Should We Draft All SEC Players?

[Mister Pittsburgh]

I like Big Ten OL, LB and DL for some reason. Not a fan of Big Ten RB's.

[snarky]

I get that good players come from everywhere. But the SEC is becoming really dominant compared to the other conferences. And it seems like the odds of picking a guy who's good enough to play in the NFL is higher when you draft a player from the SEC given the level of competition.

Has anyone ever compared the success rates of guys making the NFL from different conferences? Are there certain conferences where their draft picks pan out more than others?

SEC has most starters in the NFL. And yes, I would say that statistically your probably more likely to draft a player that is "good" enough to play in the NFL if you choose players from the SEC.

Because your right, the level of competetition cannot be disputed.

Actually, I wouldn't get too carried away suggesting that SEC players make better picks across the board. Yes, a lot of stars come out of the SEC, but look at the hit rate for late round SEC vs. late round Sun Belt:

[url="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/play-index/draft-finder.cgi?request=1&year_min=1999&year_max=2011&t ype=&round_min=4&round_max=30&slot_min=1&slot_max= 500&league_id=&team_id=&pos=ALL&college_id=all&con ference=sec&show=all"]http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... c&show=all[/url]

[url="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/play-index/draft-finder.cgi?request=1&year_min=1999&year_max=2011&t ype=&round_min=4&round_max=30&slot_min=1&slot_max= 500&league_id=&team_id=&pos=ALL&college_id=all&con ference=sunbelt&show=all"]http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... t&show=all[/url]

The sample size is smaller for the Sun Belt; but just eyeballing the lists it looks like diamonds in the rough are easier to spot in the Sun Belt (there just happen to be fewer of them).

[aggiebones]

Interesting thought.

But look at an SEC DL.
You have 3-4 studs across that DL. But which 1 is stealing from the next guy.

Always reminds me of Hampton and SRodgers at tu. Rodgers was stealing from Hampton the whole time. He was lazy and Hampton busted his butt. Rodgers is still lazy, yet people still pay him.

Beware to get the lazy partner in a talented duo.

Its a tough proposition either way. Talented kid in a weak conference or talented kid getting lots of help in the SEC.

[flippy]

Interesting thought.

But look at an SEC DL.
You have 3-4 studs across that DL. But which 1 is stealing from the next guy.

Always reminds me of Hampton and SRodgers at tu. Rodgers was stealing from Hampton the whole time. He was lazy and Hampton busted his butt. Rodgers is still lazy, yet people still pay him.

Beware to get the lazy partner in a talented duo.

Its a tough proposition either way. Talented kid in a weak conference or talented kid getting lots of help in the SEC.

That's a good point.

It may be easier to identify the talent in another conference where one guy is head and shoulders above everyone else.

But when there's a bunch of good players, it may be more difficult to identify which are the lazy one or the one who isn't fully pulling their weight that some other stud might be covering up.

So maybe you're better off staying away from the SEC

[Slapstick]

Didn't the Chefs spend two high 1st round picks on underperforming LSU DEs?

On defense, their stars are Hali (Big 10) and Johnson (Big 12).

[Shawn]

You mean not draft guys like Woodley and Heyward...guys from the Big Ten?

[Chadman]

Steelers draft mantra under Colbert is to draft "Big Production, Big College Program" players early, be it SEC, PAC-10, Big-10 etc.

So long as the player is productive & from a good level of competition, they are on the radar.

Only in later rounds do they seem to waver from that plan.