SEC Draft Recap

By Brett Daniels

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For the 18^th consecutive year, the SEC has had the most players drafted in the NFL Draft. The 79 players selected in the 2025 edition were the most ever for the deepest conference in College Football. Every team except for Mississippi State had at least one player drafted with SEC Champion Georgia leading the way with 13, followed closely by SEC runner up Texas with 12.

1. Georgia Bulldogs (13 players selected) – Head coach Kirby Smart continues to develop players and produce NFL talent with three players going in the first round from the SEC Championship squad. EDGE rushers Mykell Williams and Jalon Walker went 11^th and 15^th to the 49ers and Falcons, respectively. Safety Malachai Starks went 27^th to the Ravens. Since taking over at Georgia in 2016, Smart has produced 20 first round picks while only losing 19 games.

2. Texas Longhorns (12 players selected) – The Longhorns set a program record with 12 players selected in the 2025 NFL Draft and matched the Bulldogs with three in the first round. Tackle Kelvin Banks, Jr went to the Saints with the 9^th pick, while CB Jahdae Barron was selected by the Broncos at 20. WR Matthew Golden became the first wide receiver taken in the first round by Green Bay since 2002 with the 23^rd pick. Curiously QB Quinn Ewers, who many projected would be the first QB off the board this time last year, decided to turn down a reported $8 million NIL deal to remain in college and ended up being drafted in the 7^th round by Miami.

3. Ole Miss Rebels (8 players selected) – Head coach Lane Kiffin was very active in the transfer portal last offseason acquiring several top defensive players. One of those was DT Walter Nolen, who would go on to be selected by the Cardinals with the 16^th overall pick. QB Jaxson Dart was the second quarterback off the board as the New York Giants traded back into the first round to take the Rebels signal-caller with the 25^th overall pick. Five of the eight Ole Miss players selected were from the defensive side of the ball.

4. Alabama Crimson Tide (8 players selected) – Alabama had the least number of players selected in the NFL Draft (8) since only seven Crimson Tide players were taken in 2015. OL Tyler Booker was selected 12^th overall by Dallas while LB Jihaad Campbell went to the Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles at pick 31. Several players who could have potentially been drafted this year elected to stay in school for another season and will bolster the Alabama contingent in the 2026 NFL Draft.

5. LSU Tigers (7 players selected) – The Bayou Bengals produced only one first round pick this year with OT Will Campbell going to the Patriots at No. 4 overall. Campbell’s counterpart at right tackle Emory Jones Jr. went to the Ravens with the 91^st overall pick (3^rd round, pick 27). QB Garrett Nussmeier is projected to be a top pick in the 2026 NFL Draft after electing to stay in school for an additional season.

6. Florida Gators (7 picks) – All seven of the Gators selections in the 2025 draft were on Day 3 (rounds 4-7) with WR Chimere Dike the first player chosen at 103 overall by the Tennessee Titans. QB Graham Mertz had an ACL injury against Tennessee which ended his 2024 season. He was selected 197^th overall by the Texans largely off his body of work at Wisconsin and a season and a half at Florida where he had a completion rate of over 70% prior to the injury.

7. South Carolina Gamecocks (5 players selected) – Safety Nick Emmanwori is a first-round talent that slipped to the second round going to the Seahawks with the 35^th overall pick. Defensive lineman TJ Sanders was also a second-round pick going to Buffalo at pick 41. All five of the Gamecocks draftees were from the defensive side of the ball.

8. Tennessee Volunteers (4 players selected) – The Vols had one first-round selection with EDGE James Pearce Jr. going to the Atlanta Falcons at No. 26 overall. The Falcons traded their 2026 first-round pick to get back into the opening frame for Pearce. Defensive lineman Omarr Norman-Lott went in the second round to the Chiefs and WR Dont’e Thorton Jr. was selected by the Raiders in the fourth round. Surprisingly, SEC leading rusher Dylan Sampson was not selected until the fourth round by Cleveland.

9. Texas A&M Aggies (3 players selected) – The Aggies had a first-round pick with defensive lineman Shemar Stewart going to the Bengals with the 17^th overall pick. EDGE rusher Nic Scourton went to the Panthers in the second round with the 51^st overall pick while defensive lineman Shemar Turner was the final Texas A&M player selected by Chicago in the second round, 61^st overall.

10. Auburn Tigers (3 players selected) – Auburn has always produced NFL-caliber running backs and 2025 was no different as RB Jarquez Hunter was the first Tiger selected by the Rams with the 117^th pick overall (4^th round). WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith and LB Jalen McCloud were taken in the fifth and sixth rounds, respectively, by the Chargers and the Jaguars.

11. Missouri Tigers (3 players selected) – OT Amand Membou was the first Tiger off the board and second tackle selected in the NFL Draft by the Jets with the 7^th overall pick. WR Luther Burden III was also expected to go in the first round, but ended up having to wait until the second round where he was selected by the Bears with the 39^th pick. Tackle Marcus Bryant rounded out the Mizzou players taken going in the 4^th round to the Patriots with 220^th overall pick.

12. Kentucky Wildcats (2 selections) – CB Maxwell Hairston was part of a dominant showing by the SEC in the first round going 30^th overall to the Bills. Teammate defensive lineman Deone Walker would join him in Buffalo as the Bills would use the 109^th overall pick to secure the big nose tackle.

13. Oklahoma Sooners (2 selections) – The Sooners had a rough first year in the SEC and having only two NFL Draft-worthy players on the roster is a big reason for that. LB Danny Stutsman and S Billy Bowman were both taken in the fourth round by the Saints and Falcons, respectively. The Sooners broke a 22-year streak of having at least three players taken in the NFL Draft.

14. Arkansas Razorbacks (2 selections) – WR Issac TeSlaa (3^rd round, 70^th overall to Detroit) is one of the more intriguing selections in the 2025 draft. At 6’4”/215lbs and a 4.43s 40-yard dash. the size and the speed are there to be successful. DE Landon Jackson (3^rd round, 72^nd overall) is a high-motor pass rusher and will give the Bills another weapon off the edge.

15. Vanderbilt Commodores (1 player selected) – After three years of having no players selected in the NFL Draft, long snapper Julian Ashby was taken with the 251^st pick (7^th round) by the New England Patriots.

16. Mississippi State Bulldogs (No Players Selected) – The first season of the Jeff Lebby era produced no draft picks for the Bulldogs.