NFL Draft: The SEC’s No. 1 No. 12
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.
There might have been “Gateway Arch Joe” if Alabama quarterback Joe Namath had signed with the NFL team that drafted him, the St. Louis Cardinals, in 1965.
Instead, Namath chose to sign the New York Jets’ offer of the most lucrative contract to that point in pro football history after being the No. 1 pick in the 1965 AFL Draft. The Cardinals had used the 12th choice in the NFL Draft on Namath, who was the third SEC player chosen in 1965. The New York Giants took Auburn running back Tucker Frederickson at No. 1, and the Chicago Bears selected Tennessee defensive lineman Steve DeLong at No. 6.
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Namath became the first player in the AFL or NFL with more than 4,000 passing yards in a season in 1967, earned two AFL Player of the Year awards and secured a place in NFL lore by guaranteeing the Jets’ victory over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, then winning the game’s MVP honor.
“Broadway Joe” was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.
The 15 SEC players drafted in the first round with the No. 12 pick include:
· Auburn back Dave Middleton, Detroit Lions, 1955
· Vanderbilt halfback Phil King, New York Giants, 1958
· Auburn center Jackie Burkett, Baltimore Colts, 1959
· Kentucky guard Irv Gooden, St. Louis Cardinals, 1962
· Alabama quarterback Joe Namath, St. Louis Cardinals, 1965
· LSU defensive tackle George Rice, Chicago Bears, 1966
· LSU running back Charles Alexander, Cincinnati Bengals, 1979
· Florida defensive end Trace Armstrong, Chicago Bears, 1989
· Tennessee wide receiver Alvin Harper, Dallas Cowboys, 1991
· Tennessee defensive end Shaun Ellis, New York Jets, 2000
· Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno, Denver Broncos, 2009
· Mississippi State defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, Philadelphia Eagles, 2012
· LSU wide receiver Odell Beckham, New York Giants, 2014
· Alabama wide receiver Henry Ruggs III, Las Vegas Raiders, 2020
· Alabama wide receiver Jameson Williams, Detroit Lions, 2022
Every NFL Draft since 1950 has had at least 12 picks in the first round. The three SEC players drafted with the No. 12 pick who were not first-rounders include:
· LSU end Gaynell Tinsley, Chicago Cardinals, 1937
· Tulane end Ralph Wenzel, Pittsburgh Steelers, 1940
· Georgia end Lamar Davis, Philadelphia Eagles, 1943
Tinsley led the NFL with 675 receiving yards in 1937, when he was a first-team All-Pro pick, and with 41 receptions in 1938, when he was a Pro Bowler.
Middleton caught a touchdown pass in the 1957 NFL Championship Game, the last time the Lions won the title.
A former John Carroll Catholic standout, Armstrong played in 15 NFL seasons and made the Pro Bowl in 2000.
Harper played on back-to-back Super Bowl winners with the Cowboys.
Ellis reached the Pro Bowl twice in 12 seasons.
Moreno had a 1,000-yard rushing season in 2013.
Cox had six Pro Bowl selections, played for a Super Bowl winner and was named first-team All-Pro once in his first 11 seasons.
Beckham is a three-time Pro Bowler who has five 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
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(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.)
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @AMarkG1.