The SEC has been by far the most dominant conference in college football over the past 20 years or so, and naturally, has sent by far the most talent to the NFL as well.

Just over the past two years, the SEC has had a combined 138 players selected in the NFL Draft. The next closest conference is the Big Ten with 113, so there’s a pretty sizable gap.

It’s clear that NFL scouts know how tough it is to play in the SEC, and especially how tough it is to win in it. Now, Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko wants to use that knowledge to his players’ benefit.

During SEC Media Days in Atlanta, Elko boldly proclaimed that the Aggies could have “double-digit” picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. He noted how past SEC champions have typically had around 13 draft picks, and hopes bringing a title back to College Station could lead to similar results for the Aggies.

“We should get to double digit NFL draft picks this year,” Elko said, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. “That’ll be the first time Texas A&M has done that in a very long time.”

Looking at past SEC champions, Elko isn’t far off in his assessment. Georgia had 13 players selected in this year’s NFL Draft, while Alabama had 10 selected in 2024.

Of course, the problem is getting to the point of competing for an SEC title. The Aggies were technically only a game away from the SEC Championship Game, as had they beaten arch rival Texas in the final game of the regular season, they would’ve been the ones heading to Atlanta to face Kirby Smart and Georgia. However, an 8-5 record (5-3 in conference play, with all three losses coming in November) tells a different story.

“I think you have to go through some of that sometimes,” Elko said. “As painful as it is, as it was for us and our fans and everyone involved, we had never been in that position before. We had never been the hunted team. We had never been in November competing for an opportunity to get into Atlanta with our destiny in our own hands.”

“I think you learn how you have to elevate your game in those matchups when you become that team. Going on the road in back-to-back weeks, we didn’t play the football that we needed to play to finish it. It’s been our mantra the entire off-season. Mantras don’t turn into wins. But I do believe our kids have a really strong chip on their shoulders to change that story and finish this thing the right way.”

Not to mention, the Aggies only had three players selected in this year’s draft. They were all selected in the first two rounds – with Shemar Stewart going in the first and both Nic Scourton and Shemar Turner going in the second – but they still didn’t have that much of a presence.

For A&M to go from three draft picks to 10 or more in the span of one year would be quite the jump, but certainly not out of the realm of possibility.