The NFL Draft’s best No. 2 pick: Lawrence Taylor by the New York Giants

The 2025 NFL Draft starts on Thursday night 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. 2 pick: North Carolina outside linebacker Lawrence Taylor by the New York Giants in 1981

After the New Orleans Saints opened the 1981 NFL Draft by picking South Carolina running back George Rogers, the Giants took Taylor and unleashed him on the NFL.

In his first six seasons, Taylor earned first-team All-Pro recognition annually and won The Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award three times. He started the six-year run as the AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, and he closed it as the AP NFL Most Valuable Player.

Taylor received 10 Pro Bowl invitations as he rang up 142 sacks in his career.

In the 1986 season, when Taylor was the NFL MVP, the Giants won the Super Bowl, and they won it again for the 1990 campaign.

A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 1999 in his first season of eligibility, Taylor made the NFL All-Team Team selected for the league’s centennial in 2019.

The second selection in last year’s draft was LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels by the Washington Commanders.

Best No. 2 pick from the SEC: Ole Miss quarterback Archie Manning by the New Orleans Saints in 1971

The No. 2 pick from the SEC who had the best NFL career is Alabama linebacker Cornelius Bennett, the second selection in 1987. But he was not the best draft pick because it would be 12 years before he would play for the team that drafted him.

Bennett and the Indianapolis Colts could not reach a contract agreement, and on Oct. 31, 1987, Indianapolis dealt away the rookie in one of the biggest trades in NFL history. In a three-team deal with the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams, the Colts got three-time NFL rushing leader and four-time All-Pro Eric Dickerson.

In four-and-a-half seasons with Indianapolis, Dickerson ran for 5,194 yards and 53 touchdowns. But the Colts lost their only playoff game in that time, and by Dickerson’s final season, Indianapolis was a 1-15 team.

Meanwhile, Buffalo went to the Super Bowl in four consecutive seasons with Bennett as a Pro Bowl left outside linebacker.

When the Saints drafted Manning, the quarterback became the franchise in the minds of NFL fans for a decade. New Orleans had an 18-48-4 all-time record when it drafted Manning. When the Saints went 7-9 in 1978, UPI chose Manning as it NFL Most Valuable Player Award winner and The Sporting News named him as its NFL Player of the Year.

The next year, New Orleans posted an 8-8 mark – the only non-losing reason of the franchise’s first 16 seasons.

Of the 15 SEC players picked at No. 2, LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels is the most recent after going to the Washington Commanders in 2024.

Best No. 2 pick with Alabama football roots: Alabama linebacker Cornelius Bennett by the Indianapolis Colts in 1987

Bennett played in the Super Bowl five times. If his team had won even one of those games, would he be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame today?

Bennett started 204 regular-season and 20 playoff games, received five Pro Bowl invitations and was selected by UPI as the NFL Defensive Player of the Year twice.

An All-State running back in 1982 at Ensley High School in Birmingham, Bennett earned consensus All-American recognition in 1986 to cap his College Football Hall of Fame career at Alabama. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers opened the 1987 NFL Draft by picking Miami (Fla.) quarterback Vinny Testaverde before the Colts chose Bennett.

The Cleveland Browns hold the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft on Thursday night.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.