SEC NFL Draft history: 35 WRs taken in first round, but streak might end this year

No longer a conference known for mostly power running teams, the SEC has more and more attracted some of the top wide receiver talent in the game today. That’s illustrated by the number of first-round NFL Draft picks accumulated over recent history.

Though there isn’t much clamor for a first-round pick in this year’s draft at the position — best hope ArDarius Stewart is a projected Day 2 pick — it doesn’t take away from the fact that wide receiver has become a very important position in the conference.

The SEC has had a WR taken in the first round in each of the past four drafts. That includes Alabama’s Amari Cooper, whom Oakland picked fourth overall in 2015.

That tied the SEC’s second-highest draft choice at the position. Cincinnati took Georgia’s A.J. Green fourth overall in 2011.

In just two seasons, Cooper has become an NFL star, making the Pro Bowl each year. He ranked eighth in the NFL last season in receiving yards with 1,153.

Green has played six seasons with the Bengals, earning a Pro Bowl appearance in each of those. He as fourth in the NFL with 11 touchdown receptions in 2011, and sixth in the NFL with a career-high 98 receptions in 2013.

Florida’s Wes Chandler remains the highest overall NFL Draft draft pick of any SEC wide receiver. He was chosen third overall by the New Orleans Saints in the 1978 draft.

It wasn’t until 1968 that an SEC wide receiver was selected in the first round. That bar-bet-winning wide receiver was Alabama’s Dennis Homan, taken by the Dallas Cowboys with the 20th overall pick.

In all, 35 SEC wide receivers have been selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. Here is the list, by year, according to the draft database at pro-football-reference.com.