SEC Football by the Numbers is looking at the 2025 NFL Draft in four parts. Today’s initial installment examines the first round. On Tuesday, it’ll be a breakdown by positions. On Wednesday, NFL teams will be the focus. And on Thursday, some stats and streaks about the conference and the draft lead into this year’s first round of picks that night.

2 SEC quarterbacks are considered first-round possibilities – Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart and Alabama’s Jalen Milroe. Two Ole Miss quarterbacks have been first-round selections – Archie Manning at No. 2 by the New Orleans Saints in 1971 and Eli Manning at No. 1 by the San Diego Chargers in 2004. Six Alabama players have been drafted as quarterbacks in the first round of an NFL Draft – Harry Gilmer at No. 1 by the Washington Redskins in 1948, Joe Namath at No. 12 by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1965, Richard Todd at No. 6 by the New York Jets in 1976, Tua Tagovailoa at No. 5 by the Miami Dolphins, Mac Jones at No. 15 by the New England Patriots in 2021 and Bryce Young at No. 1 by the Carolina Panthers in 2023.

2 First-round players are the most produced by Missouri in a single draft. The Tigers have two first-round possibilities this year with OT Armand Membou and WR Luther Burden III. Missouri produced two first-round selections in 2009 and 2011 – before the Tigers joined the SEC.

3 Consecutive first rounds have featured a pick from Alabama by the Detroit Lions. At No. 12 in the 2022 draft, Detroit chose Alabama WR Jameson Williams. At No. 12 in the 2023 draft, the Lions took Crimson Tide RB Jahmyr Gibbs. In the 2024 draft, Detroit added Alabama CB Terrion Arnold at No. 24. The Washington Commanders and the Carolina Panthers are the only other teams who have chosen players from the SEC in the first round of the past two drafts. At the other extreme, the Dallas Cowboys have gone 12 consecutive drafts without picking an SEC product in the first round. The Cowboys’ most recent first-round selection from the SEC is LSU CB Morris Claiborne, taken at No. 6 in 2012. Dallas’ 12 first-round picks since have included five players from the Big Ten.

7 NFL drafts have passed since an SEC player has been selected with the 21st choice in the first round. In 2017, the Detroit Lions used the 21st pick on Florida LB Jarrad Davis. The rest of the 32 slots in the first round have been used on an SEC player at least once since the 2017 draft. Fourteen SEC players have been the No. 21 pick. The Pittsburgh Steelers have the No. 21 pick on Thursday night, and Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart is a popular choice in mock drafts for the spot.

7 Consecutive first rounds have passed since an Ole Miss player was chosen, the second-longest active drought in the SEC. The Rebels haven’t produced a first-round pick since TE Evan Engram went to the New York Giants at No. 23 in 2017. Ole Miss DT Walter Nolen seems likely to end that streak on Thursday night.

10 First rounds have featured at least four players from the same SEC program, a level no conference team is expected to meet in 2025. Alabama produced six first-rounders in the 2021 draft. LSU in 2020 and Georgia in 2022 had five apiece. Four players from the same SEC school have been selected in the first round of an NFL Draft seven times – Auburn in 2005, LSU in 2007 and Alabama in 2011, 2012, 2017, 2018 and 2020. Georgia and Texas are considered likely to produce three first-round picks apiece on Thursday night.

15 SEC players were chosen in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, the most in one first round. The SEC is projected to challenge that record on Thursday night. Players from the conference considered first-round possibilities include G Tyler Booker, LB Jihaad Campbell and QB Jalen Milroe of Alabama, S Malaki Starks, OLB Jalen Walker and DE Mykel Williams of Georgia, CB Maxwell Hairston of Kentucky, OT Will Campbell and TE Mason Taylor of LSU, WR Luther Burden III and OT Armand Membou of Missouri, DT Walter Nolen and CB Trey Amos of Ole Miss, S Nick Emmanwori of South Carolina, DE James Pearce Jr. of Tennessee, OT Kelvin Banks Jr., CB Jahdae Barron and WR Matthew Golden of Texas and DE Nic Scourton and DE Shemar Stewart of Texas A&M.

