Between the start of the NFL combine and April 28 (two days before the 2015 NFL Draft), over seven million people generated more than 25 million Facebook posts, comments and likes related to this year’s Draft. The most talked-about players during that timespan were Oregon’s Marcus Mariota and FSU’s Jameis Winston, respectively.
All of that changed Thursday night when Winston became the number one overall pick, selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 5.2 million people had 12 million Facebook interactions related to the first round of the NFL draft on April 30, with Winston and Mariota (in reverse order this time) driving the conversation.
The top 5 players generating buzz on Facebook on the night of the draft were:
1. Jameis Winston
2. Marcus Mariota
3. Amari Cooper
4. Kevin White
5. Todd Gurley
The top 5 social moments were:
1. Tampa Bay selects Jameis Winston with the #1 overall pick
2. Tennessee select Marcus Mariota with the 2nd pick
3. The Raiders select Amari Cooper with the 4th pick
4. Chicago selects Kevin White with the #7 pick
5. Jacksonville selects Dante Fowler, Jr. with the 3rd pick
Below, a map showing which states were buzzing about Winston and Mariota leading up to the draft:
