For the 15th straight year, the SEC was the king of the NFL Draft. Given that a majority of college football's talent pool lies in the South, it shouldn't be a major surprise that the SEC led all conferences with 65 picks, setting a new all-time record for a single conference in the event.
The SEC previously had 64 players chosen in the 2019 draft, falling just short of that number with 63 in 2020 only to surpass it by one in the 2021 NFL Draft. Those 65 picks this year put plenty of distance between the SEC and the Big Ten, which was once again second among conferences with 44 picks.
The ACC made the biggest jump among conferences, going from 27 picks in the last draft to 42 this year. The Big 12 was notable for not having a player picked in the first round, while the AAC set a record of its own with 19 players selected in the draft.
Though it was not a record-setting day for the top teams, Alabama and Ohio State led the way among college programs with 10 selections each. The record for most in a draft stands at 14, set by LSU in 2020 and OSU in 2004. Georgia and Notre Dame tied for third with nine selections each, while Florida and Michigan each had eight with LSU checking in solo with seven picks.
Check out the breakdown by conferences and teams below though all seven rounds of the 2021 NFL Draft.
2021 NFL Draft by conference
- SEC -- 65
- Big Ten -- 44
- ACC -- 42
- Pac-12 -- 28
- Big 12 -- 22
- AAC -- 19
- Independent -- 15
- Conference USA -- 5
- FCS -- 5
- MAC -- 4
- Mountain West -- 3
- Sun Belt -- 3
- Divisions II/III -- 4
2021 NFL Draft by college team
- Alabama -- 10
- Ohio State -- 10
- Georgia -- 9
- Notre Dame -- 9
- Florida -- 8
- Michigan -- 8
- LSU -- 7
- Kentucky -- 6
- Penn State -- 6
- Pittsburgh -- 6
- BYU -- 5
- Clemson -- 5
- Missouri -- 5
- North Carolina -- 5
- Oklahoma -- 5
- Oregon -- 5
- Stanford -- 5
- Texas -- 5
- UCF -- 5
- USC -- 5
- Auburn -- 4
- Cincinnati -- 4
- Duke -- 4
- Florida State -- 4
- Iowa -- 4
- Miami (FL) -- 4
- Oklahoma State -- 4
- South Carolina -- 4
- Texas A&M -- 4
- Virginia Tech -- 4
- Washington -- 4
- Houston -- 3
- Northwestern -- 3
- Wisconsin -- 3
- Arizona, Boise State, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Louisville, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Nebraska, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Ole Miss, Oregon State, Purdue, SMU, Syracuse, TCU, Tennessee, Texas Tech, Tulane, UCLA, Western Michigan -- 2 each
- Appalachian State, Arkansas, Arizona State, Baylor, Buffalo, California, Central Arkansas, Central Missouri, Charleston, Coastal Carolina, Colorado, Concordia-St. Paul, East Carolina, Indiana, Iowa State, Kansas State, Louisiana, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Maryland, Memphis, Miami (OH), NC State, North Texas, San Diego State, South Alabama, Tulsa, UAB, Umass, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, West Virginia, Wisconsin-Whitewater -- 1 each
