A night after smashing the previous record for the most first-round draft picks in an NFL draft, the SEC once again helped provide some depth at the next level with a strong showing in the second round on Friday night. The SEC had 10 players selected in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, the most of any conference.
Clemson’s Tee Higgins started the night heading to the Cincinnati Bengals (Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins should be fun to watch if you are a Bengals fan), and USC’s Michael Pittman was picked by the Indianapolis Colts with the second pick of the night. Then the SEC got involved once again.
Georgia’s D’Andre Swift was the first SEC representative off the board in the second round, courtesy of the Detroit Lions. He was joined by Alabama safety Xavier McKinney one pick later by the New York Giants. LSU added to their draft selections after a program-record five first-round picks Thursday night with Grant Delpit going to the Cleveland Browns and cornerback Kristian Fulton heading to the Tennessee Titans. Alabama later saw Trevon Diggs go to the Dallas Cowboys and Raekwon Davis to the Miami Dolphins.
The Big Ten had a solid showing in the second round of the draft. Highlighted by defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos of Penn State (to former Baylor head coach Matt Rhule with the Carolina Panthers) running backs Jonathan Taylor of Wisconsin (to the Indianapolis Colts) and JK Dobbins of Ohio State (to the Baltimore Ravens), the Big Ten saw seven players drafted in the second round. Iowa’s A.J. Epenesa may have been a bargain at 54th overall by the Buffalo Bills.
Notre Dame was the only independent program to have any players selected in the second round with Cole Kmet going to the Chicago Bears and Chase Claypool heading to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Southern Illinois got a chance to wave the FCS banner with the final pick of the second round. Safety Jeremy Chinn was drafted by the Panthers just before moving on to the third round.
There was a pick from the Division 2 pool. The New England Patriots selected Lenoir-Rhyne safety Kyle Dugger. Dugger was the fifth pick of the second round, officially putting the South Atlantic Conference on the board in this year’s NFL draft.
2020 NFL Draft Second Round Picks By Conference
- SEC - 10
- Big Ten - 7
- ACC - 3
- Big 12 - 3
- Pac-12 - 3
- Missouri Valley Conference (FCS) - 1
- Mountain West - 1
- South Atlantic Conference (D2) - 1
- Sun Belt -1
(Independents - 2)