The 2025 NFL Draft starts on April 24 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with the 32 first-round picks. AL.com is counting down to the event by highlighting the best choice – overall, from the SEC and of players from Alabama high schools and colleges -- made with each of the first 32 picks in the 89 NFL drafts.
Best No. 29 pick: Georgia quarterback Fran Tarkenton by the Minnesota Vikings in 1961
Thirteen of the NFL’s teams have struck the mother lode in the draft. They picked a quarterback whose performance for the team has led to his enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Dallas Cowboys and the Miami Dolphins have done so twice.
The Minnesota Vikings accomplished the feat in their first NFL Draft. With their third pick after joining the league as an expansion team, the Vikings chose Tarkenton, starting him on his way to an 18-year NFL career and a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Tarkenton spent the first six and the final seven of those seasons with Minnesota. The quarterback helped the Vikings reach three Super Bowls – all lost by Minnesota.
When he retired, Tarkenton had more passing yards, touchdown passes, victories and rushing yards than any quarterback in NFL history.
One other current Pro Football Hall of Fame member also entered the NFL as the No. 29 pick – linebacker Dave Wilcox in 1964 by the San Francisco 49ers.
Last year’s No. 29 pick was Oklahoma offensive tackle Tyler Guyton by the Dallas Cowboys.
Best No. 29 pick from the SEC: Georgia quarterback Fran Tarkenton by the Minnesota Vikings in 1961
The Vikings started their first NFL Draft by choosing an SEC star – Tulane running back Tommy Mason. The No. 1 pick in the 1961 draft had led the SEC with 662 rushing yards, eight rushing touchdowns and five touchdown receptions in 1960. But it was when Minnesota chose the SEC’s 1960 passing leader with its third selection in the 1961 draft that the Vikings this the jackpot.
After passing for an SEC single-season record 1,189 yards for Georgia in 1960, Tarkenton threw for 1,997 for the expansion team in 1961, with Mason catching 20 passes for 122 yards. Although he played his last season in 1978, Tarkenton still holds the franchise record for career passing yards and touchdown passes.
Tarkenton is among the 26 SEC players who have been chosen at No. 29 in the NFL Draft. The most recent No. 29 pick from the SEC is Georgia cornerback Eric Stokes in 2021 by the Green Bay Packers.
Best No. 29 pick with Alabama football roots: Auburn running back Joe Cribbs by the Buffalo Bills in 1980
A former Sulligent High School star, Cribbs was an immediate hit in Buffalo, with 1,000-yard rushing performances in three of his first four seasons. In the non-1,000-yard season, he led the NFL with an average of 90.4 rushing yards per game in the strike-shortened 1982 campaign.
After three Pro Bowl selections, Cribbs jumped to the Birmingham Stallions of the original USFL and delivered 2,514 rushing yards in the 1984 and 1985 seasons before immediately returning to the NFL for four more seasons when the spring league went under.
With 5,356 NFL rushing yards, Cribbs has the most among the 45 running backs drafted in 1980, including the five picked before him – Billy Sims, Curtis Dickey, Earl Cooper, Vagas Ferguson and Charles White.
The other four players from Alabama high schools and colleges picked at No. 29 also became NFL starters – guard Ben Grubbs (Elmore County, Auburn), guard Ed King (Phenix City, Auburn), nose tackle Doug Smith (Auburn) and safety George Teague (Jeff Davis, Alabama).
The Washington Commanders hold the No. 29 pick in the NFL Draft on April 24.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.