List of Texas Tech Red Raiders in the NFL draft
The Texas Tech Red Raiders football team, representing Texas Tech University, has had 157 players drafted into the National Football League since the league began holding drafts in 1936. This includes nine players taken in the first round and one [List of first overall National Football League American Football League draft|draft picks|overall number one pick], Dave Parks in the 1964 NFL draft. The Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears have drafted the most Red Raiders, eleven and nine, respectively. The Carolina Panthers are the only current franchise to not have drafted a player from Texas Tech. Three former Red Raiders have been selected to a Pro Bowl, seven former Red Raiders have won a league championship with their respective teams, and three former Red Raiders have been selected to both a Pro Bowl and won a league championship. Only one former Red Raider, Patrick Mahomes, has gone on to win the league Most Valuable Player award.
Each NFL franchise seeks to add new players through the annual NFL draft. The draft rules were last updated in 2009. The team with the worst record the previous year picks first, the next-worst team second, and so on. Teams that did not make the playoffs are ordered by their regular-season record with any remaining ties broken by strength of schedule. Playoff participants are sequenced after non-playoff teams, based on their round of elimination.
Before the merger agreements in 1966, the American Football League operated in direct competition with the NFL and held a separate draft. This led to a massive bidding war over top prospects between the two leagues. As part of the merger agreement on June 8, 1966, the two leagues would hold a multiple round "common draft". When the AFL officially merged with the NFL in 1970, the common draft simply became the NFL draft.
This list does not include undrafted Texas Tech players that have played for the NFL, for example, Wes Welker.
Selections
American Football League
| 1961 | 1 | 6 | 6 | ♦ | Dallas Texans | LB | AFL All-Star AFL champion Super Bowl champion |
| 1963 | 12 | 2 | 170 | San Diego Chargers | RB | — | |
| 1964 | 4 | 8 | 32 | † | San Diego Chargers | E | Pro Bowl |