Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
By Chris Marler
The 2026 NFL Draft has come to a close, and for the 20th straight year we saw the same result.
By the numbers
For the 20th straight year, the SEC led all conferences in NFL Draft picks. After a quieter first round, the league dominated every round after, finishing with a record 87 selections, surpassing last year’s 79. Every SEC program had at least one player drafted, and all 16 schools produced multiple picks.
Here’s a look at where each conference ended up in terms of picks in this year’s draft.
SEC – 87
B1G – 68
ACC – 38
Big 12 – 38
Most Draft Picks by Conference at the 2026 #NFLDraft
For the 20th consecutive year the #SEC finishes with the most NFL Draft Picks in the Draft with 8⃣7⃣ shattering their previous record of 7⃣9⃣ set a season ago. pic.twitter.com/CICB36w8gN
— Chris Marler (@Vern_Funquist) April 25, 2026
Diego Pavia makes history
Diego Pavia is used to making history. This year’s draft wasn’t exactly the kind he was looking for, though.
Pavia became the first Heisman finalist since 2014 that wasn’t drafted in the subsequent draft. Pavia’s measurables weren’t great, but his interviews went really well. That made it that much more surprising that he wasn’t selected.
Diego Pavia becomes the first Heisman finalist since 2014 to go undrafted pic.twitter.com/e4h9v3AZee
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) April 25, 2026
More history made & numbers to know
30: Mississippi State had their first wide receiver drafted in 30 years when Brenen Thompson was drafted by the Chargers.
9: Nine quarterbacks were drafted ahead of Garrett Nussmeier who was thought to be the No. 3,4, or 5 best QB in this class.
36: A record 36 wide receivers were taken in this year’s draft.
7: Six LSU players were drafted.
12: Barion Brown became the 12th LSU player drafted by the New Orleans Saints all-time. They have still never drafted an LSU player in the first round.
3: An LSU player was the highest SEC player drafted for the third year in a row.
WILD: Last year’s Way Too Early Mock Draft from ESPN 1st Round listed 12 players from the SEC in the first round.
Here’s where everyone ended up pic.twitter.com/bDaWK9PFAa
— Chris Marler (@Vern_Funquist) April 25, 2026
Most draft picks by SEC team
Alabama – 10
Texas A&M – 10
UGA – 8
Florida – 7
LSU – 7
Oklahoma – 7
Mizzou – 6
Texas – 6
Auburn – 5
Tennessee – 5
Arkansas – 4
Kentucky – 4
South Carolina – 3
Mississippi State – 2
Ole Miss – 2
Vanderbilt – 1
Most picks by school, 2026 NFL draft:
Ohio State – 11
Alabama – 10
Texas A&M – 10
Clemson – 9
Miami – 9
Texas Tech – 9
Georgia – 8
Indiana – 8
Penn State – 8
Florida – 7
Iowa – 7
LSU – 7
Oklahoma – 7
Oregon – 7
Washington – 7
Michigan – 6
Missouri – 6
Notre Dame – 6
Texas – 6…— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) April 25, 2026
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