BATON ROUGE — The Southeastern Conference champion LSU football team picked up another accolade over the weekend as the Tigers led all SEC teams with seven selections in the NFL Draft.
LSU’s seven draft picks was one more than the six selected from Arkansas. Florida had five players taken during the seven round draft, followed by Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Ole Miss and Tennessee with four each. South Carolina had three players selected and Kentucky had one player taken.
In all, the SEC had 42 players taken over the two-day period, which ranked second among all conferences. The Big Ten led the way with 44 players drafted. The Pac-10 ranked third with 30 picks, followed by the Big East and Big 12 with 28 players picked.
LSU’s seven draft picks were the most by a Tiger team since the 1990 squad had seven players taken.
LSU’s 2004 NFL Draft selections were led by wide receiver Michael Clayton, who was taken as the 15th pick overall by Tampa Bay. Wide receiver Devery Henderson went to New Orleans in the second round, while defensive end Marquise Hill was taken with the final pick of round two by the New England Patriots.
The Dallas Cowboys selected offensive guard Stephen Peterman in the third round, while the Atlanta Falcons picked defensive tackle Chad Lavalais in the fifth round. Punter Donnie Jones and quarterback Matt Mauck were taken with consecutive picks in the seventh round with Jones going to Seattle and Mauck to Denver.
LSU Football - 2004 NFL Draft Picks Name Pos. Rd. No. Team Michael Clayton WR 1 15 Tampa Bay Devery Henderson WR 2 50 New Orleans Marquise Hill DE 2 63 New England Stephen Peterman OG 3 83 Dallas Chad Lavalais DT 5 142 Atlanta Donnie Jones P 7 224 Seattle Matt Mauck QB 7 225 Denver