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On Thursday, April 26 the 2018 NFL Draft officially kicked off at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. When the first round of the draft was all said and done, there was one college football conference that stood above the rest and once again proved its earned the distinction of being the best in the nation.
Out of the first 32 players to come off the board, nearly one-third played their college careers in the SEC.
A total of 10 players from the SEC heard their names called early with Georgia’s Roquan Smith, who went at No. 8 to the Chicago Bears, being the first to be selected. Alabama’s Minkah Fitzpatrick went to the Miami Dolphins at No. 11, Washington picked up Alabama’s Da’Ron Payne at No. 13, Arkansas center Frank Ragnow landed with the Detroit Lions at No. 20, Alabama’s Rashaan Evans at No. 22 to the Tennessee Titans, Georgia’s Isaiah Wynn landed in New England at No. 23, and the Baltimore Ravens picked up South Carolina tight end Hayden Hurst to round out the top 25.
To close out Round 1, Alabama’s Calvin Ridley went to the Atlanta Falcons at No. 26, the Jacksonville Jaguars picked up Florida’s Taven Bryan at No. 29 and the New England Patriots double-dipped in Athens to snag Georgia’s Sony Michel at No. 31.
The ACC had the second-most prospects selected at six, while the Big Ten and Pac-12 had four apiece. The Big 12 brought up the real for the Power Five with their lone first-rounder being No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback.
NFL 1st round picks by conference:
SEC 10
ACC 6
B1G 4
Pac-12 4
MWC 3
Independents (ND) 2
AAC 1
Big 12 1
C-USA 1— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) April 27, 2018
The full results from Round 1 can be seen below.
The 2018 NFL Draft resumes on Friday night beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET on the NFL Network and ESPN.
