Alabama ties record with six players taken in Round 1 – The Athletic

As the selections fly during the 2021 NFL Draft and college football’s stars of 2020 learn where their professional careers will begin, the schools that produced those stars are taking careful notes themselves. No recruiting pitch can compare to the proven ability to produce NFL talent, and the schools at the top of each year’s draft selections leaderboard take full advantage of that honor by digging at their rivals, touting their resources for development and celebrating their program legends.

LSU equaled history in 2020 with a whopping 14 players drafted, tying Ohio State’s 2004 class for the most picks ever from a single school since the NFL’s current seven-round format began in 1994. Trailing the Tigers were Michigan and Ohio State, which each produced 10 picks, and Alabama with nine. The Crimson Tide don’t figure to be sitting in fourth place by the end of this weekend, however. Their national championship-winning squad accounted for nine players in the top 100 of Dane Brugler’s 2021 Big Board, and six of them came off the board in Thursday night’s first round.

Below, we’ll be tracking this year’s top colleges in the great draft pick bragging rights sweepstakes.

LIVE BLOG: The latest from the NFL Draft
ROUND 1 PICK BY PICK: Dane Brugler’s analysis
DRAFT GRADES: Sheil Kapadia’s report cards
BIG BOARD: Best available players remaining

2021 NFL Draft first-round picks by college

Alabama (6)

Florida, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Northwestern, Miami, Penn State (2)

BYU, North Dakota State, LSU, Oregon, South Carolina, Ohio State, USC, Tulsa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Houston, Georgia, Washington (1)

• Alabama’s national championship squad has tied 2004 Miami for the most first-round picks in one year — and the Crimson Tide still a chance to break it. Najee Harris’ selection by the Steelers also made it a whopping eight first-round picks from the Crimson Tide’s decorated 2017 signing class. The rest of the top of the list:
2020 LSU 5
2016 Ohio State 5
2006 Ohio State 5
2002 Miami 5
1968 USC 5

• Trevor Lawrence is the first top-3 pick in Clemson history, and Clemson becomes the 51st college with a No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick.

• Zach Wilson is the 11th BYU quarterback drafted since 1967, tying the Cougars for ninth-most. He’s the third first-rounder in that time, joining Jim McMahon and Marc Wilson. (There’s also Steve Young, the 11th pick in the USFL draft.)

• Trey Lance joins Carson Wentz (No. 2 in 2016, North Dakota St) and Steve McNair (3rd in 1995, Alcorn St) as the only FCS players selected in the top 3 of the draft since the FBS/FCS split in 1978. North Dakota State has had more quarterbacks taken in the top-five in the past six years than the Big Ten has had in the top 10 in the past 30 years.

• Kyle Pitts is Florida’s highest-drafted offensive player since Wes Chandler was the No. 3 pick in 1978. (And Steve Spurrier was the No. 3 pick in 1967.)

• Alabama is the only team in the past 50 years to have five of the first 17 picks in a draft. The Crimson Tide also have two receivers selected within the first 15 picks for the second consecutive season.

2020 NFL Draft leaderboard: Top college programs by players drafted

LSU (14)

Michigan, Ohio State (10)

Alabama (9)

Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Utah (7)

Auburn, Notre Dame (6)

Minnesota, Mississippi State, Iowa, Penn State, TCU (5)

Baylor, Miami (Fla.), Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Temple, Wisconsin (4)

(Photo of Jaylen Waddle: Mark J. Rebilas / USA Today)