The SEC had seven players selected among the top 15 picks in last year's NFL draft, and ESPN's Mel Kiper is projecting a similar haul for the SEC in 2012.

Kiper has four SEC players going in the top 10, led by Alabama running back Trent Richardson to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the No. 5 overall pick. Kiper predicts that nine of the top 17 selections will be SEC players, and he has 10 SEC players overall going in the first round.

One of the players Kiper has sliding up into the bottom part of the first round is LSU receiver Rueben Randle.

Kiper predicts that four Alabama players will go in the first round and three LSU players. Alabama also had four players go in the first round last year.

Here's a look at where Kiper has SEC players going in his latest mock draft:

• No. 5 -- Alabama RB Trent Richardson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• No. 6 -- LSU CB Morris Claiborne, Washington Redskins
• No. 8 -- LSU DT Michael Brockers, Carolina Panthers
• No. 10 -- Alabama OLB Courtney Upshaw, Buffalo Bills
• No. 12 -- South Carolina DE Melvin Ingram, Seattle Seahawks
• No. 14 -- Alabama S Mark Barron, Dallas Cowboys
• No. 15 -- Mississippi State DT Fletcher Cox, Philadelphia Eagles
• No. 16 -- Georgia OT Cordy Glenn, New York Jets
• No. 17 -- Alabama CB Dre Kirkpatrick, Cincinnati Bengals
• No. 30 -- LSU WR Rueben Randle, San Francisco 49ers