SEC fans will hear plenty of familiar names in the NFL Draft.
Jadeveon Clowney. Greg Robinson. Johnny Manziel.
And yes, even AJ McCarron will have his named called sometime over the seven rounds.
So expect it to be another banner year for SEC players in the draft, continuing the strong tradition the conference has established in sending players to the NFL.
A recent post on Saturday Down South revealed that 421 SEC players have been drafted since 2004. That number includes only Texas A&M and Missouri players drafted last year, because the schools joined the conference in 2012.
LSU leads with 61 picks, followed by Georgia with 58, Alabama with 49 and Florida with 46. LSU and Alabama have both had 14 first-round picks in that span.
There were a record 63 SEC players taken last year, 32 more than the second-best conference (ACC), and experts think the conference will continue that, starting with tonight’s first round.
By comparison, there were just 22 Big Ten players picked in 2013.
Todd McShay's final mock draft predicts nine SEC players will be picked in the first round. DraftInsider.net has eight SEC players ranked in its top 25.
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