2009 NFL Draft
The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. The draft consisted of two rounds on the first day starting at 4:00 pm EDT, and five rounds on the second day starting at 10:00 am EDT. To compensate for the time change from the previous year and in an effort to help shorten the draft, teams were no longer on the clock for 15 minutes in the first round and 10 minutes in the second round. Each team now had 10 minutes to make their selection in the first round and seven minutes in the second round. Rounds three through seven were shortened to five minutes per team. This was the first year that the NFL used this format and it was changed again the following year for the 2010 NFL Draft. The 2009 NFL Draft was televised by both NFL Network and ESPN and was the first to have cheerleaders. The Detroit Lions, who became the first team in NFL history to finish a season at 0–16, used the first selection in the draft to select University of Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford.
It was the first draft since 1983 that saw two centers being selected in the first round—Alex Mack at No. 21 to the Browns, and Eric Wood at No. 28 to the Bills. It was also the first time since the 1993 draft that a player from the University of Miami was not selected in the first round. As of the end of the 2018 season, the 2009 Draft has seen 11 of the 32 first-round selections make the Pro Bowl, and 27 in total for the entire class. It has been referred to as one of the worst drafts in league history.
Overview
The following is the breakdown of the 256 players selected by position:Player selections
Trades
In the explanations below, ' denotes trades that took place during the draft, while ' indicates trades completed pre-draft.;Round one
;Round two
;Round three
;Round four
;Round five
;Round six
;Round seven
Supplemental draft selections
One player was selected in the 2009 Supplemental Draft:Notable undrafted players
Selections by conference
Selection totals by college conference:| # | Conference | Players selected | Division |
| 1 | Southeastern Conference | 37 | I FBS |
| 2 | Atlantic Coast Conference | 32 | I FBS |
| 2 | Pac-10 Conference | 32 | I FBS |
| 4 | Big 12 Conference | 28 | I FBS |
| 4 | Big Ten Conference | 28 | I FBS |
| 6 | Big East Conference | 27 | I FBS |
| 7 | Mountain West Conference | 16 | I FBS |
| 8 | Conference USA | 10 | I FBS |
| 8 | Mid-American Conference | 10 | I FBS |
| 8 | Western Athletic Conference | 10 | I FBS |
| 11 | Southland Conference | 4 | I FCS |
| 12 | Lone Star Conference | 4 | II |
| 13 | Colonial Athletic Association | 2 | I FCS |
| 13 | Sun Belt Conference | 2 | I FBS |
| 15 | Big South Conference | 1 | I FCS |
| 15 | Big Sky Conference | 1 | I FCS |
| 15 | Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association | 1 | II |
| 15 | Great West Conference | 1 | I FCS |
| 15 | Independent | 1 | I FBS |
| 15 | Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference | 1 | I FCS |
| 15 | Missouri Valley Conference | 1 | I FCS |
| 15 | Ohio Valley Conference | 1 | I FCS |
| 15 | Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | 1 | II |
| 15 | Southern Conference | 1 | I FCS |
| 15 | Ontario University Athletics | 1 | CIS |