1972 NFL draft
The 1972 NFL draft was the 37th annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft was held on February 1 and 2 at the Essex House in New York City, New York.
With the first overall pick of the draft, the Buffalo Bills selected defensive end Walt Patulski. Patulski would become viewed as a draft bust, after the Bills released him in 1976 — coincidentally replacing Patuski with second overall choice Sherman White of California. NFL historians have frequently described 1972 as one of the league's worst draft classes ever, especially regarding the failure of the majority of 1st round draftees, which has become viewed worse than other notably weak drafts like 2002 and 2009. Only seven of 26 first rounders made the Pro Bowl in their career, and the whole 1972 draft produced just two Hall of Fame members, one of whom, wide receiver Cliff Branch, was inducted posthumously. This was the fewest of any draft class since the 1959 draft, which had only Dick LeBeau enshrined in Canton.Player selections
Round 1–8
Round 9
| Pick # | NFL team | Player | Position | College |
| 209 | Buffalo Bills | Steve Vogel | Linebacker | Boise State |
| 210 | Cincinnati Bengals | Stan Walters | Tackle | Syracuse |
| 211 | New York Giants | Ed Richardson | Running back | Southern |
| 212 | Houston Oilers | Willie Postler | Tackle | Montana |
| 213 | St. Louis Cardinals | Gene Macken | Center | South Dakota |
| 214 | Denver Broncos | Floyd Priester | Defensive back | Boston University |
| 215 | Baltimore Colts | Gary Hambell | Defensive tackle | Dayton |
| 216 | New Orleans Saints | Kent Branstetter | Defensive tackle | Houston |
| 217 | Pittsburgh Steelers | Don Kelley | Defensive back | Clemson |
| 218 | New York Jets | Jeff Ford | Defensive back | Georgia Tech |
| 219 | Chicago Bears | Larry Horton | Defensive end | Iowa |
| 220 | New England Patriots | Mike Kelson | Tackle | Arkansas |
| 221 | San Diego Chargers | Fran Schmitz | Defensive tackle | St. Norbert |
| 222 | Philadelphia Eagles | Pat Gibbs | Defensive back | Lamar University |
| 223 | Atlanta Falcons | Bill "Ray" Easterling | Defensive back | Richmond |
| 224 | Detroit Lions | Bill McClintock | Defensive back | Drake |
| 225 | Los Angeles Rams | Harry Howard | Defensive back | Ohio State |
| 226 | Cleveland Browns | Larry McKee | Guard | Arizona |
| 227 | San Francisco 49ers | Jerry Brown | Defensive back | Northwestern |
| 228 | Oakland Raiders | Dave Bigler | Running back | Morningside |
| 229 | Washington Redskins | Steve Boekholder | Defensive end | Drake |
| 230 | Cleveland Browns | Billy Lefear | Wide receiver | Henderson State |
| 231 | Kansas City Chiefs | Dave Taylor | Defensive tackle | Weber State |
| 232 | Minnesota Vikings | Charlie Goodrum | Guard | Florida A&M |
| 233 | Miami Dolphins | Greg Johnson | Defensive back | Wisconsin |
| 234 | Dallas Cowboys | Roy Bell | Running back | Oklahoma |
Round 10
| Pick # | NFL team | Player | Position | College |
| 235 | Buffalo Bills | Maurice Tyler | Defensive back | Morgan State |
| 236 | New York Giants | John Odom | Defensive back | Texas Tech |
| 237 | Cincinnati Bengals | Brian Foster | Defensive back | Colorado |
| 238 | St. Louis Cardinals | Eric Washington | Defensive back | Texas-El Paso |
| 239 | Denver Broncos | Richard Wilkins | Defensive end | Maryland State |
| 240 | Houston Oilers | Rhett Dawson | Wide receiver | Florida State |
| 241 | New Orleans Saints | Andy Kupp | Guard | Idaho |
| 242 | Green Bay Packers | Keith Wortman | Guard | Nebraska |
| 243 | Pittsburgh Steelers | Bob Brown | Defensive tackle | Tampa |
| 244 | New York Jets | Harley Turner | Defensive back | Tennessee-Chattanooga |
| 245 | New England Patriots | Mel Caraway | Defensive back | N.E. Oklahoma |
| 246 | San Diego Chargers | Lon Kolstad | Linebacker | Whitewater |
| 247 | Chicago Bears | Jack Turnbull | Center | Oregon State |
| 248 | Philadelphia Eagles | John Bunting | Linebacker | North Carolina |
| 249 | Detroit Lions | Jim Teal | Linebacker | Purdue |
| 250 | St. Louis Cardinals | Mike Franks | Quarterback | Eastern New Mexico |
| 251 | Los Angeles Rams | Jim Massey | Defensive back | Linfield |
| 252 | San Francisco 49ers | Steve Williams | Defensive tackle | Western Carolina |
| 253 | Cleveland Browns | Hershal Mosier | Defensive tackle | N.W. Oklahoma |
