NFL Draft history: You won’t believe how many SEC RBs have been taken in first round … and there’s more on the way

Leonard Fournette is projected to join a long list of SEC running backs to hear their name called early in the NFL Draft.

The SEC has had 52 running backs drafted in the first round, including 29 selected in the top 10 overall, led by Bo Jackson, Billy Cannon, Tucker Fredrickson, Tommy Mason, Charley Trippi and George Cafego.

While Fournette, the former LSU running back, is not projected to join those players as a No. 1 overall pick, Fournette in multiple mock drafts is ticketed for Jacksonville at No. 4.

NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock told Philly.com that Fournette is at the top of a deep running back class this year.

“He’s an old-school, downhill runner,” Mayock said. “He’s got the physical traits of an Adrian Peterson. His combination of speed and power is frightening. He runs angry. But you’ve got to get him touches. You’ve got to get him 20 to 30 touches a game. That means if you draft him, your team has to philosophically commit to the run game. If you draft him, that’s who you are. He’s a commitment. A different type of commitment. There’s a bunch of good backs in this draft. But the other top ones – McCaffrey, Cook, Mixon, Kamara – all of those guys are more today’s NFL running back. They’ll be on the field on third down as well as first and second down. Fournette is a first- and second-down back.”

SEC running backs being drafted in the first round is about as consistent as the unpredictable NFL Draft. There have been few gaps over eight decades where there wasn’t at least one SEC running back taken in the first round.

From 1983 to 2008, there were eight years where at least two backs were taken in the first round, and in 1986, there were three. That was the year Jackson went No. 1, and then Seattle and Chicago took John Williams and Neal Anderson.

Fournette also has his work cut out for him to join the elite of the elite. Emmitt Smith, Trippi and Steve Van Buren were all elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Smith, of course, holds the career rushing yard mark at 18,355.

Here are the 52 SEC running backs drafted in the first round, according to pro-football-reference.com’s draft database:

Keith Farner

A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.