SEC sets NFL draft record with 15 first-round picks
The SEC’s NFL draft domination continued on Thursday night.
The conference that has consistently produced the most draft picks in recent years set a record with 15 picks in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft. The 15 picks breaks a record of 12 that was most recently matched by the conference in 2017. The SEC also had 12 players picked in the first round of the 2013 NFL draft and the ACC first set the previous record in 2006.
Six of the SEC’s picks in the first round in 2020 came in the top 10 as LSU QB Joe Burrow kicked off the draft at No. 1 to the Cincinnati Bengals. Five of the next seven picks were players from SEC schools as Alabama had Tua Tagovailoa go at No. 5 and Jedrick Wills Jr. go at No. 10. Yes, the conference’s six players in the top 10 is also a record.
Four Crimson Tide players went in the top 15 as WRs Henry Ruggs III and Jerry Jeudy went to AFC West teams. Then a run on LSU players happened as three Tigers went from picks Nos. 20-28.
The record was set when Tennessee took Georgia offensive lineman Isaiah Wilson.
The SEC has led all college football conferences in draft picks for 13 straight seasons and 2020 looks like it will be no different. There were 64 SEC players taken in the seven rounds of the 2019 NFL draft and that number broke a record of 63 set in 2013. Will 65 or more players get taken this year? We’ll find out over the next two days.
The SEC’s first-round picks
No. 1: LSU QB Joe Burrow (Cincinnati)
No. 4: Georgia OT Andrew Thomas (New York Giants)
No. 5: Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa (Miami)
No. 7: Auburn DT Derrick Brown (Carolina)
No. 9: Florida CB CJ Henderson (Jacksonville)
No. 10: Alabama OT Jedrick Wills Jr. (Cleveland)
No. 12: Alabama WR Henry Ruggs III (Oakland)
No. 14: South Carolina DT Javon Kinlaw (San Francisco)
No. 15: Alabama WR Jerry Jeudy (Denver)
No. 20: LSU Edge K’Lavon Chaisson (Jacksonville)
No. 22: LSU WR Justin Jefferson (Minnesota)
No. 28: LSU LB Patrick Queen (Baltimore)
No. 29: Georgia OG Isaiah Wilson (Tennessee)
No. 30: Auburn CB Noah Igbinoghene (Miami)
No. 32: LSU RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire (Kansas City)
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
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