| 254 | Oakland Raiders | Phillip Price | Defensive back | Idaho State |
| 255 | Washington Redskins | Mike Oldham | Wide receiver | Michigan |
| 256 | Baltimore Colts | Dave Shilling | Running back | Oregon State |
| 257 | Kansas City Chiefs | Rich Ruppert | Tackle | Hawaii |
| 258 | Minnesota Vikings | Willie Aldridge | Running back | South Carolina State |
| 259 | Houston Oilers | Jimmy Butler | Tight end | Tulsa |
| 260 | Dallas Cowboys | Richard Amman | Defensive tackle | Florida State |
Round 11
| Pick # | NFL team | Player | Position | College |
| 261 | Cincinnati Bengals | Kent Pederson | Tight end | California-Santa Barbara |
| 262 | New York Giants | John Robertson | Defensive back | Kansas State |
| 263 | Denver Broncos | Larry Brunson | Wide receiver | Colorado |
| 264 | Houston Oilers | Ron Evans | Tackle | Baylor |
| 265 | St. Louis Cardinals | Ron Jones | Linebacker | Arkansas |
| 266 | Green Bay Packers | David Bailey | Wide receiver | Alabama |
| 267 | New Orleans Saints | Paul Dongieux | Linebacker | Mississippi |
| 268 | New York Jets | Robert Stevenson | Linebacker | Tennessee State |
| 269 | New England Patriots | Rodney Cason | Tackle | Angelo State |
| 270 | San Diego Chargers | John Turner | Tight end | Long Beach State |
| 271 | Buffalo Bills | Bill Light | Linebacker | Minnesota |
| 272 | Chicago Bears | Ed Wimberly | Defensive back | Jackson State |
| 273 | Pittsburgh Steelers | Joe Gilliam | Quarterback | Tennessee State |
| 274 | Philadelphia Eagles | Dennis Sweeney | Defensive end | Western Michigan |
| 275 | Atlanta Falcons | Jack Phillips | Wide receiver | Grambling |
| 276 | Detroit Lions | Bob Waldron | Defensive tackle | Tulane |
| 277 | Oakland Raiders | Joe Carroll | Linebacker | Pittsburgh |
| 278 | Cleveland Browns | Mel Long | Linebacker | Toledo |
| 279 | San Francisco 49ers | Tom Laputka | Defensive end | Southern Illinois |
| 280 | Los Angeles Rams | Albert Schmidt | Running back | Pittsburg State |
| 281 | Washington Redskins | Jeff Welch | Defensive back | Arkansas Tech |
| 282 | Baltimore Colts | Fred DeBernardi | Defensive end | Texas-El Paso |
| 283 | Kansas City Chiefs | Elbert Walker | Tackle | Wisconsin |
| 284 | Minnesota Vikings | Willie McKelton | Defensive back | Southern |
| 285 | Miami Dolphins | Ed Jenkins | Wide receiver | Holy Cross |
| 286 | Dallas Cowboys | Lonnie Leonard | Defensive end | North Carolina A&T |
Round 12
| Pick # | NFL team | Player | Position | College |
| 287 | Buffalo Bills | Jeff Baker | Wide receiver | U.S. International |
| 288 | New York Giants | Jay Anderson | Defensive tackle | Mayville |
| 289 | Cincinnati Bengals | Frederick Wegis | Defensive back | Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo |
| 290 | Houston Oilers | Willie Rodgers | Running back | Kentucky State |
| 291 | St. Louis Cardinals | Tommy Gay | Defensive tackle | Arkansas AM&N |
| 292 | Denver Broncos | Randy McDougall | Defensive back | Weber State |
| 293 | New Orleans Saints | Steve Lockhart | Tight end | Arkansas State |
| 294 | Green Bay Packers | Mike Rich | Running back | Florida |
| 295 | San Diego Chargers | Sam Key | Linebacker | Elon |
| 296 | New England Patriots | Steve Booras | Defensive end | Mesa Jr. College |
| 297 | Chicago Bears | Doug Neill | Running back | Texas A&M |
| 298 | Pittsburgh Steelers | Ron Curl | Tackle | Michigan State |
| 299 | New York Jets | John Bjorklund | Running back | Princeton |
| 300 | Philadelphia Eagles | Don Zimmerman | Wide receiver | N.E. Louisiana |
| 301 | Detroit Lions | Paul Bradley | Wide receiver | Southern Methodist |
| 302 | Atlanta Falcons | Larry Mialik | Tight end | Wisconsin |
| 303 | Los Angeles Rams | David Hoot | Defensive back | Texas A&M |
| 304 | San Francisco 49ers | Steve Setzler | Defensive end | St. John's |
| 305 | Cleveland Browns | Bernard Chapman | Defensive back | Texas-El Paso |
| 306 | Oakland Raiders | Kent Gaydos | Tight end | Florida State |
| 307 | Washington Redskins | Don Bunce | Quarterback | Stanford |
| 308 | Baltimore Colts | Gary Theiler | Tight end | Tennessee |
| 309 | Kansas City Chiefs | Mike Williams | Defensive tackle | Oregon |
| 310 | Minnesota Vikings | Bob Banaugh | Defensive back | Montana State |
| 311 | Miami Dolphins | Ashley Bell | Tight end | Purdue |
| 312 | Dallas Cowboys | Jimmy Harris | Wide receiver | Ohio State |