Every year, the SEC places several players in the first round of the NFL Draft, and 2018 is sure to be a similar situation.

The conference is churning out plenty of top talent, and that will lead to several players hearing their names called on the first night of the 2018 Draft in April.

USA TODAY recently completed a four-round NFL Mock Draft, which can be found here. In the first round of that draft, eight SEC players were projected to be taken.

  • No. 4 — Minkah Fitzpatrick, DB, Alabama — Cleveland Browns
  • No. 8 — Calvin Ridley, WR, Alabama — Chicago Bears
  • No. 10 — Roquan Smith, LB, Georgia — Oakland Raiders
  • No. 14 — Rashaan Evans, LB, Alabama — Green Bay Packers
  • No. 16 — Derrius Guice, RB, LSU — Baltimore Ravens
  • No. 25 — Arden Key, LB/DE, LSU — Tennessee Titans
  • No. 26 — Da’Ron Payne, DL, Alabama — Atlanta Falcons
  • No. 29 — Ronnie Harrison, DB, Alabama — Jacksonville Jaguars

As with all of these early mock drafts, it’s important to note that the NFL Combine hasn’t even happened yet.

It’s likely that many teams will drastically alter their draft boards after that event in Indianapolis at the end of the month. At that point, we’ll have to see how many SEC players are projected to go in the first round.