After 3 days and 254 picks, the NFL Draft ended on Saturday night. The Southeastern Conference accounted for 63, or nearly 1/4, of the entire draft. This isn’t very surprising, since the SEC has won the last 7 National Championships, with Alabama winning 3 of the last 4.
The SEC had more than twice as many picks as any other conference. The Atlantic Coast Conference was second with 30 players selected. The Big Ten came in last of the six major conferences, with 20 draft picks. The SEC claimed 4 of the top 5 college teams with the most players selected. However, Florida State led all teams with 11 players drafted. Alabama, LSU and Florida had 9, and Georgia had 8 players taken.
In a draft devoid of top quarterbacks, unlike last year, offensive tackles and guards claimed 8 of the first 20 draft picks, including the first 2 picks. Eric Fisher of Central Michigan and Luke Joeckel of Texas A & M, who are both offensive tackles, were taken first and second respectively. Even after the strong start for the offensive tackles, the draft ended with defensive ends leading the way by position, with 33 chosen. Cornerbacks were the second most taken by position with 29, followed by wide receiver with 28.
The quarterbacks had to sit around until the final day, for the most part. Only one quarterback was taken in each of the first 3 rounds. Buffalo made E.J. Manuel of Florida State the first quarterback taken, with the #16 pick. Geno Smith of West Virginia, who was rumored to be taken as high as a top 5 pick, was finally selected at #39 by the New York Jets. Where does this move leave present Jets quarterbacks Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow, along with David Garrard? The only other quarterback taken on the second day was Mike Glennon of North Carolina State, who was taken by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with pick #73.
The final day of the draft started with the Philadelphia Eagles choosing Matt Barkley of USC with the first pick of the 4th round, at draft pick #98. Remember him? He was the Heisman Trophy front runner at the beginning of last season, and projected to be a top 5 pick, if went to the NFL after his junior year. Barkley was the first of 4 quarterbacks taken in the fourth round. This was an interesting pick, since the Eagles already have Michael Vick and Nick Foles. Not exactly the quarterback crop that went into the NFL last year.
The Arizona Cardinals seem to like the Louisiana State players, choosing linebacker Kevin Minter in the second round, and Tyrann Mathieu in the third round. Mathieu should be playing next to former LSU teammate and fellow cornerback Patrick Peterson soon, who was the Cardinals’ first round pick 2 years ago. Mathieu was a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2011, then was kicked off the team before the 2012 team for various reasons, including testing positive for drugs a few times. He has passed recent drug tests, and seems worth the risk of a 3rd round pick.
The prospective team drafts will be evaluated ad nauseam by so-called experts, today and the next few days, but they won’t know who drafted well and who didn’t, for at least 3 years. Remember when the San Diego Chargers were excited to get Ryan Leaf with the second pick in the 1998 draft? Now he’s serving a 7 year jail term for drugs, after becoming what is commonly known as the biggest draft bust of all time.
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