A look at the 24 players who played collegiately in the state of Utah who have been selected in the first round of the NFL draft, listed by name, position, overall pick and team selecting them.
* denotes the player was drafted by the American Football League before the merger with the NFL
U denotes a native Utahn
S denotes the player was taken in the NFL’s 1984 supplemental draft
Merlin Olsen, right, of the Los Angeles Rams, battles Atlanta guard Gregg Kindle in Olsen’s final regular-season game with in Los Angeles on Dec. 4, 1976. Olsen was a legend during his college days at Utah State.
AP
Utah State
1962
Merlin Olsen, DT, No. 2, Denver Broncos *U
Merlin Olsen, DT, No. 3, Los Angeles Rams U
1964
Bill Munson, QB, No. 7, Los Angeles Rams
1968
McArthur Lane, RB, No. 13, St. Louis Cardinals
1970
Phil Olsen, DT, No. 4, Boston Patriots U
Weber State
1968
Lee White, RB, No. 17, New York Jets *
Former Utes lineman Jordan Gross talks with reporter during a press conference at his parents home in Salt Lake City after being picked eigth overall in the NFL Draft on Saturday, April 26, 2003 by the Carolina Panthers.
Nick Short, Deseret News
Utah
1959
Lee Grosscup, QB, No. 10, New York Giants
1971
Norm Thompson, DB, No. 17, St. Louis Cardinals
1995
Luther Elliss, DT, No. 20, Detroit Lions
1998
Kevin Dyson, WR, No. 16, Tennessee Oilers U
2003
Jordan Gross, OT, No. 8, Carolina Panthers
2005
Alex Smith, QB, No. 1, San Francisco 49ers
2013
Star Lotulelei, DT, No. 14, Carolina Panthers U
2017
Garett Bolles, OT, No. 20, Denver Broncos U
BYU quarterback Jim McMahon, the Chicago Bears’ No. 1 draft choice in the 1982 NFL draft, holds up his jersey at Halas Hall in Lake Forest April 27, 1982.
UPI
BYU
1980
Marc Wilson, QB, No. 15, Oakland Raiders
1982
Jim McMahon, QB, No. 5, Chicago Bears U
1984
Todd Shell, LB, No. 24, San Francisco 49ers
Steve Young, QB, No. 1, Tampa Bay Buccaneers S
Gordon Hudson, TE, No. 22, Seattle Seahawks S
1985
Trevor Matich, C, No. 28, New England Patriots
1987
Shawn Knight, DT, No. 11, New Orleans Saints
Jason Buck, DE, No. 17, Cincinnati Bengals
1999
John Tait, OT, No. 14, Kansas City Chiefs
2000
Rob Morris, LB, No. 28, Indianapolis Colts
2013
Ziggy Ansah, DE, No. 5, Detroit Lions