The 2025 NFL Draft was held from April 24 to 26 in Green Bay, Wisconsin at Lambeau Field and it’s adjacent Titletown District. The 90th version of the draft was the first for the Big Ten to include the four schools that migrated over from the Pac 12 – Oregon, USC, UCLA and Washington.
In this article Big Jeff first analyzes how the Big Ten did relative to their archrival the SEC as well as the other major conferences, plus looks at 10 total years of historical draft data. Then I also dive into the performance of many ofthe Big Ten teams in 2025 including laying out the “winners” and “losers”. And provide some comparisons to their most recent 10-year history to better understand how the current coaching staffs are performing in generating NFL talent.
And all this will be done in a “2025 NFL Draft Top 10 Insights” framework. Plus, if you want the “audio” version of this 2025 draft analysis for the Big Ten, see the Links Below from my “Big Jeff’s Football Insights” from our May 1, 2025 podcast where I appear on the @The BigTenHuddle with JR Rhoades most Thursday nights at 9 pm EST to provide deep dive analysis on various Big Ten football topics.
On YouTube: Data Behind the Big Ten’s 2025 NFL Draft Surge: What Can the Big Ten do to Catch the SEC?
First round pick Penn State’s Abdul Carter.
2025 NFL Draft Top 10 Insights
Let’s start with the data by conference in the two tables below. For this, notice the data changes considerably in 2025 with conference realignment where for example the Big Ten added 4 Pac 12 teams, the SEC added two Big 12 teams and the ACC added two Pac 12 teams. The Pac 12 data in 2025 includes the remaining two teams of Oregon State and Washington State.
Cells highlighted in Green represent favorable data for that conference, while cells in the Light Tan color represent data mostly unfavorable to that conference.
Table 1 focuses on draft picks across all 7 rounds, while Table 2 is data for the first round only where the highest college talent pool resides.
Insight 1) The SEC and Big 10 dominated showing they truly are the Kings of college football, and the Gap is only getting larger.
Refer to Tables 1 and 2.
In 2025, the SEC was #1 with 79 total draft picks (31.0% of the total) which is an all-time record, but they did add 2 schools for 16 total teams. The Big Ten was the clear #2 conference with 71 total picks (27.8% of the total), also a record for the conference after adding 4 teams and up from 42 picks the prior year. For the Big Ten, only 2023 with 55 picks comes even close over the last 10 years for total picks.
Combined the Big 10 and SEC had a whopping 59% (rounded) of all draft picks, much higher than the last 10-yr average of 42%. Looking at the first round only, the BIg 10/SEC dominance is even more pronounced with 26 of 32 total picks for 81% (rounded). That is a huge increase over the 10-year average for the 2 conferences of 56.6% of all first-round picks.
The 2025 draft was a virtual advertisement for Big 10 and SEC dominance and the data clearly shows the gap between them and the rest of college football is only increasing
Insight 2) Schools outside the Power 4 (SEC, Big 10, ACC and Big 12), including the Pac 12, did the worst they likely have ever done and their futures look bleak.
Refer to Tables 1 and 2.
The Pac 12, which for now is only Washington State and Oregon State, had only 2 picks combined overall and no first round picks. The “Other” category includes all the other FBS (D-1) programs which covers the Group of 5 conferences and includes 64 teams had only 33 players drafted in 2025 – down from 44 last year and a high of 75 back as recent as 2022.
The 33 for the “Other” category in 2025 represents 12.9% of total picks which is down substantially from the 22.5% of total picks from Other over the past 10 years. I feel this is the negative impacts of both NIL and the transfer portal where once players prove themselves, they can transfer to bigger programs and make money in the process greatly weakening the Group of 5.
The bottom line is it’s likely the SEC and Big 10 with their financial resources will benefit the most in picking off the best players from the Group of 5.
Insight 3) The ACC and Big 12 continue to weaken, all of which supports the hypothesis by many that we may be heading to a future of two super conferences.
