SEC Invasion of NFL Continues as Training Camps Open

The good news for those following Alabama and LSU is that they can probably—and finally—stop counting.

When those two teams met in the 2012 BCS National Championship Game in New Orleans, everyone knew that both rosters were loaded with talent. But just how loaded they were has become truly eye-popping.

With Crimson Tide fullback Jalston Fowler selected in the fourth round this year by the Tennessee Titans and linebacker Xzavier Dickson picked in the seventh round by the New England Patriots, the total number of players who saw game action Jan. 9, 2012, and have since been drafted reached 45.

AL.com's Andrew Gribble chronicled the first 43 last year, and how 25 of the NFL's 32 teams had drafted at least one player who saw the field in the title game won 21-0 by the Crimson Tide.

College	Number
LSU	38
Alabama	36
Georgia	34
Florida	33
Tennesse	28
Auburn	26
South Carolina	22
Ole Miss	19
Texas A&M	19
Missouri	17
Arkansas	13
Mississippi State	12
Kentucky	11
Vanderbilt	9

With those two programs leading the way, the NFL has more of a Southeastern Conference look to it than ever, and all indications are that the numbers aren’t about to recede.

With the first NFL training camps opening, each team begins the process of putting together its roster for the 2015 season.

Although rosters will remain in flux until the final cuts, with changes made daily, as of Thursday evening there were 55 former Alabama players and 51 former LSU players on a camp roster.

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

During the NFL’s opening weekend last season, when the league announced its annual roster breakdown, the SEC had more of its players on NFL rosters than any other conference with an all-time high 345. Since 2006, it’s averaged 283 players per year.

LSU led all college programs with 38 former players on active rosters, one ahead of Southern California and two more than Alabama. Georgia and Florida rounded out the top five with 34 and 33, respectively, and Tennessee was tied for 10th with 28.

But if the draft is a fair indicator, it’ll be players from the other schools who will primarily keep the SEC’s numbers up this year, as Alabama only had seven players and LSU had four players selected in 2015. That’s down compared to recent drafts.

The Crimson Tide have had 14 first-round picks in the previous five drafts but just one in 2015. LSU has had at least one first-round pick in 10 of the past 12 drafts (all but 2010 and 2015).

Team	First-round picks	Total picks
Alabama	16	44
LSU	6	39
Florida	9	35
Georgia	4	33
South Carolina	3	23
Arkansas	0	21
Mississippi State	2	18
Missouri	5	17
Auburn	4	17
Texas A&M	7	16
Tennessee	4	16
Kentucky	1	10
Vanderbilt	0	9
Ole Miss	0	8

Beginning with Florida's Dante Fowler Jr., taken third overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars—though he sustained a torn ACL during rookie minicamp—the SEC had 54 players selected in the 2015 NFL draft, giving the league the most draftees for the ninth straight year.

Although its number of first-round picks dropped to seven, the conference has had 81 over the past nine drafts, which is good for an average of nine per year. 

The 63 SEC players selected in the 2013 draft set a record for a conference in a single year and more than doubled the number posted by any other league. It had 49 players picked last year.

But even the league's most recent additions have gotten into the act. Defensive lineman Shane Ray was Missouri's seventh first-round pick in the past seven drafts. Before that, the Tigers had had six first-round selections in the previous 38 years. Offensive lineman Cedric Ogbuehi was Texas A&M's seventh first-rounder since 2010.

On the flip side of that, Tennessee didn't have a player drafted for the first time since 1963, and Ole Miss hasn't had a first-round selection since 2009—although the Rebels could have more than one in 2016.

Each NFL roster must be reduced to a maximum of 75 players on the active list by Sept. 1, and just four days later come final cuts down to 53 players.

The NFL regular season is set to open Sept. 10.

Christopher Walsh is a lead SEC college football writer.

Follow Christopher on Twitter @WritingWalsh.