Kirby Smart’s climb to become the SEC’s most prolific producer of NFL Draft picks should continue this week with a selection list that could include 13 or 14 prospects from Georgia.

That would break Smart into the top 10 among SEC coaches for draft picks produced, when coaches are credited with a drafted player if they coached the player in his final college season.

This week’s NFL Draft will be the ninth since Smart coached his first game for the Bulldogs. The previous eight drafts have included 63 players from Georgia, leaving Smart with a long way to go to catch the coach in the top spot.

Nick Saban had 156 players picked from his teams while he was the coach at LSU and Alabama. Saban retired after the 2023 season, so the 2024 NFL Draft was the last to add to his tally.

But at the rate that Smart is going, he could catch Saban. Georgia has averaged 7.88 picks per draft since Smart became the Bulldogs’ coach. Saban averaged 7.09 picks across 22 drafts. Considering only his Alabama teams, Saban averaged 7.82 selections per draft even though his first draft as Alabama’s coach in 2008 did not include a selection from the Crimson Tide.

The 10 SEC coaches (with schools and years coached) who have produced the most NFL Draft picks include:

156: Nick Saban, LSU 2000-2004, Alabama 2007-2023

123: Johnny Vaught, Ole Miss 1947-1970, 1973

120: Paul “Bear” Bryant, Kentucky 1946-1953, Alabama 1958-1982

102: Steve Spurrier, Florida 1990-2001, South Carolina 2005-2015

92: Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee 1992-2008

91: Ralph “Shug” Jordan, Auburn 1951-1975

89: Wally Butts, Georgia 1939-1960

89: Vince Dooley, Georgia 1964-1988

84: Mark Richt, Georgia 2001-2015

83: Bobby Dodd, Georgia Tech 1945-1963

Smart had a draft start akin to Saban’s: His first draft crop produced one pick in 2017.

The 10 SEC coaches (among those with at least five draft classes from conference members) who have the best players-per-draft average are:

7.88: Kirby Smart, Georgia 2016-2024

7.09: Nick Saban, LSU 2000-2004, Alabama 2007-2023

6.42: Les Miles, LSU 2005-2016

6.00: Galen Hall, Florida 1984-1988

5.67: Ed Orgeron, Ole Miss 2005-2007, LSU 2016-2021

5.60: Mark Richt, Georgia 2001-2015

5.41: Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee 1992-2008

5.06: Johnny Majors, Tennessee 1977-1992

5.00: Pat Dye, Auburn 1981-1992

5.00: Urban Meyer, Florida 2005-2010

Vaught’s volume in draft picks has an odd element: Of the 123 selections, only five were first-round picks.

On the other hand, Saban had 49 players selected in the first round of an NFL Draft from his SEC work.

Smart is climbing on this list, too, with his 17 first-rounders tied with Bryant, Fulmer and Spurrier for second place on the SEC list – and Smart could add three to his first-round total on Thursday night.

The 10 coaches from the SEC who have produced the most NFL Draft first-round picks are:

49: Nick Saban, LSU 2000-2004, Alabama 2007-2023

17: Paul “Bear” Bryant, Kentucky 1946-1953, Alabama 1958-1982

17: Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee 1992-2008

17: Kirby Smart, Georgia 2016-2024

17: Steve Spurrier, Florida 1990-2001, South Carolina 2005-2015

16: Johnny Majors, Tennessee 1977-1992

16: Les Miles, LSU 2005-2016

13: Mark Richt, Georgia 2001-2015

12: Ed Orgeron, Ole Miss 2005-2007, LSU 2016-2021

9: Galen Hall, Florida 1984-1988

The number of first-round picks has increased over the years, giving more recent coaches an advantage over their predecessors. Thursday night’s first round will feature 32 picks. In the first NFL Draft in 1936, the 32nd pick was the fifth selection of the fourth round.

But even after leveling the playing field and counting all players picked in the top 32 throughout the history of the NFL Draft, Saban remains the SEC’s first-round leader.

The 10 SEC coaches who have produced the most players drafted in the first 32 selections include:

49: Nick Saban, LSU 2000-2004, Alabama 2007-2023

22: Paul “Bear” Bryant, Kentucky 1946-1953, Alabama 1958-1982

18: Johnny Majors, Tennessee 1977-1992

17: Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee 1992-2008

17: Kirby Smart, Georgia 2016-2024

17: Steve Spurrier, Florida 1990-2001, South Carolina 2005-2015

16: Les Miles, LSU 2005-2016

13: Bobby Dodd, Georgia Tech 1945-1963

13: Ralph “Shug” Jordan, Auburn 1951-1975

13: Mark Richt, Georgia 2001-2015

12: Ed Orgeron, Ole Miss 2005-2007, LSU 2016-2021

Saban isn’t the King of First-Rounders only in the SEC. He has produced more first-round players than any coach regardless of conference.

Combining his seasons at Toledo and Michigan State with his SEC work, Saban has had 52 players picked in the first round of the NFL Draft.

Next on the list are Joe Paterno, who had 33 first-rounders while coaching at Penn State from 1966 through 2011, and Bobby Bowden, who had 32 while coaching at West Virginia from 1970 through 1975 and Florida State from 1976 through 2009 (with all the first-rounders coming from his time with the Seminoles).

If the standard is extended to players selected in the first 32 picks, Saban remains 15 ahead of Paterno.

In total drafted players, Saban ranks third all-time with 174. He trails Paterno’s 251 players and Bowden’s 182.

The NFL will hold its 90th annual player selections in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with the first round on Thursday, the second and third rounds on Friday and the fourth through seventh rounds on Saturday.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.