The SEC and the NFL draft

If you want to understand why the SEC dominates the NFL draft as it does now…

— The SEC had 49 players selected in the 2010 NFL Draft. The number represents the most SEC players ever taken in the NFL Draft.

— The SEC had the most players taken among conferences in the draft. Behind the SEC’s 49 selections were the Big Ten (34), ACC (31), Big 12 (30) and Pac-10 (29).

— Since 1990, the SEC has had 782 total selections in the NFL Draft, an average of 37.2 selections per year. The Big Ten is second with 672 selections.

— Since 1997, the SEC has had 552 total selections in the NFL Draft, an average of 39.4 selections per year.

— The SEC has now led or tied for the most selections in the NFL Draft for 11 of the last 13 seasons and the last four drafts.

… look no further than this.

• Boise State cornerback Kyle Wilson
The Cleveland Browns and head coach Eric Mangini loved him, so much so that word leaked out before the draft that Wilson could come off the board with the team’s seventh overall pick. But an internal split formed between Wilson and Florida cornerback Joe Haden. Team president Mike Holmgren thought Haden’s level of competition in the Southeastern Conference gave him the edge, so he broke the tie in Haden’s favor. [Emphasis added.] In turn, Wilson trickled all the way down to the New York Jets at 29th overall. There’s a $15 million difference in guaranteed money between those two spots. Ouch.

Think that story’s gonna get trotted out on the recruiting trail once or twice?

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Blame it on the triple-option.

If we’re supposed to take it as gospel that Demaryius Thomas’ draft status is guaranteed to make Paul Johnson’s quest to recruit top-flight wide receiving talent to the Flats easier, what then are we supposed to conclude from Jonathan Dwyer’s relatively dismal showing?

Especially in light of what his new position coach had to say…

… The most intriguing player Saturday for the Steelers came way down in the sixth round, where they grabbed Georgia Tech running back Jonathan Dwyer with the 188th overall pick. Dwyer is a big man at 5-foot-11, 235 pounds with quickness and some eye-popping statistics — 1,395 yards in each of the past two years. He is not considered a finished product for the NFL because he did not block nor catch much as he ran from a 3-point stance out of the wishbone-like option offense of the Yellow Jackets.

“It’s going to be relearning for him,” said Kirby Wilson, who coaches the Steelers’ backs. “It’s like getting back on a bicycle and starting all over again.”

No doubt the Tech faithful will point to Dwyer’s meds as the reason for his fall, but Dwyer himself suspects it’s something else.

Dwyer thought Georgia Tech’s style of offense might have affected his draft prospects. Although he technically “failed” a drug test at the combine, he was cleared because he takes medication for ADA, and that was known beforehand.

“I don’t know what really hurt me, maybe the whole triple-option process,” Dwyer said.

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UPDATE: Damn, I hate it when I’m wrong.  The good people at Stingtalk aren’t blaming it on the medication, they’re calling Dwyer a fatty.

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UPDATE #2: In the credit where credit is due department, here’s evidence that there are rational Tech fans.

Spring QBs in the SEC

David Paschall has a good post-spring round-up of the SEC’s quarterbacking situation here.  Running through it, I couldn’t help but draw a few off the cuff observations:

• Amazingly enough, there was only one school which had (1) a returning starter (2) who played spring ball (3) and performed in a manner that won his coach’s approval – Alabama.
• Three Auburn quarterbacks not named Cam Newton combined to go 34 of 42 in the spring game.  The big question is whether that should be attributed more to Gus Malzahn or Ted Roof.
• In terms of raw numbers and experience, no school is thinner at the position than Georgia or Tennessee.
• The only reason LSU isn’t listed with those two is because both of its returning QBs have SEC experience.  Not that that mattered much at the spring game, at least according to Les Miles, master of understatement:  “There were some throws out there that were not ideal…”
• Bobby Johnson was groping for a euphemism for “they sucked”, as well.  Given that none of the quarterbacks who played in Vandy’s spring game could muster even fifty yards passing, “Sometimes it was inexcusable” sounds a bit mild.