How Alabama and the SEC dominated the 2021 NFL Draft

Thanks to years of success, we knew there were going to be a lot of Alabama players taken the NFL Draft.

We just didn’t know how successful it would be as part of the SEC’s record 65 total players drafted.

Ten Alabama players were taken in all, including six in the first round (Jaylen Waddle, Patrick Surtain, DeVonta Smith, Mac Jones, Alex Leatherwood and Najee Harris), two in the second round (Landon Dickerson and Christian Barmore), and two more in the sixth round (Deonte Brown, Thomas Fletcher).

Linebacker Dylan Moses was surprisingly undrafted but was quickly swallowed by the Jaguars, while TE Miller Forristall signed a deal with the Tennessee Titans. Even Carl Tucker – a TE who didn’t play in 2020 ( he had spent four years at UNC before that) – was snagged by the Miami Dolphins.

Let’s put this in short – of every player who entered the NFL Draft from Alabama, every single one has found a home.

GEORGIA WAS PRETTY GOOD TOO

Despite Alabama’s domination, Georgia had a secretly-good draft too, putting up nine selections.

Although CB Eric Stokes was the Bulldogs only first-round pick, the Bulldogs then had two second-rounders, three third-rounders, a fifth, a sixth, and seventh rounder.

WHO ELSE MADE IT BIG?

Every SEC school was represented in the 2021 NFL Draft, led by Florida and finished by Vanderbilt. 

8: Florida (Kyle Pitts and Kedarious Toney in the first round) + 6 others.

7: LSU (Ja’marr Chase in the first round) + 6 others.

6: Kentucky (Jamin Davis in the first round) + 5 others

5: Missouri

4: South Carolina (Jaycee Horn in the first round)

4: Auburn

4: Texas A&M

2: Mississippi State

2: Tennessee

2: Ole Miss

1: Arkansas

1: Vanderbilt

Of the notable undrafted free agents, Arkansas’ Feleipe Franks and Georgia’s Jamie Newman have both picked up.

The rest of the draft news – which includes SEC players – can be found here.

THE SEC IN THE NFL

Even back in 2014, Kyler Murray – even before he’d even played a college football game – said – “It’s the NFL of college.” With the amount of SEC talent in the pros, it’s not hard to see why.

After all cuts, 21% of all players on a Week 1 NFL Roster were from the SEC, led by Alabama (57) and LSU (42).

GETTING WELL-PAID

We all know that players going to the NFL aren’t going to play for free.

In 2021, former Kentucky LB got himself PAID by the Tennessee Titans signing a five year, $82.3 million ($35m guaranteed) after the Steelers let him go. He was the second-high free agent out there. Former Auburn DE Carl Lawson is getting a three-year, $45m ($30m guaranteed) check from the Jets.

Speaking of pay, two of the top ten best-paid players in the NFL – Dak Prescott (Dallas Cowboys, Mississippi State) and Ryan Tannehill (Buffalo Bills, Texas A&M) are from SEC schools.

SO WHY IS THE SEC SO POPULAR WITH DRAFTERS?

Kyler Murray’s comment back in 2014 was as appropriate then as it is now. Actually, it’s probably more now, bearing in mind that ESPN upped its deal with the SEC to $300m, meaning even bigger payouts for the schools.

The more money gets the schools better trainers, better facilities, as well higher-paid experts from coaching staffs all the way down to analysts (generally former coaches looking for their next shot).

In short, SEC schools can prepare their players better for the draft than most schools in other conferences (and yes, there are outliers like Ohio State, Clemson, Oregon etc).