MARLER: Death, taxes and the SEC owning the NFL draft again
04/27/2025
By Chris Marler
Death. Taxes. And the SEC dominating the NFL Draft every April.
It’s becoming as much an April tradition as Amen Corner, April showers, and bad April Fools’ jokes.
The 2025 version of the NFL Draft was no different. For the 19th consecutive year the SEC finished with the most players drafted of any conference in America. And, for the third time in the last half decade the conference set a record for most draft picks in a single draft with 79.
The @SEC absolutely DOMINATES the 2025 NFL Draft.
The 79 total picks is a new single draft record AND they finish with the most draft picks of any conference for the 19th straight season.
It. Just. Means. More. #NFLDraft2025 pic.twitter.com/tqNIYmcoRZ
— 104.5 ESPN (@1045espn) April 26, 2025
Sure, conference expansion helped inflate some of those numbers as the SEC and Big Ten actually combined for 150 of the 257 total picks. That means over 58% of the overall picks were from just two conferences.
However, in total the SEC had 15 of their 16 teams have at least one player drafted, and the Big Ten had 17 of their 18 teams have at least one draft pick. The only two teams who didn’t hear a player have their name called were Mississippi State and Northwestern.
Expansion also wasn’t the only reason for the inflated numbers. Texas and Oklahoma combined for 14 total picks this year. Which means, even without any Longhorns or Sooners getting picked, the artist formerly known as the SEC would’ve still finished with 65 total picks which would have tied for the most in any draft ever. The Big Ten finished with 71 total picks, and that included a combined 19 picks from their newest members Oregon, USC, UCLA, and Washington.
So the SEC ends with 79 total Picks.
Texas and OU had 14 combined. So, even without the addition of those 2 teams the SEC would’ve tied its own Draft record with 65 Total Picks.
The B1G finished with 71.
19 came from Oregon, USC, UW & UCLA. They would’ve ended with 52.
— Chris Marler (@VernDumbquist) April 26, 2025
Regardless, the SEC would have once again dominated. That being said, here’s a look at how every conference and SEC team ended up this year.
Picks by Conference
- SEC – 79
- Big Ten – 59
- ACC – 45
- Other – 35
- Big 12 – 30
Picks by SEC Team
- UGA – 13
- Texas – 12
- Ole Miss – 8
- Alabama – 7
- LSU – 7
- Florida – 7
- South Carolina – 5
- Tennessee – 4
- Auburn – 2
- Missouri – 3
- Texas A&M – 3
- Arkansas – 2
- Kentucky – 2
- Oklahoma – 2
- Vanderbilt – 2