Florida leads NFL Draft with 36 players chosen.

Florida Dominates 2023 NFL Draft with 36 Players Selected

The recently concluded 2023 NFL Draft saw a strong showing for Florida, with 36 players selected in total, the most of any state in the US.

According to the data provided by the National Football League (NFL) on Friday, Florida produced six more draft picks than Texas, which came in second. Georgia had 23 players selected, followed by California with 21 players. No other state had more than 20 players drafted.

Of the 36 players picked from Florida, eight hail from Palm Beach, Broward, or Miami-Dade counties, including A.T. Perry, a graduate of Park Vista Community High School and a Wake Forest wide receiver, who was drafted in the sixth round by the New Orleans Saints.

Florida also led all states with six first-round selections, with Georgia and Texas following with four each. The top picks who played high school football in Florida were Anthony Richardson (No. 4 to the Indianapolis Colts), a Gainesville resident; Devon Witherspoon (No. 5 to the Seattle Seahawks), from Pensacola, Illinois; Jalen Carter (No. 9 to the Philadelphia Eagles), from Apopka, Georgia; Calijah Kancey (No. 19 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), from Miami, Pittsburgh; Zay Flowers (No. 22 to the Baltimore Ravens), from Fort Lauderdale, Boston College; and Nolan Smith (No. 30 to the Philadelphia Eagles), who grew up in Savannah, Georgia, but played at IMG Academy in Bradenton.

IMG Academy stands out as the only school to have multiple players selected in each of the past five years and have produced a first-round pick for the fourth consecutive year.

This is the first draft since 2019 that Florida finished with the most first-round picks, and the sixth time in the past decade that Florida has led with the most first-round picks.