At Wednesday's Pro Bowl draft at Wheeler Army Airfield in Wahiawa, Hawaii, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was selected with the No. 1 overall pick by Team Irvin in the third annual 2016 Pro Bowl draft.
This is 74 spots earlier than where Wilson was selected in the 2012 NFL Draft, when the Seahawks made him the sixth quarterback taken in that year's draft. Any do-over of that year's draft would place Wilson much closer to the No. 1 overall spot than the No. 75 spot from 2012. Imagine how that would have changed the landscape of the NFL, which has been dominated by the Seahawks since Wilson's arrival. That's a discussion for another time.
At this year's Pro Bowl (Sunday on ESPN at 7 p.m. ET), Wilson is one of four players from Wisconsin, among 18 players from Big Ten schools, 11 players picked in the third round and 13 players from the 2012 NFL Draft who were selected for the league's all-star event.
We've dissected the 2016 Pro Bowl rosters by NFL draft rounds, draft years, colleges and conferences. For clarity, a "Pro Bowl selection" includes all players voted to participate in the game, as well as those who were chosen to replace either injured Pro Bowl picks or players taking part in Super Bowl 50.
Here are some noteworthy tidbits from a college football and draft perspective for the 2016 Pro Bowl:
» It should as no surprise to anybody who has even a pedestrian knowledge of college football and the draft that the SEC paced all conferences with the most Pro Bowl selections with 25. Following the SEC were the ACC (21), Pac-12 (20), Big Ten (18) and Big 12 (12). There are 10 Pro Bowl picks who came from non-FBS programs.
» Among schools, Georgia, LSU and USC each had six former players selected to the 2016 Pro Bowl. The programs that paced the other conferences might come as a surprise. The ACC is not led by Clemson -- which played for the national championship this past season -- or Florida State -- which won the national title in 2013 and played in the inaugural College Football Playoff in 2014. Louisville and Pittsburgh have the most Pro Bowl picks for an ACC school with four apiece. In the Big Ten, Nebraska, Penn State and Wisconsin each lead the way with four Pro Bowlers apiece. Oklahoma leads the Big 12 with three Pro Bowl selections, which is the same total as Central Florida of the American Athletic Conference and the independent Notre Dame.
» Shippensburg has a Division II football program. In its history, Shippensburg has sent five total players to the NFL. Two of those players -- Miami Dolphins cornerback Brent Grimes and Green Bay Packers fullback John Kuhn -- will take part in the 2016 Pro Bowl. That total matches the number of Pro Bowl selections for Alabama, which has won three national titles in football over the last five years, including this past season. Coastal Carolina -- a playoff regular at the FCS level -- also had two Pro Bowl picks. However, neither player -- cornerback Josh Norman or fullback Mike Tolbert -- will take part in the Pro Bowl due to Super Bowl obligations.
» This statistic should also come as no surprise ... if you break down the Pro Bowl rosters by draft round, the first round easily paces the other rounds. It's by how many that might come as a bit of a shock. There are 68 players who were selected to the Pro Bowl -- either by vote or as an injury or Super Bowl participant replacement -- who were first-round picks. In all of the other rounds, there are 48 Pro Bowl players. If you take into account undrafted players, there are 61 Pro Bowlers. There are more Pro Bowlers who went undrafted than Pro Bowlers picked in any other round beside the first round and the second round (14 players).
» There are 10 players chosen in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft who were selected to this year's Pro Bowl, the most for any first round. The first rounds of the 2014 NFL Draft and the 2007 NFL Draft are tied for second most Pro Bowlers at seven apiece. That 2007 class has four Pro Bowlers that one could make a strong case for enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame -- wide receiver Calvin Johnson, running back Adrian Peterson, cornerback Darrelle Revis and offensive tackle Joe Thomas.
» The 2011 NFL Draft class also has the most Pro Bowl selections with 17, with Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton -- the No. 1 overall pick in that draft -- leading the way and featuring some exceptional talents such as A.J. Green, Justin Houston, Julio Jones, Von Miller, Richard Sherman, Tyron Smith and J.J. Watt. This makes sense, with five seasons in the league the players from this draft class are in the prime of their careers.
So, it should come as no surprise that the 2010 NFL Draft class has the second most Pro Bowl selections with 15. The 2012 NFL Draft class and the 2014 NFL Draft class each had 13 players selected to the 2016 Pro Bowl.
» Newton is among four No. 1 overall draft picks who were selected to the 2016 Pro Bowl. The others are Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston (2015 draft), New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (2004 draft) and Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer (2003 draft).
Follow Jim Reineking on Twitter @jimreineking.