16 Consecutive first rounds have included at least one Alabama player, the longest streak in draft history. The most recent first round without an Alabama player came in 2008. The Crimson Tide’s streak is two years longer than the No. 2 streak of Miami (Fla.). The Hurricanes had at least one player picked in every first round from 1995 through 2008. Twenty-six of the NFL’s 32 teams have drafted an Alabama player in the first round during the streak, with the Raiders selecting five. The Crimson Tide’s first-round probables on Thursday night are linebacker Jihaad Campbell and guard Tyler Booker.

16 NFL drafts have passed without a Vanderbilt player selected in the first round, the longest active first-round drought in the SEC. The most recent Commodores player to be drafted in the first round is OT Chris Williams, who went to the Chicago Bears at No. 14 in 2008. Vanderbilt owns the longest streak without a first-round pick in SEC history, too, going 23 drafts in a row without one between the Green Bay Packers’ selection of RB Tom Moore with the fifth pick in 1960 and the Indianapolis Colts’ choice of DB Leonard Coleman with the eighth pick in 1984. Vanderbilt will not produce a first-round pick on Thursday night.

20 SEC players have been chosen in the first round by the Arizona Cardinals, the most by one NFL team. The current NFL teams with the fewest first-round picks from the SEC are the Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Houston Texans and Seattle Seahawks with six each. The Bills participated in the NFL Draft for the first time in 1967, the Seahawks started in 1976, the Panthers began in 1995 and the Texans made their first pick in 2002.

26 SEC players have been drafted with the 29th pick, the most for any of the first-round slots in this year’s draft. Not all those players were first-round selections, though. The 29th pick became a first-round slot for the first time in 1993, and nine SEC players have been chosen at No. 29 since. The pick that has produced the most first-rounders from the SEC is the No. 1 selection. Twenty-two SEC players have been the first pick in an NFL draft. The Tennessee Titans hold the No. 1 choice and the Washington Commanders have the No. 29 pick on Thursday night.

32 Consecutive drafts have failed to have the first SEC player picked come from the same school in back-to-back years. The same SEC member hasn’t produced the first player picked from the conference in consecutive drafts since Tennessee OT Charles McRae in 1991 and DB Dale Carter in 1992. LSU QB Jayden Daniels was the first SEC player picked in the 2024 NFL Draft.

The first SEC player selected in each draft (arranged by school) includes:

Alabama: 13 (QB Bryce Young in 2023, DT Quinnen Williams in 2019, RB Trent Richardson in 2012, OT Chris Samuels in 2000, LB Keith McCants in 1990, LB Derrick Thomas in 1989, LB Cornelius Bennett in 1987, LB E.J. Junior in 1981, LB Barry Krauss in 1979, QB Richard Todd in 1976, RB Wilbur Jackson in 1974, QB Harry Gilmer in 1948, B Joe Kilgrow in 1938 and B Riley Smith in 1936)

Arkansas: 1 (RB Darren McFadden in 2008)

Auburn: 6 (QB Cam Newton in 2011, RB Ronnie Brown in 2005, OT Willie Anderson in 1996, LB Aundray Bruce in 1988, RB Bo Jackson in 1986 and RB Tucker Frederickson in 1965)

Florida: 10 (TE Kyle Pitts in 2021, OLB Dante Fowler in 2015, DT Gerald Warren in 2001, WR Ike Hilliard in 1997, DE Kevin Carter in 1995, OT Lomas Brown in 1985, DB Steve Tannen in 1970, RB Larry Smith in 1969, QB Steve Spurrier in 1967 and RB Chuck Hunsinger in 1950)

Georgia: 10 (DE Travon Walker in 2022, LB Roquan Smith in 2018, OLB Leonard Floyd in 2016, QB Matthew Stafford in 2009, RB Garrison Hearst in 1993, G Royce Smith in 1972, E Harry Babcock in 1953, QB Johnny Rauch in 1949, B Charley Trippi in 1945 and RB Frank Sinkwich in 1943)

Kentucky: 6 (DT Dewayne Robertson in 2003, QB Tim Couch in 1999, DE Art Still in 1978, OT Warren Bryant in 1977, T Lou Michaels in 1958 and E Steve Meilinger in 1954)

