The 2023 NFL Draft starts Thursday night 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.

Of the 14 SEC players selected with the second pick in an NFL Draft, eight have been Pro Bowlers. Linebacker Cornelius Bennett earned that honor five times during his 14 NFL seasons.

All his selections came with the Buffalo Bills, who obtained him in a three-team trade without Bennett ever playing for the Indianapolis Colts, who had drafted him. In 1988, Bennett also was a first-team All-Pro.

Bennett played in four Super Bowls with the Bills and another with the Atlanta Falcons. But his team never came out on top in the NFL championship game.

The 14 SEC players drafted with the No. 2 pick include:

· Alabama back Riley Smith, Boston Redskins, 1936

· Florida back Paul Duhart, Pittsburgh Steelers, 1945

· LSU halfback Dub Jones, Chicago Cardinals, 1946

· Georgia quarterback John Rauch, Detroit Lions, 1949

· LSU back Jerry Stovall, St. Louis Cardinals, 1963

· Tennessee center Bob Johnson, Cincinnati Bengals, 1968

· Ole Miss QB Archie Manning, New Orleans Saints, 1971

· LSU quarterback Bert Jones, Baltimore Colts, 1973

· Kentucky defensive end Art Still, Kansas City Chiefs, 1978

· Mississippi State linebacker Johnie Cooks, Indianapolis Colts, 1982

· Alabama linebacker Cornelius Bennett, Indianapolis Colts, 1987

· Auburn running back Ronnie Brown, Miami Dolphins, 2005

· Texas A&M tackle Luke Joeckel, Jacksonville Jaguars, 2013

· Auburn tackle Greg Robinson, St. Louis Rams, 2014

Bert Jones won the NFL MVP Award for the 1976 season.

Stovall and Still were Pro Bowlers three times apiece, Manning was twice and Johnson and Brown were once each.

Smith was the blocking back on Washington’s 1937 NFL championship team, and he made four extra-point kicks in the title game.

Dub Jones shunned the NFL to sign with the All-American Football Conference. After playing for two AAFC championship teams with Cleveland, he played with three more league championship teams after the Browns were absorbed into the NFL. Jones was a first-team All-Pro in 1951 and a Pro Bowler again in 1952.

Cooks was a Super Bowl champ with the New York Giants in the 1990 season.

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· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 22 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 23 PICK

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· 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.