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The SEC has dominated college football for the last decade, so it should hardly come as a surprise that the conference is the most well-represented of all among NFL rosters.
There were 309 former SEC players on Opening Day NFL rosters in 2015, according to NFL.com. The ACC was next with 239 players, followed by the Big Ten and Pac-12 (221 apiece), the Big 12 (134) and American Athletic Conference (96).
LSU paced the SEC with 47 NFL players (including those on practice squads) to highlight the 328 overall former SEC players drawing NFL paychecks. A total of 251 colleges were represented on NFL Opening Day rosters this year.
Here’s a look at how many NFL players played in the SEC, and some of the notable performers from each school.
| Team | Players | Notables |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 42 | Julio Jones, Eddie Lacey |
| Arkansas | 17 | Darren McFadden, Ryan Mallett |
| Auburn | 33 | Cam Newtwon, Karlos Dansby |
| Florida | 42 | Carlos Dunlap, Maurkice Pouncey |
| Georgia | 37 | Todd Gurley, A.J. Green |
| Kentucky | 14 | Randall Cobb, Jacob Tamme |
| LSU | 47 | Odell Beckham Jr., Patrick Peterson |
| Miss. State | 15 | Fletcher Cox, Johnthan Banks |
| Missouri | 19 | Blaine Gabbert, Jeremy Maclin |
| Ole Miss | 17 | Eli Manning, Mike Wallace |
| S. Carolina | 27 | Alshon Jeffrey, Jadeveon Clowney |
| Tennessee | 28 | Peyton Manning, Jason Witten |
| Texas A&M | 23 | Vonn Miller, Johnny Manziel |
| Vanderbilt | 9 | Jay Cutler, Jordan Matthews |
John Hollis is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Georgia and Florida.
