The 2008 NFL draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, 2008. For the 29th consecutive year, ESPN televised the draft; the NFL Network also broadcast the event, its third year doing so. Of the 252 selections, 220 were regular selections in rounds one through seven, and 32 were compensatory selections, distributed among rounds three through seven.As there were 32 compensatory selections, there were no supplementary compensatory selections this year. As of the end of the 2018 season, 27 players have been selected to the Pro Bowl.
For the first time since the common draft began, no wide receiver was selected in the first round. For the first time ever, the first two picks had the same last name (Jake and Chris Long; they were unrelated). Additionally, a then-record 34 trades were made during the draft itself. This number of trades was later broken in 2017.
As of 2025, there are only five remaining active players in the NFL from the 2008 draft class: Ravens defensive end Calais Campbell, Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco, Panthers long snapper J. J. Jansen, 49ers long snapper Jon Weeks, and Bengals quarterback Josh Johnson, although Johnson was absent from 2014 to 2017, from 2019 to 2020, and again in 2023.
Changes for 2008 The schedule for the draft was changed: day one began at 3:00 p.m. EDT, instead of noon, and consisted of just two rounds. Day two began with round three at 10:00 a.m. EDT, instead of 11:00 a.m. Moreover, the time limits for day one selections were reduced, from 15 minutes to 10 for first-round picks and from 10 minutes to 7 in the second. The limit remained 5 minutes for all picks in rounds three through seven.
The draft also marked the official debut of a new NFL shield logo, replacing the old shield logo which had been used since 1970, featuring eight white stars to represent each of the league's eight divisions, and a football rotated to the same angle as the one on the top of the Vince Lombardi Trophy given to the Super Bowl champion.
Player breakdown The following is the breakdown of the 252 players by position: 35 wide receivers 30 cornerbacks 28 linebackers 26 defensive ends 26 offensive tackles 23 running backs 18 defensive tackles 16 tight ends 15 safeties 13 quarterbacks 7 guards 7 centers 4 fullbacks 2 kickers 1 punter
Player selections * = compensatory selection † = Pro Bowler
Trades In the explanations below, (PD) indicates trades completed prior to the start of the draft (i.e. Pre-Draft), while (D) denotes trades that took place during the 2008 draft.
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Notable undrafted players † = Pro Bowler
Draft breakdown
By conference Selection totals by college conference:
# Conference Playersselected Division1 Southeastern Conference 35 I FBS2 Pac-10 Conference 34 I FBS3 Atlantic Coast Conference 33 I FBS4 Big 12 Conference 29 I FBS5 Big Ten Conference 28 I FBS6 Big East Conference 19 I FBS7 Conference USA 11 I FBS8 Mid-American Conference 9 I FBS9 Western Athletic Conference 8 I FBS10 Mountain West Conference 7 I FBS11 Independent 5 I FBS12 Colonial Athletic Association 4 I FCS13 Big Sky Conference 3 I FCS13 Southern Conference 3 I FCS13 Southland Conference 3 I FCS13 Sun Belt Conference 3 I FBS17 Big South Conference 2 I FCS17 Gateway Football Conference 2 I FCS17 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference 2 I FCS17 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association 2 II17 Ohio Valley Conference 2 I FCS22 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association 1 II22 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin 1 III22 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 1 II22 Great West Conference 1 I FCS22 Northeast-10 Conference 1 II22 Ohio Athletic Conference 1 III22 Pioneer Football League 1 I FCS22 Southwestern Athletic Conference 1 I FCS
By position Round QB RB FB WR TE C G OT DE DT LB CB S K P LS 1st 2 5 0 0 1 0 0 8* 4 3 2 5 1 0 0 0 2nd 2 2 0 10* 3 1 1 0 3 2 2 5 1 0 0 0 3rd 1 3 1 5 3 1 0 3 4 3 5 4 3 0 0 0 4th 0 1 0 5 3 2 2 4 3 2 4 8* 2 0 0 0 5th 4 3 2 2 2 0 1 2 2 5* 4 4 0 0 0 0 6th 2 5 0 6* 2 2 1 2 5 2 5 1 5 1 1 1 7th 2 4 1 7* 2 1 2 7* 5 1 6 3 3 1 0 0 TOTAL 13 23 4 35* 16 7 7 26 26 18 28 30 15 2 1 1
References Specific references
Trade references
External links NFL Draft at NFL.com ESPN NFL Draft Central 2008 2008 NFL Draft Listing at Pro Football Reference