The 1994 NFL draft was the procedure by which

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teams selected amateur

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players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

, at the

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. The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft and before the regular season. This was the first draft in which the rounds were reduced to seven in total. The top prospects going into the draft included quarterbacks Trent Dilfer and Heath Shuler, running back

Marshall Faulk Marshall William Faulk (born February 26, 1973) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and St. Louis Rams. He is widely regarded as one of the gre ...

, and defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson, with ''

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'' stating that those four players "rank well above the others in this draft". Wilkinson was so highly coveted that several teams expressed interest to trade up to get the first overall pick of the draft from the

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. The Bengals passed on any offers and drafted Wilkinson. Faulk and Shuler were then picked second and third by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

and the

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, respectively. After the

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used the fourth pick to draft linebacker

Willie McGinest William Lee McGinest Jr. (born December 11, 1971) is a former American football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the New England Patriots. He played college football at USC and was select ...

(because they already had quarterback Drew Bledsoe, whom they selected first overall in the previous year and therefore passed on Dilfer), the Colts traded up to get the fifth pick from the

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. But Indianapolis passed on Dilfer again, selecting linebacker

Trev Alberts Trev Kendall AlbertsJim Offner '' Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier'', February 6, 2013, accessed July 8, 2013. (born August 8, 1970) is an American sports administrator and former football linebacker who is the director of athletics at University of ...

. The Colts' selections of Faulk and Alberts angered

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analyst Mel Kiper, Jr. on-air, who believed Indianapolis needed a quarterback in the first round. Colts general manager Bill Tobin, who signed free agent quarterback

Jim Harbaugh James Joseph Harbaugh (; born December 23, 1963) is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is the current and 20th head football coach of the Michigan Wolverines. He played college football at Michigan from 1983 to 1986. He play ...

ahead of the draft, responded by criticizing Kiper's credentials. Faulk would become a

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inductee, while Albert's career only lasted three seasons. Dilfer was drafted sixth by the

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but eventually became regarded as a journeyman. The Colts would reach the

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with Harbaugh in 1995, but fell to 3–13 in 1997, which led to the firing of Tobin and the drafting of longtime franchise quarterback

Peyton Manning Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and four with ...

the following year.

Player selections

, - , - , - , - , -

Supplemental draft

Trades

In the explanations below, (D) denotes trades that took place during the 1994 Draft, while (PD) indicates trades completed pre-draft. ;Round one ;Round two ;Round three ;Round four ;Round five ;Round six ;Round seven

Notable undrafted players

Hall of Famers

, running back from San Diego State, drafted 1st round 2nd overall by Indianapolis Colts. :Inducted: class of 2011 * Larry Allen, offensive guard from Sonoma State, drafted 2nd round 46th overall by Dallas Cowboys. :Inducted: class of 2013 *

Kurt Warner Kurtis Eugene Warner (born June 22, 1971) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals. His career, which saw him ascend f ...

, quarterback from Northern Iowa, undrafted. :Inducted: class of 2017 *

Kevin Mawae Kevin James Mawae (; born January 23, 1971) is an American football coach and former center who is the assistant offensive line coach for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played in the NFL for 16 seaso ...

, offensive lineman from Louisiana State, drafted 2nd round 36th overall by Seattle Seahawks. :Inducted: Class of 2019 * Isaac Bruce, wide receiver from Memphis, drafted 2nd round 33rd overall by Los Angeles Rams. :Inducted: Class of 2020 * Bryant Young, defensive tackle from Notre Dame, drafted 1st round 7th overall by San Francisco 49ers. :Inducted: Class of 2022

Notes

References

External links

NFL.com – 1994 Draft

Pro Football Hall of Fame

* {{DEFAULTSORT:1994 Nfl Draft 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