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%)