Plans for the 2020 college football season are still up in the air at this point. It seems almost certain that football will be played, but when is another question entirely.

Still, there are a number of SEC players who figure to use the 2020 season to vault themselves up NFL Draft boards.

This week, Pro Football Focus released its first 2021 NFL Mock Draft, and as you can see below, they had 9 SEC stars (including 6 from Alabama) going in the first 32 picks:

  • No. 6 — Ja’Marr Chase, WR, LSU — New York Jets
  • No. 10 — Kyle Pitts, TE, Florida — Miami Dolphins
  • No. 12 — Alex Leatherwood, OL, Alabama — Los Angeles Chargers
  • No. 14 — DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama — Atlanta Falcons
  • No. 16 — Jaylen Waddle, WR, Alabama — Cleveland Browns
  • No. 19 — Trey Smith, OL, Tennessee — Pittsburgh Steelers
  • No. 20 — Christian Barmore, DL, Alabama — Minnesota Vikings
  • No. 22 — Patrick Surtain II, CB, Alabama — Buffalo Bills
  • No. 23 — Dylan Moses, LB, Alabama — Green Bay Packers

Compared to previous first-round draft results, 9 SEC players seems a little light. We’ll see if some other guys — maybe QBs like Jamie Newman, Kyle Trask or Kellen Mond — work their way into the Round 1 mix during the season.