The ACC had the third most 2025 NFL draft picks with 41 (16.1% of the total) tying their 2024 total, BUT that included after adding the three new schools (California, Stanford and SMU). The 16.1% is an uptick over the past 10-year average of 13.5% of all picks coming from the ACC. For first round picks the ACC had only 2 (6.3% of the total), which is far behind their 10-year average of 13.8%.
The Big 12 had 29 picks (11.4% of the total), after having 28 the prior year, but they also added 4 new Pac 12 teams (Ariz St, Arizona, Colorado, Utah), so their overall picks should be growing more than that. 11.4% is slightly higher than the 10-year average of 10.8%, which is a bit of good news. The Big 12 only had 2 first round picks (6.3% of the total), which is down from the 10-year average of 8.8% of first round picks.
This data provides ammunition to those who think we are headed to where the Big 10 and SEC break off from the rest of college football as two “super conferences”, where they can set rules based on how they want them vs worrying about other conference influences. I am not 100% convinced of this yet but it does depend on the willingness of the ACC and Big 12 to agree to the things the Big 10/SEC want most.
Data Note: In Tables 3 and 4 below, we have integrated the data for the four Pac 12 teams that entered the league in 2024 as if they were in the Big Ten the past 10 years.
Insight 4) The Big 10 did close the gap with the SEC in 2025, powered by Ohio State’s 14 picks, but they still need the mid-tier teams to step up more.
Refer to Tables 2 and 3.
The Big Ten has won the past two national championships and it’s possible the retirement of Nick Saban before the 2024 season may have been a tipping point moment where the Big Ten now can really challenge the SEC as saying they are potentially the best football conference in the nation.
Though the Big Ten has two more teams, it was still impressive that in the 2025 draft the Big Ten had only 8 less overall picks than the SEC (79 vs 71). Over the last 9 years, the only year the Big Ten came as close as that was 2023 where the Big Ten had 7 less players drafted than the SEC. In first round picks the Big Ten also was pretty close with 11 first rounders vs. the SEC’s 14.
The issue is the depth of teams generating these picks. For example, the SEC’s 15 first round came from 9 different schools, while the Big Ten’s 11 first round picks came from only 4 different schools (Ohio State 4, Michigan 3, Penn State and Oregon 2 each) – from Table 4 below.
Looking at the top 10 teams to generate picks in 2025, the SEC has 6 teams (Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss, Alabama, Florida and LSU ) in the top 10, while the Big Ten has only 3 teams (Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan). For the top 20 teams with the most 2025 picks, the data is better with 7 Big Ten teams and 8 SEC teams – for 15 of 20 total teams for both conferences combined.
To overtake the SEC, the Big 10 must get more from their mid-tier (non Blueblood) teams. Based on the numbers, the depth of the SEC is better than the Big 10.
Insight 5) Ohio State are the Kings of the of the Big Ten in producing NFL talent, but Michigan is not far behind, and their 4-year resurgence has been great for the conference.
Refer to Tables 3 and 4.
Looking at just the Big Ten in Tabled 3 and 4, Ohio State led all schools with 14 total picks, and just one behind Georgia’s most ever for a single draft 15 in 2022. Over the last 10 years the Buckeyes have the most picks in the Big Ten with 85 (13.9% of the Big Ten’s total) and then Michigan is next with 73 picks or 12.0%.
Nationally over the last 10 years only Alabama with 92 picks is better than Ohio State’s 85. Georgia is third with 81, then Michigan impressively is tied for 4th with LSU tied with their 73 picks. A crazy tidbit to show Ohio State’s recruiting dominance is with wide receiver Emeka Egbuka going #19 to Tampa Bay this year, it’s now 5 first round WRs in 4 years and a record 4 yrs in row with 1st Round wide receiver for the Buckeyes.
For first round picks, Ohio State led the Big Ten with 4, followed closely by Michigan with three.
Insight 6) The other two biggest 2025 draft winners in the Big Ten were Penn State and Oregon.
Refer to Tables 3 and 4.
