Which NFL teams draft the most Senior Bowl players, and what's the benefit?

MOBILE, Ala. — As if Saturday's Senior Bowl needed an extra recruiting pitch, it certainly has one with this year's Super Bowl matchup.

Los Angeles Rams stars Aaron Donald, Cooper Kupp and Von Miller are all alums of the annual all-star game for college football seniors and graduating juniors, which will be played in Mobile, Alabama. And both the Rams and Cincinnati Bengals rank among the top seven NFL teams who have drafted the most players from the Senior Bowl (2:30 p.m. ET, NFL Network) over the past five years, according to ESPN and Senior Bowl research.

Who knew it was possible to get free advertising during the Super Bowl?

«We absolutely try to promote our guys that are still playing in the league. These guys need to see who came before them,» said Jim Nagy, who has been the Senior Bowl's executive director since 2018. «I told the [2022 players] at orientation that over the last three years, out of all the guys that have shown up in Mobile for this game, more than 89% of them have been on a roster as a rookie — which is a number we're proud of.

»These guys make it. Not all of them get drafted, but a lot of them end up making it."

A record number of 106 Senior Bowl players were drafted last year, when teams said the opportunity to see prospects up close throughout the practice week and meet with them 1-on-1 was more valuable than ever because the COVID-19 pandemic had shut down so many of their visits to college campuses.

So which NFL teams have been most attracted to Senior Bowl players over the past five years?

ESPN did a study using rosters provided by the Senior Bowl to see which teams had drafted the most participants from 2017-2021. The top 10 are:

1. Minnesota Vikings 22 (1 first-round pick)

2. New York