I thought it would be interesting to see how many of the players selected in a given round eventually made the Pro Bowl.  I wanted to look at recent successes, and so began with the year 2000.  I only went up through 2007, thinking that the players drafted in the very recent years haven't had a chance to reach their prime.  Details after the jump.

Round 1:  In each of these years, 31 players were taken in round 1.  Out of those players, 13, 16, 10, 13, 15, 10, 13, and 10 in years 2000-2007, respectively, have made the Pro Bowl.  In only one year did at least half the players drafted in round 1 eventually become Pro Bowlers.  The average for the 8 yrs is 12.5.

Round 2:  Again, 31 players were drafted in round 2 in each of these years.  Those becoming Pro Bowlers number 5, 11, 4, 6, 2, 5, 6, and 5, for an average of 5.5 per year.  This is less than 1 in 5 players drafted in this round.  Again, 2001 appears to behave been a banner year.

Round 3:  The numbers in round 3 are: 1, 3, 2, 2, 6, 2, 0, and 0, for an average of 2.0, or less than 1 in every 15 players chosen (note that compensatory picks make the number of players chosen in rounds 3-7 higher than 31).

The average for Round 4 was 2.375, for round 5 it was 1.625, for round 6 it was 1.5, and for round 7 it was 0.75.

What this tells me is that the odds of finding that Pro Bowler aren't that good, even in the first round, and then they fall off quickly after that.  It also emphasizes how important it is to address your biggest need(s) in the first round or two.

What is even more interesting is the stats for UDFAs.  The UDFAs eventually making the Pro Bowl from those years numbered 3, 3, 2, 7, 6, 6, 5, and 1, for an average of 4.125 !!!  Granted, a team will often bring in quite a few UDFAs, but still this was a surprising number to me.  It is a higher number than rounds 5, 6, and 7 COMBINED.

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