Both teams had 2 first round picks, with Penn State’s Abdul Carter going 3rd overall to the Giants which is their highest pick since Saquon Barkley went 2nd in 2018. Also, tight end Tyler Warren went #14 to Indianapolis. Penn State had only 5 picks overall, but it’s because so many draft eligible players returned for one more season as the Nittany Lions go for a national title in 2025.
Oregon had defensive tackle Derrick Harmon go #21 to Pittsburgh and offensive lineman Josh Conerly go #29 to Washington. Oregon also had 10 overall picks good for 4th best in the nation, and most in program history.
Insight 7) Beyond the Big 4 (OSU, Mich, PSU, Oregon), the Big Ten had 4 traditional mid-tier teams as clear 2025 draft winners.
Refer to Tables 3 and 4.
First, UCLA and Iowa with 5 picks each were tied for 13th in the nation. Both these school rank 7th and 8th respectively in the Big Ten in NFL production over the last 10 years generating 41 and 36 picks. UCLA is probably the biggest surprise here given it feels their on the field performance has lagged their talent production.
Next, Maryland had 6 picks and rank 10th in the Big Ten in producing NFL talent the last 10 years with 27 picks. But this also speaks to why their 4-8 record in 2024 was so disappointing. Finally, Minnesota had a solid draft with 3 total picks and PJ Fleck continues to show he can develop players with 3 of the last 4 years of at least 3 total picks.
Insight 8) Traditional Big Ten NFL Draft bottom feeders Indiana and Rutgers were also winners in this draft.
Refer to Tables 3 and 4.
Over the last 10 years both Indiana and Rutgers have been the worse in the conference at generating NFL talent with only 12 total draft picks each. schools have had fewest picks with 12 each, and are 2 of only 3 Big Ten schools (including Nebraska) with no first rounds picks in this timeframe.
After 2 years of zero draft picks, Indiana had two drafted in 2025, both by the 49ers in round 4 pick defensive tackles CJ West and round 7 pick quarterback Kurtis Rourke. That’s the most picks for the Hoosiers going back to 2018. And Rutgers had 3 picks in 2025, which is the most over the last at least 11 years.
Insight 9) The Big Ten also had five teams I have as 2025 NFL Draft Losers.
Refer to Tables 3 and 4.
First, USC had only 3 total picks that came in Rounds 3, 4 and 7. USC ranks 6th in the Big Ten the last 10 years with 41 total picks but to catch the SEC the Big Ten needs ALL their blueblood programs acting like it. They need better from the Trojans.
Next, Wisconsin had only 2 picks, after alson having only 2 the prior year under Luke Fickell. Both years are the lowest draft numbers for the Badgers since 2016. This reflects very poorly on Fickell and the Big Ten needs the Badgers to return to generating more like 3-5 players per year.
Michigan State had just 1 pick in 2025 making it back to back years, after having 2 or more picks 6 of the previous 8 years. Northwestern had zero picks for the second straight year. This is not good from coach David Braun and shows the impact of transfers like CB Benjamin Morrison transferring to Notre Dame and going in round 2 to Tampa Bay.
Washington had only 1 pick in 2025 after 10 in 2024 from their National final team, but I give them a pass in year one under Jedd Fisch. Finally, Illinois had one pick as well after 4 each the prior two years, but they probably also should be given a pass given how many returning starters they have coming back making them a popular media poll pre-season Top 20 team.
Insight 10) Even though I am a Big Ten fan and supporter, I am saddened to see how unlevel the playing field is for conferences outside the SEC/Big10 and fear for their future.
There is little doubt, the power consolidation to the Big 10 and SEC is certainly not good for the greater game of college football. All signs point to the strength of those two conferences increasing even more making the regular season less interesnting for many football fans. I don’t see this changing though since the Big 10 and SEC are not going to cede any of their power in the form of allowing for a commisioner of college football who could enact rules to level the playing field.
Big Ten NFL Draft Primer: How well do all Big Ten teams produce NFL talent? And compare to the SEC?
