Youth is prized in the NFL. Younger players offer tantalizing upside and promise that older players can’t bring to the table. Who are the youngest players ever selected in the NFL draft?
Who Was the Youngest Player To Be Drafted in the NFL?
Amobi Okoye, DT, Houston Texans | 19 Years, 10 Months
Amobi Okoye became the youngest player selected in the history of the NFL draft when the Houston Texans made him the 10th overall pick in 2007. He remains one of only two teenagers ever chosen in the draft.
Okoye emigrated from Nigeria to the United States at 12 years old and almost instantly tested into ninth grade. As such, he was able to start college at the University of Louisville at the age of 15. Okoye spent four years with the Cardinals, earning first-team All-Big East honors in his senior season.
Okoye’s NFL career started off hot, as he was named Defensive Rookie of the Month in September 2007. He finished his rookie campaign with 5.5 sacks, but that would prove to be his high-water mark.
Okoye played four seasons with the Texans before signing with the Chicago Bears in 2011. He appeared in 25 games for the Bears over two seasons before missing the 2013 campaign while dealing with recurring seizures. Okoye signed with the Dallas Cowboys in 2015 but did not appear in a game.
Tremaine Edmunds, LB, Buffalo Bills | 19 Years, 11 Months
Like Okoye, Tremaine Edmunds was still in his teens when the Buffalo Bills selected him with the 16th pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Edmunds turned 20 years old less than a week after he was drafted.
A two-year starter at Virginia Tech, Edmunds racked up 33 tackles for loss in his collegiate career and was named first-team All-ACC in 2017. His brother and college teammate, Terrell Edmunds, was also selected in the first round (28th) of the 2017 draft.
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Edmunds became an immediate starter in Buffalo, eventually teaming with fellow 2017 draftee Matt Milano to give the Bills one of the best linebacker duos in the NFL. Edmunds made the Pro Bowl in 2019 and 2020, but his most complete season was in 2022, when he displayed outstanding coverage ability in the passing game.
That performance came in Edmunds’ contract year, setting him up for a payday on the open market. The Bears subsequently gave him a four-year, $72 million contract, making him the fourth-highest-paid linebacker in the league.
Elmer Angsman, HB, Chicago Cardinals | 20 Years, 1 Month
Okoye and Edmunds are familiar names, but Elmer Angsman probably isn’t. He was barely 20 years old when the Chicago Cardinals selected him with the 16th pick in the 1946 NFL Draft.
After averaging 7.1 yards per carry in his final season at Notre Dame, Angsman joined a Cardinals team that was set up for success. In the 1947 NFL Championship Game, Angsman posted two 70-yard touchdown runs against the Philadelphia Eagles, the second of which effectively ended the game.
Angsman eclipsed 600 rushing yards in each of the next two seasons and was named a second-team All-Pro in 1949. His production fell off rapidly beginning in 1950, and he retired after the 1952 campaign. Angsman later became a color commentator for college and pro football.
