13 former SEC players ranked in top 50 NFL Draft prospects

The NFL Draft happens April 30 – May 2, and several former college football players’ dreams will come true.

As we’re gearing up for the draft, NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah released his top 50 draft prospects, and 13 former SEC players made the cut. Remember, this isn’t based on teams’ positions of need or where players are projected to be picked; this is strictly the top 50 prospects, period.

Jeremiah listed USC’s Leonard Williams as the No. 1 overall prospect. The elite defensive lineman is likely a top three pick, depending on team needs. Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper is the SEC’s top overall prospect, and he’s the No. 4 player on this list.

Here are the former SEC players in the top 50:

• No. 4 Amari Cooper, WR, Alabama
• No. 7 Dante Fowler, Jr., DE, Florida
• No. 8 Shane Ray, DE, Missouri
• No. 14 Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia
• No. 16 Benardrick McKinney, LB, Mississippi State
• No. 18 Landon Collins, DB, Alabama
• No. 26 Bud Dupree, DE, Kentucky
• No. 32 La’El Collins, OT, LSU
• No. 37 Preston Smith, DT, Mississippi State
• No. 38 AJ Cann, OG, South Carolina
• No. 43 Kwon Alexander, LB, LSU
• No. 44 TJ Yeldon, RB, Alabama
• No. 48 Cedric Ogbuehi, OT, Texas A&M

Seven of the 13 prospects play on the line of scrimmage, and the SEC is known as a line of scrimmage league. Three of the 13 are offensive skill position players, which includes running backs Todd Gurley and TJ Yeldon. Will Gurley become the first back selected in the first round of the draft since 2012?

Kevin Duffey

A graduate of the University of Florida and founder of Saturday Down South, Kevin is a college football enthusiast.