The 2025 NFL Draft starts on April 24 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with the 32 first-round picks. AL.com is counting down to the event by highlighting the best choice – overall, from the SEC and of players from Alabama high schools and colleges — made with each of the first 32 picks in the 89 NFL drafts.

Best No. 7 pick: Southern Cal cornerback Ronnie Lott by the San Francisco 49ers in 1981

Among the players who entered the NFL as the seventh selection in the league’s draft, Bulldog Turner and Chuck Howley have more first-team All-Pro selections than Adrian Peterson and Champ Bailey has more Pro Bowl invitations than Peterson.

Turner, Howley and Bailey also are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, an honor that lies in front of Peterson, who becomes eligible for consideration with the Class of 2027.

But Peterson has something those players do not have – an NFL Most Valuable Player Award.

Peterson won the award in 2012, when he posted the sixth 2,000-yard rushing season in NFL history, and his 2,097 yards still rank as the second-most in a single season.

In NFL history, Peterson ranks fourth with 120 rushing touchdowns, fifth with 14,918 rushing yards, 10th with 126 touchdowns and 11th with 17,392 yards from scrimmage.

Two other No. 7 picks have reached the Pro Football Hall of Fame – Sterling Sharpe and Bryant Young.

The seventh selection in last year’s draft was Alabama offensive tackle JC Latham by the Tennessee Titans.

Best No. 7 pick from the SEC: Georgia cornerback Champ Bailey by the Washington Redskins in 1999

During 15 seasons, Bailey received 12 Pro Bowl invitations and made first-team All-Pro three times. In his first year of eligibility, Bailey entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019.

Bailey recorded 52 regular-season interceptions and had another pair in the playoffs.

The NFL began recording passes defended as an individual statistic in 1999, Bailey’s rookie season, and he has the most in the league since that time with 203.

Of the 16 SEC players picked at No. 7, Alabama offensive tackle JC Latham is the most recent after going to the Tennessee Titans in 2024.

Best No. 7 pick with Alabama football roots: Kentucky outside linebacker Josh Hines-Allen by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2019

An All-State wide receiver while at Abbeville High School, Hines-Allen has made his mark as a pass-rusher in the NFL.

Hines-Allen has recorded 53 sacks since joining the Jaguars, including 17.5 in the 2023 season, when he finished second in the NFL.

Hines-Allen made the Pro Bowl that season, and he also received a Pro Bowl invitation after he made 10.5 sacks as a rookie in 2019.

The New York Jets hold the No. 7 pick in the NFL Draft on April 24.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.