CHICAGO – Texas A&M three-year offensive line starter Germain Ifedi was drafted No. 31 overall in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday, which extended the Aggies’ streak of consecutive years with at least one first-round selection to six.
Ifedi, from Westside High School in Houston, Texas, was one of the cornerstones of head coach Kevin Sumlin‘s initial signing class at Texas A&M in 2012 and he went on to start 37 games for the Aggies on the offensive front.
“We’re very proud of Germain,” Sumlin said. “He has worked extremely hard and earned this honor of being a first-round NFL pick. We wish him all the best.”
After redshirting in the fall of 2012, Ifedi won a starting job in 2013 at offensive guard on an offense that led the SEC in passing, total and scoring offense. He was named a Freshman All-American by the Sporting News. Ifedi shifted to right tackle as a sophomore and he started 24 games (out of 26 possible) in 2014 and 2015 at the position. Voted a team captain as a junior, Ifedi started all 13 games in 2015 and earned second-team All-SEC honors from the league head coaches prior to entering the 2016 NFL Draft as an early entry.
The Aggies’ first-round streak ranks as the second-longest active streak in the nation, behind only Alabama’s streak of eight seasons with a first-rounder. Since the beginning of the streak in 2011, Texas A&M has produced eight first-round picks: Ifedi, Cedric Ogbuehi in 2015, Jake Matthews, Mike Evans and Johnny Manziel in 2014, Luke Joeckel in 2013, Ryan Tannehill in 2012 and 2016 Super Bowl MVP Von Miller in 2011. Prior to the current streak, Texas A&M’s longest streak of years with at least one NFL first-rounder was three from 1992-94.
Ifedi’s selection also marked the fourth straight year that an Aggie starting offensive tackle was drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft. No other school in college football has produced a NFL first-round offensive tackle in more than two consecutive drafts. Ifedi joins Ogbuehi, Matthews and Joeckel as first-round offensive tackles.
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics