Major League Baseball teams have farm systems to funnel talent to their rosters. NFL teams do not have a minor-league system of affiliates and instead rely on college programs to develop the players they rely on.
But some NFL teams rely on some college programs almost as though they were organizational affiliates. For the SEC programs, the Arizona Cardinals have liked what they’ve seen over the years on the conference’s football fields. Six of the SEC’s 16 current members have the Cardinals as the top taker of their talent over the 89 years of the NFL Draft, with the franchise picking players while moving from Chicago to St. Louis to Phoenix.
The colleges who have drafted the most players from each SEC program include:
Auburn: 24 by the Arizona Cardinals
Florida: 24 by the Pittsburgh Steelers
Georgia: 26 by the Philadelphia Eagles
Kentucky: 13 apiece by the Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Rams and Pittsburgh Steelers
LSU: 23 by the Arizona Cardinals
Mississippi State: 14 by the Philadelphia Eagles
Missouri: 21 by the Arizona Cardinals
Oklahoma: 40 by the Arizona Cardinals
Ole Miss: 30 by the New York Giants
South Carolina: 20 by the Green Bay Packers
Tennessee: 23 by the Detroit Lions
Texas: 27 by the Chicago Bears
Texas A&M: 23 by the Arizona Cardinals
Vanderbilt: 10 apiece by the Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears and Washington Commanders
Limiting the list to SEC players would count the picks from Arkansas and South Carolina since the 1993 draft and Missouri and Texas A&M since the 2013 draft. Because Oklahoma and Texas played their first SEC seasons in 2024, the 2025 draft will be their first producing prospects who played in the conference.
For SEC-only picks, the top outlet for the programs that have joined the league since its first football season in 1933 include:
Arkansas: Seven by the New England Patriots
Missouri: Four by the Denver Broncos
South Carolina: Seven apiece by the Carolina Panthers, Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers
Texas A&M: Four by the Cincinnati Bengals
The 90th NFL Draft starts at 7 p.m. CDT April 24, when the 32 first-round selections will be made. The draft will continue in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with the second and third rounds beginning at 6 p.m. April 25. The draft will conclude with the fourth through seventh rounds beginning at 10 a.m. April 26. ABC, ESPN, ESPN 2 and NFL Network will televise the draft.
