SEC leads all conferences in 2023 NFL Draft picks as Alabama, Georgia top list
The 2023 NFL Draft is in the books and for the 17th year running, the SEC reigns supreme. With 62 total players selected, the conference had seven more players picked than the second-place Big Ten (55 players selected).
And there is no surprise whatsoever with which programs lead the charge in developing NFL talent from the SEC: Georgia and Alabama. Nick Saban and Kirby Smart’s respective programs each produced 10 picks in the 2023 NFL Draft.
It wasn’t late-round picks padding the SEC either, as the conference tied with the Big Ten for the most first round picks with nine.
The Big Ten finished second in the conference rankings by a wide margin, and was much closer to the SEC in first than the ACC in third (32 players selected). In fact, the 23-player gap in selections between the Big Ten in second and the ACC in third is the same as the gap between the ACC in third and the Sun Belt in seventh.
The Big 12 finished fourth with 30 players selected and the Pac 12 wrapped up the Power 5 with 27 players selected.
2023 NFL Draft picks by conference
(The Power 5 conferences are also further broken down by team.)
1. SEC: 62 players selected
- Georgia – 10
- Alabama – 10
- Florida – 6
- LSU – 6
- Tennessee – 5
- Auburn – 5
- South Carolina – 5
- Ole Miss – 4
- Kentucky – 3
- Texas A&M – 3
- Arkansas – 2
- Mississippi State – 2
- Missouri – 1
2. Big Ten: 55 players selected
- Michigan – 9
- Ohio State – 6
- Penn State – 6
- Maryland – 5
- Purdue – 5
- Northwestern – 4
- Illinois – 4
- Iowa – 4
- Michigan State – 3
- Minnesota – 3
- Wisconsin – 3
- Nebraska – 2
- Rutgers -1
3. ACC: 32 players selected
- Clemson – 6
- Pitt – 6
- North Carolina – 4
- Louisville – 3
- Miami – 3
- Syracuse – 2
- Wake Forest – 2
- Florida State – 1
- Boston College – 1
- Georgia Tech – 1
- NC State – 1
- Virginia – 1
- Virginia Tech – 1
4. Big 12: 30 players selected
- TCU – 8
- Oklahoma – 5
- Texas – 5
- Kansas State – 4
- Iowa State – 3
- Oklahoma State – 2
- Baylor – 1
- West Virginia – 1
- Texas Tech – 1
5. Pac 12: 27 players selected
- Oregon – 6
- Stanford – 5
- UCLA – 4
- USC – 4
- Utah – 3
- Oregon State – 2
- Cal – 1
- Washington State – 1
- Arizona State – 1
6. AAC: 10 players selected
7. Sun Belt: 9 players selected
8. Independent: 7 players selected
9. MAC: 7 players selected
10. Mountain West: 5 players selected
11. C-USA: 3 players selected
Not conferences, but FCS and Division II teams produced 12 players selected from 12 different schools.