The 2025 NFL Draft starts on April 24 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with the 32 first-round picks. AL.com is counting down to the event by highlighting the best choice – overall, from the SEC and of players from Alabama high schools and colleges — made with each of the first 32 picks in the 89 NFL drafts.
Best No. 17 pick: Florida running back Emmitt Smith by the Dallas Cowboys in 1990
Smith was a four-time first-team All-Pro, led the NFL in rushing four times, turned in 11 consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and is the league’s all-time leader in rushing yards with 18,355 and rushing touchdowns with 164.
Smith also played for three Super Bowl winners with the Cowboys and earned the NFL’s MVP Award for the 1993 season.
Smith entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame with the Class of 2010 in his first year of eligibility.
Smith is among the four Hall of Fame members who started their NFL careers as the No. 17 pick, and Dallas chose two. The Cowboys took Oregon cornerback Mel Renfro with the 17th pick in the 1964 draft.
The other No. 17 Hall of Famers are guard Gene Upshaw, picked by the Oakland Raiders from Texas A&M-Kingsville in 1967, and guard Steven Hutchinson, picked by the Seattle Seahawks from Michigan in 2001.
The Minnesota Vikings chose Alabama outside linebacker Dallas Turner at No. 17 in last year’s NFL Draft.
Best No. 17 pick from the SEC: Florida running back Emmitt Smith by the Dallas Cowboys in 1990
After Florida running back Emmitt Smith ran for 1,599 yards and won the SEC Player of the Year Award for the 1989 season, he was 72 yards from becoming the fifth SEC player with 4,000 career rushing yards and 1,331 yards – a figure that Smith had surpassed in two of his three seasons with the Gators — from reaching Herschel Walker’s conference career rushing record
But Smith never reached those milestones. He left Florida for the NFL with one season of eligibility remaining.
With the Cowboys, Smith got to the top of the mountain, replacing Walter Payton as the NFL’s career rushing leader during the 2002 season.
Smith was the sixth SEC player picked at No. 17. The 15th SEC was Alabama outside linebacker Dallas Turner by the Minnesota Vikings last year.
Best No. 17 pick with Alabama football roots: Alabama linebacker C.J. Mosley by the Baltimore Ravens in 2014
Less than 10 months after the Ravens chose the two-time consensus All-American, the former Theodore High School star was playing in the Pro Bowl.
Mosley became the first Baltimore rookie chosen for the Pro Bowl, and he has been selected for the all-star honor four more times while totaling more than 1,000 tackles in 10 NFL seasons. Mosley’s most recent Pro Bowl season came as a member of the New York Jets.
The Cincinnati Bengals hold the No. 17 pick in the NFL Draft on April 24.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.
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