Skip to main content

Crunching the draft numbers: How SEC schools have fared

With the 2015 NFL Draft safely in the books, we decided to take a look at the "Power Five" conferences and see how each did in the draft. Here is the SEC.

» The SEC had 54 players selected, most among the conferences. It was the ninth year in a row the SEC had the most draftees.

» Every SEC school except Tennessee and Vanderbilt had at least one player selected, led by Florida with eight. That was the third-most of any school. Tennessee, meanwhile, had had a player taken in every draft since 1963.

» There were seven first-rounders, third-most among the conferences.

» Position of interest: The SEC had nine running backs selected, the most of any league, along with seven defensive ends, six wide receivers and six wide receivers. The flipside: There were just three corners drafted, and two went in the fifth round or later. In the past two drafts, the SEC has had just six corners selected and four have gone in the fifth round or later.

A school-by-school look at the SEC in the draft in the 2000s:

Alabama

Players drafted in 2000s: 79
First-round picks: 19 (most recent WR Amari Cooper this year)
The buzz: Alabama's streak of five consecutive years of having multiple first-round picks ended. Still, Cooper's selection means the Tide has had a player go in the first round in seven consecutive drafts.



Arkansas

Players drafted in 2000s: 50
First-round picks: Six (most recent RBs Felix Jones and Darren McFadden in 2008)
The buzz: Since McFadden and Jones were first-rounders in 2008, no Hogs player has been drafted earlier than the third round.

Auburn

Players drafted in 2000s: 53
First-round picks: 10 (most recent DE Dee Ford and OT Greg Robinson in 2014)
The buzz: Auburn had five draftees this year, its best showing since it had five chosen in 2008.

Florida

Players drafted in 2000s: 85
First-round picks: 18 (most recent OLB Dante Fowler Jr. and OT D.J. Humphries this year)
The buzz: Fowler was the eighth Florida defender to go in the first round in the past nine drafts. Florida has had multiple first-rounders in two of the past three drafts, three of the past six and four of the past nine.

Georgia

Players drafted in 2000s: 90
First-round picks: 14 (most recent RB Todd Gurley this year)
The buzz: Gurley was the first Georgia running back to go in the top 10 since Garrison Hearst in 1993.

Kentucky

Players drafted in 2000s: 25
First-round picks: Two (most recent OLB Bud Dupree this year)
The buzz: Dupree is just the second UK player selected earlier than the third round since DT Dewyane Robertson went in the first round in 2003.

LSU

Players drafted in 2000s: 88
First-round picks: 15 (most recent WR Odell Beckham in 2014)
The buzz: LSU had four players drafted this year, the school's lowest one-year total since it had three in 2005.



Mississippi

Players drafted in 2000s: 30
First-round picks: Six (most recent OT Michael Oher in 2009)
The buzz: Mississippi had one draftee this year and has had just four players selected in the past five drafts combined.

Mississippi State

Players drafted in 2000s: 34
First-round picks: Two (most recent DT Fletcher Cox in 2012)
The buzz: Mississippi State had five players drafted this year, the school's best one-year total since it had six in 1995.

Missouri

Players drafted in 2000s: 35
First-round picks: Eight (most recent DE Shane Ray this year)
The buzz: Mizzou has had six first-rounders in the past seven drafts. Before this run, the school had had six first-rounders in the previous 38 drafts.

South Carolina

Players drafted in 2000s: 51
First-round picks: Seven (most recent DE Jadeveon Clowney in 2014)
The buzz: South Carolina had two offensive linemen drafted this year, G A.J. Cann and T Corey Robinson. It's the first time the school has had two o-linemen taken in the same draft since 1965.

Tennessee

Players drafted in 2000s: 70
First-round picks: 14 (most recent OT Ja'Wuan James in 2014)
The buzz: Tennessee had zero draftees this year and has had just 10 in the past five drafts. That's the worst five-year stretch for the school since 1961-65, when it had nine.

Texas A&M

Players drafted in 2000s: 48
First-round picks: Nine (most recent OT Cedric Ogbuehi this year)
The buzz: Texas A&M has had an offensive lineman taken in the first round in three consecutive drafts; the only other schools to do that are USC (1980-83) and Wisconsin (2012-14).

Vanderbilt

Players drafted in 2000s: 23
First-round picks: Two (most recent OT Chris Williams in 2008)
The buzz: Vandy had zero draftees. That ended a modest streak: Vandy had had at least two players selected in each of the previous three drafts, which hadn't happened at the school since 1957-59.

Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.