The Miami Dolphins selected Ohio State receiver Ted Ginn Jr. with the ninth-overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. Twenty-three picks later, his teammate Anthony Gonzalez was chosen by the Indianapolis Colts with the final pick of the first round.
Ginn and Gonzalez were the seventh and eighth Big Ten receivers selected in the first round in the last four years, the most of any conference. The SEC was the only conference with more than two first-round receivers from 2004-07, and the Big Ten accounted for more than one-third of all first-round receivers (eight of 23).
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No Big Ten receivers were drafted in the first round in 2008. And none in 2009, 2010 or 2011. Then the Big Ten gods parted the draft seas and shoved A.J. Jenkins into the first round in 2012. The former Illinois receiver was inexplicably taken by the San Francisco 49ers with the 30th pick.
But the gods' shove did not go unpunished. Zero Big Ten receivers were chosen in 2013. And none in 2014, 2015, 2016 or 2017. And unless the seas are parted again for a fringe first-round talent (e.g. Maryland's D.J. Moore), there will be none selected in the top 32 picks in the 2018 NFL Draft.
Since Jenkins in 2012, seven different conferences have at least one receiver chosen in the first round. The ACC leads with six, followed by the SEC (five), Big 12 (four) and Pac-12 (three). The American, MAC and independents each have one.
If Moore doesn't earn a late-first-round selection, the Big Ten's best chance to end the drought in 2019? Ohio State's Parris Campbell or K.J. Hill, though both are far from high-end prospects.
