How were the 2013 NFL Draft first-round picks ranked as recruits?

From Saturday Down South

The NFL Draft was more like an SEC infomercial last night, with 12 players going in the first round. Texas A&M’s Luke Joeckel was the highest SEC player taken at No. 2 overall to the Jaguars, and Florida’s Matt Elam rounded out opening night to the Baltimore Ravens at No. 32.

It’s always interesting to compare the NFL first-round picks to how they were rated as high school prospects. For this chart comparison, player rankings were based on Rivals.com rankings.

Pick	Team	Player	Po.	College	Stars	Conference
1	Chiefs	Eric Fisher	OT	C. Michigan	***	MAC
2	Jaguars	Luke Joeckel	OT	Texas A&M	****	SEC
3	Dolphins	Dion Jordan	LB	Oregon	****	Pac-12
4	Eagles	Lane Johnson	OT	Oklahoma	NR	Big 12
5	Lions	Ziggy Ansah	DE	BYU	NR	Indep.
6	Browns	Barkevious Mingo	DE	LSU	****	SEC
7	Cardinals	Jonathan Cooper	OG	UNC	***	ACC
8	Rams	Tavon Austin	WR	WVU	****	Big 12
9	Jets	Dee Milliner	CB	Alabama	*****	SEC
10	Titans	Chance Warmack	OG	Alabama	***	SEC
11	Chargers	DJ Fluker	OT	Alabama	*****	SEC
12	Raiders	DJ Hayden	CB	Houston	***	C-USA
13	Jets	Sheldon Richardson	DT	Missouri	*****	SEC
14	Panthers	Star Lotulelei	DT	Utah	***	Pac-12
15	Saints	Kenny Vaccaro	S	Texas	****	Big 12
16	Bills	EJ Manuel	QB	Florida State	****	ACC
17	Steelers	Jarvis Jones	LB	Georgia	****	SEC
18	49ers	Eric Reid	S	LSU	****	SEC
19	Giants	Justin Pugh	OT	Syracuse	**	Big East
20	Bears	Kyle Long	OG	Oregon	***	Pac-12
21	Bengals	Tyler Eifert	TE	Notre Dame	***	Indep.
22	Falcons	Desmond Trufant	CB	Washington	***	Pac-12
23	Vikings	Sharrif Floyd	DT	Florida	*****	SEC
24	Colts	Bjoern Werner	DE	FSU	***	ACC
25	Vikings	Xavier Rhodes	CB	FSU	***	ACC
26	Packers	Datone Jones	DE	UCLA	****	Pac-12
27	Texans	DeAndre Hopkins	WR	Clemson	****	ACC
28	Broncos	Sylvester Williams	DT	UNC	***	ACC
29	Vikings	Cordarrelle Patterson	WR	Tennessee	****	SEC
30	Rams	Alec Ogletree	LB	Georgia	****	SEC
31	Cowboys	Travis Frederick	C	Wisconsin	***	Big Ten
32	Ravens	Matt Elam	S	Florida	*****	SEC

Here are the picks broken down by star ranking:

• Five-Stars: 5 (15.6%)
• Four-Stars: 12 (37.5%)
• Three-stars: 12 (37.5%)
• Two-star: 1 (3.1%)
• Not Ranked: 2 (6.3%)

The two non-ranked players were Lane Johnson and Ziggy Ansah. Johnson was a high school quarterback turned tight end in college. He blew into a full-fledged tackle when his time at Oklahoma was complete. Ansah didn’t start playing football until 2010, because the basketball team cut him twice. That’s the only reason he started playing football.

SEC: 12 (37.5%)Here are the picks broken down by conference:

• ACC: 6 (18.8%)
• Pac-12: 5 (15.6%)
• Big 12: 3 (9.4%)
• Independent: 2 (6.3%)
• Big Ten: 1 (3.1%)
• Big East: 1 (3.1%)
• C-USA: 1 (3.1%)
• MAC: 1 (3.1%)