Wrapping Up Tide, SEC In NFL Draft

Alabama has had seven players selected and at least four others sign free agent contracts as the National Football League draft has come to a close. The Crimson Tide made a nice contribution to the Southeastern Conference continuing to lead the nation in players drafted.

The seven players from Alabama who were drafted this year were:

Linebacker Rolando McClain (Oakland) and cornerback Kareem Jackson (Houston) in the first round; cornerback Javier Arenas went to the Kansas City Chiefs and nose tackle Terrence Cody was selected by the Baltimore Ravens, both in the second round; offensive lineman Mike Johnson was a third round pick of the Atlanta Falcons; in the seventh round, cornerback Marquis Johnson was a choice of the St. Louis Rams and defensive end Brandon Deaderick was drafted by the New England Patriots.

Those free agent signings are tight end Colin Peek to Atlanta, linebacker Cory Reamer to the New York Jets, linebacker Eryk Anders to the Cleveland Browns, and defensive end Lorenzo Washington to the Dallas Cowboys. That does not include placekicker Leigh Tiffin, who may well be added to an NFL camp list.

Here are some SEC notes on the draft:

The SEC had 49 players selected in the 2010 NFL Draft. The number represents the most SEC players ever taken in the NFL Draft.

The SEC had the most players taken among conferences in the draft. Behind the SEC’s 49 selections were the Big Ten (34), ACC (31), Big 12 (30) and Pac-10 (29).

Since 1990, the SEC has had 782 total selections in the NFL Draft, an average of 37.2 selections per year. The Big Ten is second with 672 selections.

Since 1997, the SEC has had 552 total selections in the NFL Draft, an average of 39.4 selections per year.

The SEC has now led or tied for the most selections in the NFL Draft for 11 of the last 13 seasons and the last four drafts.

All 12 SEC schools had at least one player selected in the draft. The numbers alphabetically: Alabama (7), Arkansas (1), Auburn (2), Florida (9), Georgia (5), Kentucky (3), LSU (6), Ole Miss (4), Mississippi State (2), South Carolina (2), Tennessee (6), Vanderbilt (2).

The SEC had at least five players taken in every round of this season’s draft. The league had eight players taken in rounds 2-3-5, seven players taken in rounds 1-4, six players in round 7 and five players in round 6.

There have been 67 first round SEC selections in last 10 drafts, an average 6.7 per year. The most by the SEC was 11 in the 2007 draft. The lowest in the last 10 drafts was four in 2003 and 2006.

The SEC has had at least seven players taken in the first round in back-to-back drafts (8 in 2009 and 7 in 2010).

Since conference expansion in 1992, the SEC has had 114 players taken in the first round of the NFL Draft, an average of 6.3 per year.

The SEC has had five picks in the top 20 of the first round four years in a row.

Since 2004, the SEC has had 32 players taken in the first 18 picks of the first round.

In the last eight NFL drafts, 11 of 12 SEC teams had at least one player go in the top 11 of the first round.

The SEC has had 3 of the top 8 picks in NFL draft for 4th straight year and 5 of last 6 years.