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. 31 pick: Ohio State defensive lineman Cameron Heyward by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2011
Wide receiver Tommy McDonald, the 31st pick of the 1957 NFL Draft, and defensive tackle Curley Culp, the 31st pick of the 1968 NFL Draft, are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The No. 31 pick in the 2011 NFL Draft will join them there.
Heyward is still playing for Pittsburgh, preparing for his 15th season in the Steelers’ defensive line in 2025. In 2024, Heyward earned Pro Bowl selection for the seventh time and received first-team All-Pro recognition for the fourth time. All those accolades have come in the past eight seasons, and Heyward has been a Pro Bowl pick and a first-team All-Pro more times than any other No. 31 selection.
The most recent No. 31 pick is Florida wide receiver Ricky Pearsall by the San Francisco 49ers.
RELATED: THE BEST NO. 32 PICK
Best No. 31 pick from the SEC: Tennessee linebacker Al Wilson by the Denver Broncos in 1999
In his eight NFL seasons – all with the Broncos — Wilson collected more Pro Bowl invitations and All-Pro selections than the SEC’s other 13 No. 31 picks combined. After joining Denver in 1999, Wilson was a Pro Bowler for the Broncos five times, including his final two seasons, and was a first-team All-Pro selection in 2005. A neck injury sustained in the 2006 season led to a premature end to Wilson’s career.
The most recent No. 31 pick from the SEC is Florida wide receiver Ricky Pearsall by the San Francisco 49ers.
Best No. 31 pick with Alabama football roots: Auburn wide receiver Lawyer Tillman by the Cleveland Browns in 1989
The 31st selection of the first NFL Draft in 1936 went on to become a larger-than-life figure in football history. But Alabama end Paul “Bear” Bryant made his mark as a college football coach. He never played in the NFL.
Like Bryant, two of the other four players from Alabama high schools and colleges picked at No. 31 did not play in the NFL.
Tillman did play in the NFL, although injuries tried to keep him out of it. Of his first three seasons, Tillman missed two of them. But he persevered to play in 37 regular-season and two playoff games even though he made five trips to injured reserve or the physically-unable-to-perform list in his seven seasons. A prep star in Mobile at LeFlore High School, Tillman broke his left ankle four times.
Tillman’s career totals include 38 receptions for 658 yards and three touchdowns.
The Kansas City Chiefs hold the No. 31 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.