants to play offensive tackle but subsequently pursued a

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

basketball career, while Nelson signed with the St. Louis Rams to be a tight end. Nelson later turned to professional basketball himself. * Having been banned in 2004 from playing college football at Colorado for having accepted endorsements while a member of the United States Ski Team, wide receiver and kick returner

Jeremy Bloom Jeremy Bloom is an American former skier and American football player. As a skier, he is a one-time world champion, two-time Olympian, and 10-time World Cup gold medalist. He was inducted into the National Ski Hall of Fame in 2013. Bloom was a ...

was drafted in the fifth round by the Philadelphia Eagles. *

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

quarterback Marcus Vick, who was dismissed from the Hokies team in January 2006 for repeatedly violating team rules, was undrafted; Vick, the younger brother of former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, later accepted an invitation to attend a Miami Dolphins minicamp and ultimately signed a contract with the team as a wide receiver. He was then released the following season. * Running back John David Washington, son of actor Denzel Washington, went undrafted out of the Division II school

Morehouse College , mottoeng = And there was light (literal translation of Latin itself translated from Hebrew: "And light was made") , type = Private historically black men's liberal arts college , academic_affiliation ...

, where he rushed for 1,198 yards in his senior season, setting a school record; Washington was signed as a free agent by the St. Louis Rams. * As of 2022,

Marcedes Lewis Marcedes Alexis Lewis (born May 19, 1984) is an American football tight end for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at UCLA, earning consensus All-American honors. He was selected by the Jac ...

, who was drafted 28th overall in the 1st round, is currently the sole active player remaining from the draft.

References & Notes

External links

* * * * * {{2006 NFL season by team National Football League Draft

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

Draft 2000s in Manhattan American football in New York City

Radio City Music Hall Sports in Manhattan