Ad Disclosure
SEC’s first-round LBs in NFL Draft history … and who could join the list in 2017
Published:
Linebacker has always been a position of great importance in the SEC, the 2016 season was no exception. Three linebackers are projected to be selected in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft, which will be held Thursday through Saturday.
Alabama’s Reuben Foster, Florida’s Jarrad Davis and Missouri’s Charles Harris are projected as possible first-rounders. Only twice before (2013, 1989) have three linebackers from the SEC been drafted in the first round in the same year.
The SEC has produced 15 top-10 picks at linebacker over the years.
Here’s a list of every SEC linebacker chosen in the first round of the NFL Draft:
| Year | Player | Drafted | College | Chosen by |
| 2016 | Leonard Floyd | 9th | Georgia | Chicago |
| 2015 | Dante Fowler (OLB/DE) | 3rd | Florida | Jacksonville |
| 2015 | Bud Dupree | 22nd | Kentucky | Pittsburgh |
| 2014 | C.J. Mosley | 17th | Alabama | Baltimore |
| 2014 | Dee Ford | 23rd | Auburn | Kansas City |
| 2013 | Barkevious Mingo | 6th | LSU | Cleveland |
| 2013 | Jarvis Jones | 17th | Georgia | Pittsburgh |
| 2013 | Alec Ogletree | 30th | Georgia | St. Louis |
| 2012 | Dont’a Hightower | 25th | Alabama | New England |
| 2010 | Rolando McClain | 8th | Alabama | Oakland |
| 2008 | Jerod Mayo | 10th | Tennessee | New England |
| 2007 | Patrick Willis | 11th | Ole Miss | San Francisco |
| 2005 | Thomas Davis | 14th | Georgia | Carolina |
| 2005 | David Pollack | 17th | Georgia | Cincinnati |
| 1999 | Al Wilson | 31st | Tennessee | Denver |
| 1998 | Takeo Spikes | 13th | Auburn | Cincinnati |
| 1997 | Dwayne Rudd | 20th | Alabama | Minnesota |
| 1993 | Todd Kelly | 27th | Tennessee | San Francisco |
| 1991 | Huey Richardson | 15th | Florida | Pittsburgh |
| 1989 | Derrick Thomas | 4th | Alabama | Kansas City |
| 1989 | Eric Hill | 10th | LSU | Phoenix |
| 1989 | Keith DeLong | 28th | Tennessee | San Francisco |
| 1988 | Aundray Bruce | 1st | Auburn | Atlanta |
| 1988 | Clifford Charlton | 21st | Florida | Cleveland |
| 1987 | Cornelius Bennett | 2nd | Alabama | Indianapolis |
| 1985 | Alvin Toles | 24th | Tennessee | New Orleans |
| 1985 | Emanuel King | 25th | Alabama | Cincinnati |
| 1984 | Wilber Marshall | 11th | Florida | Chicago |
| 1982 | Johnie Cooks | 2nd | Miss. State | Baltimore |
| 1981 | E.J. Junior | 5th | Alabama | St. Louis |
| 1979 | Barry Krauss | 6th | Alabama | Baltimore |
| 1977 | A.J. Duhe | 13th | LSU | Miami |
| 1975 | Glenn Cameron | 14th | Florida | Cincinnati |
| 1970 | Jack Reynolds | 22nd | Tennessee | Los Angeles Rams |
| 1967 | Les Kelley | 26th | Alabama | New Orleans |
| 1964 | Ted Davis | 8th | Georgia Tech | San Diego |
| 1963 | Lee Roy Jordan | 6th | Alabama | Dallas |
| 1959 | Jackie Burkett | 12th | Auburn | Baltimore |
| 1955 | Larry Morris | 7th | Georgia Tech | Los Angeles Rams |
Glenn Sattell is an award-winning freelance writer for Saturday Down South.
