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.

For the first time since the 2001 NFL Draft, the 32nd selection won’t be in the first round. When the Pittsburgh Steelers make the 32nd choice in the 88th NFL Draft on April 28 in Kansas City, it will be the first pick of the second round.

That’s because the Miami Dolphins had to forfeit their first-round pick – No. 21 – as part of their NFL punishment for violating the league’s tampering rules with impermissible contact with quarterback Tom Brady and coach Sean Payton.

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Ten players have been picked from SEC members with the 32nd selection in an NFL Draft, and the one who has had the best NFL career wasn’t a first-rounder either.

When the Baltimore Colts chose Ray Donaldson at No. 32 in 1980, the Georgia center was the fourth selection of the second round.

Donaldson didn’t start a game during his rookie season. In the next 16 seasons, he started 228 of them — every game he played for the rest of his career with the Colts, Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys. Donaldson earned six Pro Bowl invitations along the way, including both of his final two seasons.

The five SEC players drafted in the first round with the No. 32 pick include:

· Georgia tight end Ben Watson, Patriots, 2004

· Mississippi State tackle Derek Sherrod, Packers, 2011

· Florida defensive back Matt Elam, Ravens, 2013

· LSU running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Chiefs, 2020

· Georgia safety Lewis Cine, Vikings, 2022

The five SEC players drafted with the No. 32 pick who were not first-rounders include:

· Tulane back Bucky Bryan, Cardinals, 1937

· Tulane back Gaston Bourgeois, Yanks, 1946

· Kentucky end Al Bruno, Eagles, 1951

· Auburn center Lee Gross, Saints, 1975

· Georgia center Ray Donaldson, Colts, 1980

Watson played almost as long as Donaldson with 16 NFL seasons, but none of the other No. 32 picks from the SEC has played more than four NFL seasons, although Elam remains in pro football as a safety for the XFL’s Orlando Guardians this season. The first three players from the SEC picked 32nd never played in the NFL. The most recent one, Cine, sustained a broken leg in his third NFL game and missed the rest of his rookie season in 2022.

(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.