SEC's all-time first-round draft picks at WR
Alabama’s Amari Cooper will become the 35th SEC receiver taken in the first round of the NFL draft all-time.
Perhaps Auburn’s Sammie Coates or one-time Missouri standout Dorial Green-Beckham can join him in the first round on April 30 and add to the list.
That’s what it would take to equal the greatest NFL receiving class in conference history back in 2007, when Dwayne Bowe, Robert Meachem and Buster Davis all got selected in the first round. (Three current SEC members produced first-round receivers in 1988, but South Carolina had not yet joined the conference.)
Based on NFL careers, 2011 (A.J. Green and Julio Jones) and 2014 (Mike Evans and Odell Beckham Jr.) are great years to start, as the ’07 triumvirate mostly failed to live up to expectations in the pros.
Here’s a complete list of the SEC’s first-round picks, followed by a few observations.
Year | Player | School |
---|---|---|
1958 | Jim “Red” Phillips | Auburn |
1962 | Lance Alworth# | Arkansas |
1968 | Dennis Homan | Alabama |
1972 | Terry Beasley | Auburn |
1977 | Stanley Morgan | Tennessee |
1977 | Randy Burke | Kentucky |
1978 | Wes Chandler | Florida |
1982 | Anthony Hancock | Tennessee |
1982 | Lindsay Scott | Georgia |
1983 | Willie Gault | Tennessee |
1984 | Clyde Duncan | Tennessee |
1986 | Tim McGee | Tennessee |
1987 | Ricky Nattiel | Florida |
1988 | Sterling Sharpe# | South Carolina |
1988 | Anthony Miller | Tennessee |
1988 | Wendell Davis | LSU |
1991 | Alvin Harper | Tennessee |
1996 | Eddie Kennison | LSU |
1996 | Eric Moulds | Mississippi State |
1997 | Ike Hilliard | Florida |
1997 | Reidel Anthony | Florida |
1998 | Marcus Nash | Tennessee |
2000 | Travis Taylor | Florida |
2002 | Donté Stallworth | Tennessee |
2004 | Michael Clayton | LSU |
2005 | Troy Williamson | South Carolina |
2005 | Matt Jones | Arkansas |
2007 | Dwayne Bowe | LSU |
2007 | Robert Meachem | Tennessee |
2007 | Buster Davis | LSU |
2009 | Jeremy Maclin# | Missouri |
2009 | Percy Harvin | Florida |
2011 | A.J. Green | Georgia |
2011 | Julio Jones | Alabama |
2013 | Cordarrelle Patterson | Tennessee |
2014 | Mike Evans | Texas A&M |
2014 | Odell Beckham Jr. | LSU |
#School was not an SEC member at the time.
SCHOOLS RANKED BY FIRST-ROUND WRs
1. Tennessee 11
2. Florida 6
3. LSU 6
4. Alabama 2
5. Arkansas 2*
6. Auburn 2
7. Georgia 2
8. South Carolina 2*
9. Kentucky 1
10. Mississippi State 1
11. Missouri 1*
12. Texas A&M 1
T13. Ole Miss 0
T13. Vanderbilt 0
*Again, not an SEC member at the time of one of the listed first-round picks.
The Vols have earned the right to be considered “WR U” if we’re looking at the entirety of SEC history. From 1977-86, five of the eight SEC receivers drafted in the first round came from Knoxville.
LSU has made a strong push in recent years, tying Florida for second in the SEC with six first-round receivers courtesy of Beckham Jr. in ’14. Otherwise the SEC East programs dominate the list.
Jordan Matthews of Vanderbilt got drafted near the top of the second round in ’14 as the Commodores remain one of two SEC teams (along with Ole Miss) never to send a receiver to the NFL in the first round.
SEC FIRST-ROUND WRs BY DECADE
1950s: 1
1960s: 2
1970s: 4
1980s: 9
1990s: 6
2000s: 10
2010s: 5
The conference hasn’t jumped the graph in the last decade or so like you’d imagine. Excluding the ’90s, which Florida and Tennessee dominated, but still represented a significant drop-off, the SEC has more or less crept forward with its production of first-round receivers.
Cooper should give the conference at least six with four drafts remaining this decade, and Auburn’s Duke Williams is a good bet to add to the list next year. But the SEC more or less has held a pace of one first-round receiver per year since the ’80s.