Alabama Football: NFL Draft Big Wins By Top Teams And More

Alabama football players and the reputation of the Alabama program were big NFL Draft winners. Others in the SEC did not fare so well.

Before we address the NFL Draft winners and the losers, let’s acknowledge the BIG WINNER. The NFL is an entertainment conglomerate and the NFL Draft is their second biggest show. Dwarfed only by the Super Bowl, the NFL has conjured an emotion filled drama out of the rookie selection process.

From the Combine to Pro Days, to thousands of hours of prognostication, virtually every media platform has engaged in the Draft obsession.

Apparently many so-called experts make tidy sums assuring fans what will happen during Draft days. They are wrong so much more than they are right, it is almost laughable.

Despite all of the above and also because of it, the NFL Draft is a smashing success. Credit to the NFL – they are really good at show business.

Casting aside this somewhat jaded view, we acknowledge there are deserving winners. A number of players are winners, some of them big winners. Most of them earning a reward, richly deserved.

Many college football programs win as well, in stature and reputation for preparing players to succeed professionally.

A bunch of Moms also win. Maybe most of the family stories are trite, but that does not make them untrue. Many Parents (Moms and Dads) and Grandparents do sacrifice to make their football son’s dreams come true.

The 2017 NFL Draft Big Winners

Alabama football broke its own draft record by having ten players drafted. The previous high for Alabama was in 2013 when nine Alabama football players were drafted. Michigan led all schools with 11 players drafted.

Alabama set another record, though admittedly the exact distinction is somewhat arbitrary.

Arbitrary or not, nine players drafted in the first 80 picks is mighty impressive. As reported by al.com, another calculation led to another draft first; seven drafted in the first 55 picks.

At least one media platform announced Alabama football players hauled in the most money with 2017 draft contracts. Alas, that was not correct. Alabama football players were No. 2 with $70,747,599 in contracts. LSU was No. 1 at $76,051,529.

We will add a list of the top 40 Draft money hauls at the end of this post. Missing from that list will be Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State and South Carolina.

Not with actual dollars, but pretty much in every other way – here is another NFL Draft big winner:

Take that Urb and Harbarf. CNS is still college football’s GOAT in developing NFL players.

Here is the top 40 list we promised. Note that Western Michigan and Temple players had bigger draft hauls than Auburn Tigers’ players.

BTW, our source for this list is spotrac.com. If you click on the link, it may still include one significant error which we corrected in our numbers. As of Sunday, the  spotrac.com spreadsheet had a data entry error that credited Louisiana Tech, rather than LSU for Leonard Fournette’s draft contract. They are a reputable site and anyone can make a mistake.

1. LSU – $76,051,529
2. Alabama – $70,747,599
3. Ohjio State – $56,001,596
4. Michigan – $47,681,623
5. North Carolina – $46,256,502
6. Stanford – $45,618,201
7. Clemson – $45,140,289
8. Texas A&M – $45,035,561
9. Washington – $42,246,888
10. Florida – $39,770,231
11. Utah – $33,109,537
12. Western Michigan – $32,108,777
13. Tennessee – $28,864,210
14. Miami – $27,653,145
15. USC – $23,343,418
16. UCLA – $21,905,664
17. Wisconsin – $21,274,534
18. Temple – $20,354,283
19. Mississippi – $18,186,874
20. FSU – $16,550,050
21. Texas Tech – $16,502,457
22. Oklahoma – $14,030,848
23. Pittsburgh – $13,732,244
24. Colorado – $13,627,879
25. Iowa – $11,509,623
26. Auburn – $11,267,613
27. Houston – $11,054,756
28. Missouri – $10,889,550
29. Western Kentucky – $10,437,899
30. Virginia Tech – $9,963,659
31.  Michigan State – $9,959,067
32. Toledo – $8,661,766
33. California – $8,610,087
34. San Diego State – $8,559,809
35. Louisana Tech – $8,405,819
36. Arkansas – $8,066,362
37. South Florida – $7,866,322
38. Notre Dame – $7,404,325
39. Vanderbilt – $7,106,392
40. Villanova – $6,765,415

Next: What the 10 Drafted Alabama Players Will Earn

Stay tuned as we go into details about Alabama’s drafted players and other Alabama football players that have signed undrafted free agent contracts and accepted team tryout opportunities.