Texas A&M Football All-Time First-Round NFL Draft Picks

Texas A&M football has produced 307 NFL Draft picks dating all the way back to 1938, when Roy Young went No. 59 overall to Washington.

The Aggies have been a mainstay in the AP Top 25 since around 1985 when they were members of the Southwest Conference. A move to the Big 12 and then to the SEC later and the Aggies are one of the top recruiting programs in college football, one that has produced a player selected in every draft since 2008.

Of those 307 players, 36 were taken in the first round. Here’s a look at all 36:

Texas A&M No. 1 Overall Picks

The majority of SEC programs, including Texas A&M, have produced at least 1 No. 1 overall pick across their history. It took the Aggies some time, but they broke their streak in 2017 when Myles Garrett went No. 1 to Cleveland.

Myles Garrett, DE — No. 1 Overall, 2017 NFL Draft (Cleveland Browns)

Myles Garrett is as dominant of a defensive player as there has been in recent memory in the college ranks, and his game has translated nicely over to the NFL. The Browns, who had been dreadful ever since being revived in 1999, have found recent success that was perhaps kickstarted by landing Garrett at No. 1.

Garrett was an All-American defender his final season at A&M and left the Aggies with a total of 145 tackles (48.5 for loss), 32.5 sacks and 7 forced fumbles. He very nearly averaged a sack per game.

Now firmly established in the NFL, Garrett is only getting better. He’s finished with fewer than 10 sacks in a season just once — his rookie year in 2017 when he played just 11 games. Garrett’s also accumulated 94 tackles for loss, 16 pass deflections and 17 forced fumbles across his career thus far.

In 2023 Garrett was named the AP Defensive Player of the Year and appeared in his 5th Pro Bowl.

More Notable Texas A&M Selections

Von Miller, LB — No. 2 Overall, 2011 NFL Draft (Denver Broncos)

Miller is tied for the second-highest-drafted player in Texas A&M history and potentially the greatest player to come out of College Station.

Miller’s list of accolades is impressive. He left Texas A&M after 4 seasons and finished with 181 tackles, 50.5 tackles for loss and 33 sacks. Miller led the NCAA in sacks in 2009 with 17.

It turns out there was another gear for Miller in the NFL. The star linebacker has won 2 Super Bowls and earned the Super Bowl 50 MVP award. On top of that, Miller has reached the Pro Bowl 8 times and earned All-Pro honors 3 times. He’s finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting twice and was named the 2011 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Miller is now in Buffalo after winning a Super Bowl with the Rams but has yet to lead the Bills to any success as he recovers from a torn ACL suffered in 2022.

Mike Evans, WR — No. 7 Overall, 2014 NFL Draft (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

Mike Evans has been the definition of “consistent” across his 10 years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He’s surpassed the 1,000 yard receiving threshold 10 straight years and posted his third-best receiving season in 2023 with 1,255 yards. In other words, he’s still got a lot of good football left in him.

Evans played 3 seasons at Texas A&M (redshirt) and was named an All-American for his senior season. He posted back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in College Station, too, finishing with 2,499 yards and 17 touchdowns. He was Johnny Manziel’s top target during his Heisman season with the Aggies.

Evans is among the best to ever wear the Buccaneers uniform and won a Super Bowl in 2020 with Tom Brady at the helm of the offense. The No. 7 overall pick has made it to 5 Pro Bowls throughout his career.

Johnny Manziel, QB — No. 22 Overall, 2014 NFL Draft (Cleveland Browns)

Where do we start? Manziel is a legendary and controversial player in Texas A&M history, to say the least. The 2012 Heisman winner is widely considered the best Texas A&M football player ever and he has the accolades to prove it.

Johnny Football was a dual-threat QB and a terror for opposing defenses as a freshman. He finished just shy of 1,500 yards rushing and 3,790 yards passing with 26 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. During that season Manziel also rushed for 21 touchdowns. The Aggies finished the 2012 season 11-2, losing to No. 24 Florida and No. 6 LSU. The Aggies embarrassed Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.

Manziel fell in the draft not due to his abilities on the field, but his problems off of it. Manziel was arrested before his Heisman season for failure to produce identification and having a fake ID stemming from a fight. He was kicked out from a University of Texas Frat party in 2013 and entered the NFL Draft process with some concerns about his character. He fell all the way to 22 as a result. Manziel played just 2 seasons in the NFL and was cut in early 2016 for combined struggles on and off the field – mostly the latter.

Ethan Stone

Ethan Stone was an editor for his student newspaper at the University of Tennessee and is now a News Manager for Saturday Down South.