What percentage of drafted players make an NFL roster?

The 2024 NFL draft is here and dreams are coming true in Detroit for a select few young men. They will hear their name called out and their hearts will leap as they realize that their lifelong dream of making it to the big time has arrived.

Just to get this far, they have overcome insane odds. In the US, there are just over a million players at the high school level. Of those, 73,712 make it to the NCAA level, representing just 7.3% of the talent pool.

At any one time, just over 16,000 are draft eligible, which is only 1.6% of that college player pool. And then only 259 players will be drafted. That is a minuscule 0.016% of the draft-eligible NCAA pool. It is awe-inspiring when you think of it.

What happens after being drafted?

These young men have won the lottery, right? Well, not quite yet.

Having already been in the select 0.01% of the top 1.6% of the top 7.3% of the nation, the chosen players might be dismayed to learn that only 30% of those drafted will ever make it onto an NFL roster.

Of course, this number is skewed and isn’t a straight line across the board. The players taken in the first and second rounds will definitely be on the opening day roster, barring some unforeseen injury or something. But the players taken in the sixth and seventh rounds may have only a 10% or 15% chance, at least in the first year or two.

When you factor in that the average career in the NFL is only three years, then you understand the high attrition rate in the sport.