LSU: 12 (QB Jayden Daniels in 2024, QB Joe Burrow in 2020, QB JaMarcus Russell in 2007, QB Bert Jones in 1973, B Jerry Stovall in 1963, B Wendell Harris in 1962, RB Billy Cannon in 1960, DT Earl Leggett in 1957, QB Y.A. Tittle in 1951, B Red Knight in 1947, RB Steve Van Buren in 1944 and E Gaynell Tinsley in 1937)

Missouri: 0

Mississippi State: 5 (RB Michael Haddix in 1983, LB Johnie Cooks in 1982, DT Jimmy Webb in 1975, B Billy Stacy in 1959 and B Art Davis in 1956)

Ole Miss: 5 (QB Eli Manning in 2004, QB Archie Manning in 1971, OT Stan Hindman in 1966, B Merle Hapes in 1942 and B Parker Hall in 1939)

South Carolina: 1 (DE Jadeveon Clowney in 2014)

Tennessee: 11 (S Eric Berry in 2010, DT John Henderson in 2002, QB Peyton Manning in 1998, QB Heath Shuler in 1994, DB Dale Carter in 1992, OT Charles McRae in 1991, CB Roland James in 1980, C Bob Johnson in 1968, OT Dick Evey in 1964, T Abe Shires in 1941 and B George Cafego in 1940)

Texas A&M: 2 (DE Myles Garrett in 2017 and OT Luke Joeckel in 2013)

Vanderbilt: 3 (QB Jay Cutler in 2006, DB Leonard Coleman in 1984 and QB Bill Wade in 1952)

Former SEC member Tulane provided the conference’s top pick in 1961 (RB Tommy Mason) and 1946 (B Dub Jones), and Georgia Tech did so in 1955 (C Larry Morris).

37 Consecutive first rounds without an offensive lineman from Missouri – a streak that likely will end on Thursday night when OT Armand Membou becomes the first offensive lineman picked in the first round since the Los Angeles Raiders picked Tigers OT John Clay at No. 15 in the 1987 NFL Draft.

77 Consecutive NFL drafts have included at least one SEC player in the first round. The most recent NFL Draft in which an SEC player was not selected in the first round was 1947, although the first SEC player picked that year, LSU B Red Knight, was taken by the Washington Redskins with the 17th choice, which would put him in the middle of the first round this year. Three other drafts – 1937, 1938 and 1941 – did not include an SEC player in the first round, although an SEC player was selected by the 14th pick in each of them.

80 Players from Alabama have been selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, the most in the SEC thanks to 47 first-rounders in the past 16 years for the Crimson Tide. Alabama has risen to third on the all-time first-round list behind Ohio State’s 91 and Southern Cal’s 85. In the SEC, Florida has had 58 players selected in the first round, LSU 51, Georgia 48, Tennessee 46, Auburn 31, Ole Miss 22, Kentucky 16, Mississippi State 15, South Carolina 12, Vanderbilt and Arkansas nine each, Texas A&M eight and Missouri four. Former SEC members Georgia Tech and Tulane had three apiece, bringing the number first-round draft picks coming from the SEC to 415. Including players picked before their SEC membership, Texas A&M has had 36 first-rounders, Arkansas 24, Missouri 20 and South Carolina 16. Oklahoma and Texas played their first SEC seasons in 2024. Oklahoma has had 51 first-round picks, and Texas has had 47.

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This look at the SEC’s draft numbers includes only players picked in the regular NFL Draft — no special supplemental, expansion, non-NFL or separate dispersal drafts are included in the tabulations. For Arkansas and South Carolina, which joined the league in 1992, the numbers include players drafted since 1993, unless noted. For former member Georgia Tech, players drafted from 1936 to 1964 are included. For former member Tulane, it’s through the 1966 draft. Missouri and Texas A&M have provided SEC players for the past 12 drafts. Former SEC member Sewanee has had one player drafted — RB William Johnson by the Falcons in 1966, long after the school left the conference following the 1940 season.

The NFL Draft starts on Thursday with the first round. The second and third rounds are set for Friday, with the remaining four rounds on Saturday. ABC, ESPN and NFL Network will televise the draft, starting at 7 p.m. CDT Thursday, 6 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday.

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