1981 NFL Draft Round 1
| YEAR | RND | PICK # | TEAM | PLAYER | POS | COLLEGE |
| 1981 | 1 | 1 | NOR | George Rogers | RB | South Carolina |
| 1981 | 1 | 2 | NYG | Lawrence Taylor | LB | North Carolina |
| 1981 | 1 | 3 | NYJ | Freeman McNeil | RB | UCLA |
| 1981 | 1 | 4 | SEA | Kenny Easley | DB | UCLA |
| 1981 | 1 | 5 | ARI | E.J. Junior | LB | Alabama |
| 1981 | 1 | 6 | GNB | Rich Campbell | QB | California |
| 1981 | 1 | 7 | TAM | Hugh Green | LB | Pittsburgh |
| 1981 | 1 | 8 | SFO | Ronnie Lott | DB | USC |
| 1981 | 1 | 9 | RAM | Mel Owens | LB | Michigan |
| 1981 | 1 | 10 | CIN | David Verser | WR | Kansas |
| 1981 | 1 | 11 | CHI | Keith Van Horne | T | USC |
| 1981 | 1 | 12 | IND | Randy McMillan | RB | Pittsburgh |
| 1981 | 1 | 13 | MIA | David Overstreet | RB | Oklahoma |
| 1981 | 1 | 14 | KAN | Willie Scott | TE | South Carolina |
| 1981 | 1 | 15 | DEN | Dennis Smith | DB | USC |
| 1981 | 1 | 16 | DET | Mark Nichols | WR | San Jose St. |
| 1981 | 1 | 17 | PIT | Keith Gary | DE | Oklahoma |
| 1981 | 1 | 18 | IND | Donnell Thompson | DE | North Carolina |
| 1981 | 1 | 19 | NWE | Brian Holloway | T | Stanford |
| 1981 | 1 | 20 | WAS | Mark May | G | Pittsburgh |
| 1981 | 1 | 21 | LAS | Ted Watts | DB | Texas Tech |
| 1981 | 1 | 22 | CLE | Hanford Dixon | DB | Southern Miss |
| 1981 | 1 | 23 | LAS | Curt Marsh | G | Washington |
| 1981 | 1 | 24 | LAC | James Brooks | RB | Auburn |
| 1981 | 1 | 25 | ATL | Bobby Butler | DB | Florida St. |
| 1981 | 1 | 26 | DAL | Howard Richards | G | Missouri |
| 1981 | 1 | 27 | PHI | Leonard Mitchell | T | Houston |
| 1981 | 1 | 28 | BUF | Booker Moore | RB | Penn St. |
