The Cincinnati Bengals took Joe Burrow with the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Burrow, who won the 2019 Heisman Trophy, became the third LSU player to be drafted No. 1 overall.
The selection of Kyler Murray in 2019 pulled Oklahoma into a tie with Notre Dame and Southern California for the most top picks in draft history. Here are the schools with the most No. 1 selections since the NFL Draft began in 1936:
HEISMAN TROPHY: Joe Burrow bests fellow QBs Hurts, Fields for 2019 Heisman | Heisman history
Colleges with most overall No. 1 picks in the NFL Draft
| SCHOOL (NUMBER) | PLAYERs (years) |
|---|---|
| Notre Dame (5) | Walt Patulski (1972), Paul Hornung (1957), Leon Hart (1950), Frank Dancewicz (1946), Angelo Bertelli (1944) |
| Southern California (5) | Carson Palmer (2003), Keyshawn Johnson (1996), Ricky Bell (1977), O.J. Simpson (1969), Ron Yary (1968) |
| Oklahoma (5) | Kyler Murray (2019), Baker Mayfield (2018), Sam Bradford (2010), Billy Sims (1980), Lee Roy Selmon (1976) |
| Auburn (4) | Cam Newton (2011), Aundray Bruce (1988), Bo Jackson (1986), Tucker Frederickson (1965) |
| Georgia (4) | Matthew Stafford (2009), Harry Babcock (1953), Charley Trippi (1945), Frank Sinkwich (1943) |
| Stanford (4) | Andrew Luck (2012), John Elway (1983), Jim Plunkett (1971), Bobby Garrett (1954) |
| Ohio State (3) | Orlando Pace (1997), Dan Wilkinson (1994), Tom Cousineau (1979) |
| Texas (3) | Kenneth Sims (1982), Earl Campbell (1978), Tommy Nobis (1966) |
| LSU (3) | Joe Burrow (2020), JaMarcus Russell (2007), Billy Cannon (1960) |
| California (2) | Jared Goff (2016), Steve Bartkowski (1975) |
| Miami (Fla.) (2) | Russell Maryland (1991), Vinny Testaverde (1987) |
| Michigan (2) | Jake Long (2008), Tom Harmon (1941) |
| Nebraska (2) | Irving Fryar (1984), Sam Francis (1937) |
| Penn State (2) | Courtney Brown (2000), Ki-Jana Carter (1995) |
| South Carolina (2) | Jadeveon Clowney (2014), George Rogers (1981) |
| Tennessee (2) | Peyton Manning (1998), George Cafego (1940) |
| Virginia Tech (2) | Michael Vick (2001), Bruce Smith (1985) |
| Alabama (1) | Harry Gilmer (1948) |
| Chicago (1) | Jay Berwanger (1936) |
| Central Michigan (1) | Eric Fisher (2013) |
| Colorado A&M (1) | Gary Glick (1956) |
| Florida State (1) | Jameis Winston (2015) |
| Fresno State (1) | David Carr (2002) |
| Illinois (1) | Jeff George (1990) |
| Iowa (1) | Randy Duncan (1959) |
| Indiana (1) | Corbett Davis (1938) |
| Kentucky (1) | Tim Couch (1999) |
| Louisiana Tech (1) | Terry Bradshaw (1970) |
| Michigan State (1) | Bubba Smith (1967) |
| Mississippi (1) | Eli Manning (2004) |
| North Carolina State (1) | Mario Williams (2006) |
| Oklahoma State (1) | Bob Fenimore (1947) |
| Oregon (1) | George Shaw (1955) |
| Oregon State (1) | Terry Baker (1963) |
| Pennsylvania (1) | Chuck Bednarik (1949) |
| Rice (1) | King Hill (1958) |
| Southern Methodist (1) | Kyle Rote (1951) |
| Syracuse (1) | Ernie Davis (1962) |
| Tampa (1) | John Matuszak (1973) |
| TCU (1) | Ki Aldrich (1939) |
| Tennessee State (1) | Ed 'Too Tall' Jones (1974) |
| Texas A&M (1) | Myles Garrett (2017) |
| Texas Tech (1) | Dave Parks (1964) |
| Tulane (1) | Tommy Mason (1961) |
| UCLA (1) | Troy Aikman (1989) |
| Utah (1) | Alex Smith (2005) |
| Vanderbilt (1) | Bill Wade (1952) |
| Virginia (1) | Bill Dudley (1942) |
| Washington (1) | Steve Emtman (1992) |
| Washington State (1) | Drew Bledsoe (1993) |
In total, 50 different schools have had a player selected No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft, including 21 different colleges in the past 23 years (since 1997). Oklahoma (Murray, 2019; Mayfield, 2018; Bradford, 2010) and LSU (Burrow, 2020; Russell, 2007) are the only schools with multiple representatives during this span.
