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Story Archives: SEC leads draft day again


SEC leads draft day again
by Joey Martin - posted Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012 @ 3:32 pmE-mail Story E-mail Story | Print Story Print Story 
In the crazy -- and getting crazier -- world of college footballl, change is on the way.

But one thing that will be as regular as a wild car chase in a Lian Neeson movie is the fact the Southeastern Conference will dominate draft day.

Cleveland traded up to pick Alabama running back Trent Richardson at No. 3 started the ball moving on Thursday night.

Let's see, Trent was born in Pensacola and went to same high school as Emmitt Smith.

Pensacola to Cleveland? Trent will earn his money just with that transformation.

LSU's Morris Claiborne went to Dallas with the No. 6 pick.

The Cowboys are really excited about Claiborne and he should make an immediate impact.

Mark Barron of Alabama was the next pick, followed by South Carolina's Stephon Gilmore.

Kansas City surprisingly passed on Fletcher Cox of Mississippi State to select Dontari Poe of Memphis.

Philadelphia selected Cox right after at No. 12.

I have a feeling Cox will be around a lot longer than Poe.

LSU's Michael Brockers went to St. Louis at No. 14.

After redshirting his initial year at LSU, Brockers saw action in all 13 games of the 2010 season, as backing up Lazarius Levingston at left defensive tackle. He made his first career start against Alabama and picked up four tackles in the win over the Crimson Tide. As a sophomore in 2011, he started all 13 games and was third on the team with 9.5 tackles for a loss. As good as Claiborne was, LSU will miss Brockers much more next season. He still needs some fine-tuning, but the Houston, Texas native will develop into an outstanding NFL defensive player.

Alabama's Dre Kirkpatrick was pick No. 17 by Cincinnati, followed by Melvin Ingram of South Carolina at No. 18.

WIth the 25th pick of the draft, New England selected Dont'a Hightower of Alabama.

Bill Belichick has always loved SEC players, and especially Nick Saban-coached players.

The SEC had 42 selections in the 2012 NFL Draft.  The number led the nation for the sixth straight year.  (SEC – 42; Big Ten – 41; ACC – 31; Pac 12 – 28; Big 12 – 25; Big East – 12; Mountain West – 12; WAC – 11; Conference USA – 10)

All 12 SEC teams had a player selected in the draft. The SEC is the only conference to have had a player selected from every one of its teams. 

The 42 selections bring the SEC's total to 279 during the last seven NFL Drafts, an average of 39.8 per year.  The SEC by year since 2006: 37 picks (2006); 41 (2007); 35 (2008); 37 (2009); 49 (2010); 38 (2011); 42 (2012).

Alabama led the nation in total draft selections with eight, followed by Georgia and Oklahoma with 7 each. 

Seven teams had 6 selections each including South Carolina, California, Miami (Fla.), Michigan State, Iowa, Wisconsin and Boise State.

Arkansas tied an NFL Draft record with three wide receivers taken this year. It ties 1978 Florida and 1983 Tennessee and 11 other teams.

Since 2006, the SEC has had 55 first-round selections, an average of 7.86 per year. 

The 42 total during that span for the SEC is second to the 2010 total of 49.

And if you would have added new members Texas A&M and Missouri it would have added five more to the list.

Pretty impressive? As the old saying goes, "You ain't seen nuthin' yet?"

Early speculation has 12 SEC players going int the first round next year.

South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore is expected to be a top three pick next year.

Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson will not have the luxury of throwing to Jarius Wright, Joe Adams, or Greg Childs next year and will be doing a lot of handing off to, but Wilson, who is a little bit taller than Matt Barkley, and a bit more careful with the ball than Landry Jones, will climb to the top of the quarterback charts as the draft process goes on.

Barrett Jones elected to stay one more year at Alabama.

The Outland Trophy-winning tackle will probably make his next-level money at guard if he doesn't turn into a pure center.

Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones is projected as a first-round pick next year, along with LSU safety Eric Reid, who may be overshadowed by Tyrann Mathieu, but is a bigger prospect.

Texas A&M linebacker Sean Porter will be making plays in the SEC this fall, while LSU offensive tackle Alex Hurst will try and stop him when they meet.

Both are considered first-round picks.

Another Alabama offensive lineman, D.J. Fluker, will probably go late in the first round, along with

Georgia defensive tackle Kwame Geathers needs a lot of work, but will get it on Saturdays this fall and become dominant by the end of the season.

What would the draft be without an Alabama defensive player? incomplete. In steps linebacker C.J. Mosley, Alabama.

Florida will be represented by defensive tackle Shariff Floyd.

LSU's Sam Montgomery is projected as a late first-round pick, but I can see him moving up the charts if he stays healthy this season.

Another Tiger defensive end, Barkevious Mingo, was not mentioned, but could position himself with another outstanding season.

And all of this is not even considering former Auburn running back Michael Dyer, who will take his troubled past to Arkansas State this fall.

On deck is trying to figure out which SEC football team will be in the BCS title game.
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