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 eighth pick just hasn’t panned out when the NFL has reached into the SEC.

One of the 14 SEC players selected at No. 8 has been a first-team All-Pro selection, and that happened in the 2022 season.

Former Georgia linebacker Roquan Smith earned the honor while dividing his season between the Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens.

Although 2022 was Smith’s fifth season, he already has started more NFL regular-season games than all but one of the former SEC stars drafted at No. 8.

The 14 SEC players drafted with the No. 8 pick include:

· Ole Miss fullback Merle Hapes, New York Giants, 1942

· Alabama back Bobby Marlow, New York Giants, 1953

· Kentucky end Steve Meilinger, Washington Redskins, 1954

· Auburn tackle Ken Rice, St. Louis Cardinals, 1961

· Florida running back Larry Smith, Los Angeles Rams, 1969

· Georgia guard Royce Smith, New Orleans Saints, 1972

· Mississippi State running back Michael Haddix, Philadelphia Eagles, 1983

· Vanderbilt defensive back Leonard Coleman, Indianapolis Colts, 1984

· Tennessee tackle Antone Davis, Philadelphis Eagles, 1991

· Arkansas defensive end Jamaal Anderson, Atlanta Falcons, 2007

· Florida defensive end Derrick Harvey, Jacksonville Jaguars, 2008

· Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain, Oakland Raiders, 2010

· Georgia inside linebacker Roquan Smith, Chicago Bears, 2018

· South Carolina cornerback Jaycee Horn, Carolina Panthers, 2021

Rice signed with the Buffalo Bills instead of the Cardinals and played in the AFL All-Star Game as a rookie. But he missed the entire 1962 season because of a knee injury, and he did not reached all-star status again in his remaining five seasons.

With 87 starts, mainly at right offensive tackle, in seven seasons, Davis is the only one of the No. 8 picks with more regular-season starts than Roquan Smith’s 76.

RELATED:

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 9 PICK

· THE SEC’S BEST NO. 10 PICK

· 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.