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Colleges With the Most Overall No. 1 Picks in NFL Draft History
The 2025 NFL draft begins Thursday and while nothing is set in stone, it appears that the Tennessee Titans will be selecting a quarterback with the first overall pick, specifically Cam Ward from Miami.
If that happens, Ward would be the third Miami player in history to be selected No. 1 overall and it would make the Hurricanes one of just nine programs to have at least three players be the first picked in the NFL draft.
Of course, we won't really know what the Titans' plan is until the pick is announced Thursday night. But in the meantime, let's take a look back at the colleges with the most No. 1 overall NFL draft picks.
How the Draft Order is Determined
The NFL standings determine the draft order. The team with the worst record in the league gets the first overall pick, the team with the second-worst record receives the second overall pick, so on and so forth until the 20 teams that missed the playoffs have a draft slot. For picks No. 21 through No. 32, the order is based of postseason performances.
The four teams eliminated in the wild card get picks No. 21, 22, 23 and 24 based on final regular season records. The four teams eliminated in the divisional round get picks No. 25, 26, 27 and 28 based on final regular season records. The two conference championship losers get picks No. 29 and 30 based on final regular season records. Finally, the Super Bowl runner-up gets pick No. 31 and the winner gets pick No. 32.
If any two (or more) teams have identical records, strength of schedule is used as a tiebreaker.
Keep in mind, it is very common for teams to trade away draft picks, which is why the order of the draft isn't always the same as the standings.
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How Important is the No. 1 Overall NFL Draft Pick?
Now more than ever, the NFL is a quarterback-driven league. If you have a good quarterback, odds are your team is at least somewhat successful. If you have a bad quarterback, you might find yourself in the hunt for the No. 1 overall pick.
At that point, it's likely you'd look to replace your quarterback and use that No. 1 overall pick on a new signal caller. After all, more quarterbacks have been selected first overall (39) than any other position.
As of this writing, 89 different players have had the distinction of being drafted first and 43 of them went on to appear in at least one Pro Bowl and 14 of them have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
So, in short, the first pick is incredibly important. If a team is right, it can instantly transform a franchise and take it to new heights.
Colleges with the Most No. 1 Overall NFL Draft Picks
USC leads the way with six players being the first overall NFL draft pick. They are: Caleb Williams (2024), Carson Palmer (2003), Keyshawn Johnson (1996), Ricky Bell (1977), O.J. Simpson (1969) and Ron Yary (1968).
Three schools are in a tie for second-most at five players. Georgia, Notre Dame and Oklahoma.
Georgia's latest was Travon Walker (2022), followed by Matt Stafford (2009), Harry Babcock (1953), Charley Trippi (1945) and Frank Sinkwich (1943).
Oklahoma had the most-recent back-to-back No. 1 overall picks, with Kyler Murray (2019) and Baker Mayfield (2018). Before those two, former Sooners Sam Bradford (2010), Billy Sims (1980) and Lee Roy Selmon (1976) were the top draftees.
It's been awhile for Notre Dame, but the Irish dominated the early years of collegiate and professional football with Walt Patulski (1972), Paul Hornung (1957), Leon Hart (1950), Frank Dancewicz (1946) and Angelo Bertelli (1944) all going first.
No other program has more than four, with both Stanford and Auburn sharing that distinction. Three schools (LSU, Ohio State and Texas) currently have three first overall selections. Nine have two players that went No. 1. There are 33 schools with a one top selection.
School | No. of 1st Overall Picks | Latest No. 1 Draftee |
|---|---|---|
USC | 6 | Caleb Williams (2024) |
Georgia | 5 | Travon Walker (2022) |
Notre Dame | 5 | Walt Patulski (1972) |
Oklahoma | 5 | Kyler Murray (2019) |
Auburn | 4 | Cam Newton (2011) |
Stanford | 4 | Andrew Luck (2012) |
LSU | 3 | Joe Burrow (2020) |
Ohio State | 3 | Orlando Pace (1997) |
Texas | 3 | Kenneth Sims (1982) |
Alabama | 2 | Bryce Young (2023) |
Cal | 2 | Jared Goff (2016) |
Miami | 2 | Russell Maryland (1991) |
Michigan | 2 | Jake Long (2008) |
Nebraska | 2 | Irving Fryar (1984) |
Penn State | 2 | Courtney Brown (2000) |
South Carolina | 2 | Jadeveon Clowney (2014) |
Tennessee | 2 | Peyton Manning (1998) |
Virginia Tech | 2 | Michael Vick (2001) |
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Nathan Cunningham is a writer for Sports Illustrated and Minute Media. Throughout his career, he has written about collegiate sports, NFL Draft, Super Bowl champions, and more. Nathan has also been featured in FanSided and 90Min. Nathan loves colorful uniforms, mascots and fast-break pull-up 3-pointers. He graduated from BYU in 2016 with a degree in journalism.