NFL Draft: The SEC’s No. 1 No. 10

NFL Draft: The SEC’s No. 1 No. 10

The 2023 NFL Draft starts on April 27 with the first-round picks at Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri. The SEC has produced 395 first-round selections and another 108 choices among the top 32 picks who were not first-rounders. AL.com is counting down to the draft by highlighting the SEC players chosen in the first 32 picks.

Willie Anderson, who was a prep star at Vigor, spent 13 seasons as a right offensive tackle in the NFL after being drafted from Auburn at No. 10 in 1996 by the Cincinnati Bengals.

Anderson earned Pro Bowl invitations in four straight seasons and was a first-team All-Pro selection three years in a row. Across 10 seasons in Cincinnati – 1997 through 2006 – Anderson started at right tackle in every game but two.

Anderson has been a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame during each of the past two election cycles but has not taken the final step into the NFL shrine.

The 16 SEC players drafted with the No. 10 pick include:

· Vanderbilt fullback Jack Jenkins, Washington Redskins, 1943

· Tennessee defensive back Bert Rechichar, Cleveland Browns, 1952

· Ole Miss center Ed Beatty, Los Angeles Rams, 1954

· Ole Miss split end Bobby Crespino, Cleveland Browns, 1961

· Georgia Tech guard Rufus Guthrie, Los Angeles Rams, 1963

· Mississippi State defensive tackle Jimmy Webb, San Francisco 49ers, 1975

· LSU linebacker Eric Hill, Phoenix Cardinals, 1989

· Auburn tackle Willie Anderson, Cincinnati Bengals, 1996

· Florida wide receiver Travis Taylor, Baltimore Ravens, 2000

· South Carolina defensive back Dunta Robinson, Houston Texans, 2004

· Tennessee linebacker Jerod Mayo, New England Patriots, 2008

· South Carolina defensive back Stephon Gilmore, Buffalo Bills, 2012

· Alabama guard Chance Warmack, Tennessee Titans, 2013

· Georgia running back Todd Gurley, St. Louis Rams, 2015

· Alabama offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr., Cleveland Browns, 2020

· Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles, 2021

Rechichar was a three-time Pro Bowler who played for the Baltimore Colts in the NFL’s 1958 championship game, nicknamed “The Greatest Game Ever Played.”

Mayo made the Pro Bowl twice and first-team All-Pro once.

Gilmore has been a Pro Bowler five times and a first-team All-Pro twice so far. He was a Super Bowl winner with the Patriots for 2018, a season after Warmack did that with the Eagles.

Gurley was a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro. He also won the AP NFL Rookie of the Year Award in 2015 and the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award in 2017.

Smith recorded a 1,000-yard receiving season for Philadelphia in 2022.

RELATED:

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 11 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 12 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 13 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 14 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 15 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 16 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 17 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 18 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 19 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 20 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 21 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 22 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 23 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 24 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 25 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 26 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 27 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 28 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 29 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 30 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 31 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 32 PICK

(The list includes only players selected in the regular NFL draft. The drafts from other leagues are not included nor are any supplemental drafts that have been held by the NFL.)

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE SEC, GO TO OUR SEC PAGE

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