USC is once again alone at the top of the NFL draft.
The Chicago Bears’ selection of Caleb Williams at No. 1 overall on Thursday night gives the Trojans six No. 1 NFL draft picks. That breaks a tie with Georgia, Notre Dame and Oklahoma for the most No. 1 picks since the NFL draft began in 1936.
The Bulldogs tied the four-way team at the top in 2022 when the Jacksonville Jaguars selected edge rusher Travon Walker No. 1 overall. Oklahoma had its fourth and fifth No. 1 overall selections in consecutive seasons in 2018 and 2019, when Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray went No. 1 in consecutive seasons.
The Sooners can also unofficially claim Williams as the No. 1 pick. Williams played his freshman season at Oklahoma before transferring to USC for the 2022 season after the Trojans hired Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley.
Notre Dame has held five number 1 positions in the overall rankings for more than fifty years. Walt Patulski is the latest No. 1 pick for the Fighting Irish. He went No. 1 overall in 1972.
After those four schools, Auburn and Stanford are ranked No. 5 with four No. 1 picks each. Cam Newton was the last Tiger selected overall in 2011, and Stanford’s Andrew Luck was taken No. 1 overall a year later. Twelve other schools have had multiple players selected at No. 1 overall.
Here’s a quick look at the No. 1 picks from Georgia, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and USC, now that USC has the most top picks of any school.
USC
T Ron Yary (1968, Minnesota Vikings): Yary spent all but one season of his Hall of Fame career with the Vikings. He was a first-team All-Pro selection for six consecutive seasons from 1971 to 1976 and started every game in the 1970s.
RB OJ Simpson (1969, Buffalo Bills): The 1968 Heisman winner rushed for 11,236 yards and had 75 total touchdowns over an 11-year career. Simpson became one of the most infamous celebrities in the United States in the 1990s after he was acquitted of murder. Simpson died on April 10 at the age of 76.
RB Ricky Bell (1977, Tampa Bay Buccaneers): After going with Selmon on defense the year before, the Bucs looked to strengthen their offense in 1977. Bell’s best season came in 1979 when he had 283 carries for 1,263 yards and seven rushing TDs. That was the only season in his six-year career in which he topped 1,000 rushing yards.
WR Keyshawn Johnson (1996, New York Jets): A three-time Pro Bowl selection, Johnson spent the first four seasons of his career with the Jets before being traded to the Buccaneers in 2000 for two first-round picks. After four seasons with the Bucs, Johnson was then traded to the Cowboys. . He had 814 career catches for 10,571 yards and 64 touchdowns.
QB Carson Palmer (2003, Cincinnati Bengals): Palmer made the Pro Bowl in his second season as a starter in 2005 after serving as a backup during his rookie season. Palmer spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Bengals before being traded to the Raiders and his final five seasons with the Cardinals. The three-time Pro Bowler threw for over 46,000 yards and threw 294 TD passes.
QB Caleb Williams (2024, Chicago Bears): Williams transferred to USC ahead of the 2022 season after Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley was hired by the Trojans. Williams was an instant star in Los Angeles when he won the Heisman Trophy. Williams threw 42 touchdowns to just five interceptions in 2022 and averaged more than nine yards per attempt in each of his three college seasons.
Georgia (5 No. 1 picks)
HB Frank Sinkwich (1943, Detroit Lions): Born in Croatia before his family moved to Ohio, Sinkwich became the first SEC player to win the Heisman Trophy in 1942. After a brief stint in the Marines, Sinkwich played two seasons for the Lions and was named NFL MVP in 1944. He achieved a total of 1,090 players. rushing yards in 35 games over four seasons.
HB/QB Charley Trippi (1945, Chicago Cardinals): Trippi did almost everything during his Hall of Fame career with the Chicago Cardinals. He rushed nearly 700 times for more than 3,500 yards, had 130 catches for 1,321 yards and was 205 of 434 passing for 2,547 yards. He also kicked and returned kicks; he led the NFL in all-purpose yards in both 1948 and 1949.
