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.

The first NFL Draft in 1936 featured an SEC player as the No. 31 pick. After being chosen in the fourth round by the Brooklyn Dodgers at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia, Alabama end Paul “Bear” Bryant never played in the NFL. He went into coaching instead.

Bryant was the second SEC player drafted, after the Boston Redskins picked Alabama quarterback Riley Smith with the No. 2 choice in the first NFL Draft. And Bryant was the first of 12 SEC players chosen with the 31st selection in an NFL Draft.

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The best of those players has been linebacker Al Wilson. In his eight NFL seasons with the Denver Broncos, Wilson received as many Pro Bowl invitations as the rest of the SEC’s No. 31 picks combined.

After joining Denver in 1999, Wilson was a Pro Bowler for the Broncos five times, including his final two seasons, and was a first-team All-Pro selection in 2005.

The four SEC players drafted in the first round with the No. 31 pick include:

· Tennessee linebacker Al Wilson, Broncos, 1999

· Texas A&M guard Germain Ifedi, Seahawks, 2016

· Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster, 49ers, 2017

· Georgia running back Sony Michel, Patriots, 2018

The first round of the NFL Draft has included at least 31 selections annually since 1999. The eight SEC players drafted with the No. 31 pick who were not first-rounders include:

· Alabama end Bear Bryant, Dodgers, 1936

· Auburn center Walter Gilbert, Eagles, 1937

· Georgia end Weyman Sellers, Packers, 1948

· Tennessee end Bill Anderson, Redskins, 1958

· Auburn tackle Billy Wilson, Cardinals, 1961

· LSU running back Dalton Hilliard, Saints, 1986

· Auburn wide receiver Lawyer Tillman, Browns, 1989

· Tennessee wide receiver Carl Pickens, Bengals, 1992

RELATED: THE SEC’S BEST NO. 32 PICK

Joining Wilson as Pro Bowlers among the 31st picks are Anderson, Hilliard and Pickens.

Anderson was a Pro Bowler for Washington in 1959 and 1960, then played on NFL championship teams with the Green Bay Packers in 1965 and 1966 and appeared in the first Super Bowl.

Hilliard was a Pro Bowler in 1989, when he rushed for 1,262 yards for New Orleans.

Pickens made the Pro Bowl in 1995 and 1996 – two of his four 1,000-yard receiving seasons with Cincinnati. In 1995, he led the NFL with 17 touchdown receptions.

Four of the No. 31 picks never played in the NFL. Two played during the 2022 season – Ifedi with the Atlanta Falcons and Michel with the Los Angeles Rams.

(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.