E Harry Babcock (1953, San Francisco 49ers): Babcock played three seasons for the 49ers and had 16 catches for 181 yards. At Georgia, he was a two-time All-SEC player and a second-team All-American in 1952.
QB Matthew Stafford (2009, Detroit Lions): Stafford will enter his 16th season in the league in 2024 after 12 seasons with the Lions. The Rams won the Super Bowl after the 2021 season in Stafford’s first season with the team and he finished eighth in the 2023 MVP voting.
Edge Travon Walker (2022, Jacksonville Jaguars): Walker became the latest Georgia player to be drafted No. 1 two years ago and improved greatly as a pass rusher in his second season. After recording 3.5 sacks as a rookie in 2022, Walker had 10 sacks and 10 tackles for loss in 2023.
Notre Dame
QB Angelo Bertelli (1944, Boston Yanks): The 1943 Heisman winner played just six games that season before being drafted into the Marine Corps. Bertelli never played for the Yanks, as he spent 1944 and 1945 on active duty in World War II. After the war, Bertelli played professional football for three seasons before knee injuries forced him to retire.
QB Frank Dancewicz (1946, Boston Yanks): The Yanks used their top pick two seasons later on another quarterback from Notre Dame. Dancewicz played three seasons for Boston, starting two of the 23 games he played in. He threw for 12 touchdowns and had 29 interceptions.
E Leon Hart (1950, Detroit Lions): Hart was part of three title-winning teams with the Lions from 1950-1957. He caught 12 touchdowns in 1951 as he was a first-team All-Pro selection. Hart finished his career with 174 catches for 2,499 yards and had 31 total touchdowns.
HB Paul Hornung (1957, Green Bay Packers): The Pro Football Hall of Fame MVP of the 1961 season. Horning rushed 127 times for 597 yards and eight touchdowns that season, while also catching 15 passes for 145 yards and two scores. Hornung tallied more than 5,000 combined rushing and receiving yards during his career as the Packers won four NFL titles.
DE Walt Patulski (1972, Buffalo Bills): Patulski played four seasons with the Bills and spent his final season with the St. Louis Cardinals. He set a career high with seven sacks in 1973 and had 21.5 career sacks.
Oklahoma
DE Lee Roy Selmon (1976, Tampa Bay Buccaneers): Selmon collected 78.5 sacks over the course of his Hall of Fame career. He was named Defensive Player of the Year in 1979 after his third straight season with at least eleven sacks. Selmon made the Pro Bowl six times and was signed to Canton in 1995.
RB Billy Sims (1980, Detroit Lions): The 1978 Heisman winner narrowly missed becoming a consecutive Heisman winner when he finished second in the voting to USC’s Charles White a season later. His NFL career was cut short midway through his fifth season in 1984 by a devastating right knee injury. Through 60 career games, Sims rushed 1,131 times for 5,106 yards and scored 42 touchdowns.
QB Sam Bradford (2010, St. Louis Rams): Bradford became the second Heisman winner from Oklahoma to be selected at the top. He won Rookie of the Year in 2010 but struggled for the rest of his Rams career. After a rebound season in 2015 with the Philadelphia Eagles, Bradford played two seasons for the Minnesota Vikings and spent his final season in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals in 2018.
QB Baker Mayfield (2018, Cleveland Browns): After a promising start to his career in Cleveland and a playoff win in 2015, Mayfield was traded to the Carolina Panthers after the 2021 season. The Panthers released him midway through the 2022 season and he spent the rest of the season with the Rams. Mayfield had a bounce-back season after a one-year deal with the Bucs in 2023, when he set career highs in numerous passing categories.
QB Kyler Murray (2019, Arizona Cardinals): Mayfield’s successor at Oklahoma was the Rookie of the Year in 2019 and made the Pro Bowl in 2020 and 2021. The Cardinals then got off to a rough start in 2022 with Murray suffering a torn ACL 11 games into the season. He returned midway through the 2023 season and completed 66% of his passes and threw for 1,799 yards in eight games.
