I saw these stats and thought it was interesting when you consider how many talking heads say we have as much, or more talent than anyone in the country, except USC. I do believe we are upper tier but have never bought into the idea we had more than everyone else. Below are total draft picks and first round picks since 2000 for some select teams. I only looked at BCS conferences and chose teams with at least 25 players drafted since 2000. The link shows all teams if you are interested. http://nfldraft.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=1164&CID=800827
You make the point that those teams should have had better records because of that talent...that really isnt that much talent...especially since most were taken is later rounds which is where they were probably picked on potential and not on their college production. Even Miami has had all their guys drafted but when you can't score on offense it doesn't matter. You can have a great college player that wont even play in the NFL. I agree though, surprised to see Stanford.
No, I really was leaning more to the fallacy of that argument. I just didn't articulate it very well. Talent, usually measured by the number of players sent to the NFL(by talking heads at least), does not always equate with victories. Very different games to me and then of course, I believe that coaching has more impact at this level anyway. I just remember hearing from plenty of announcers and seeing plenty of posters claim we had as much or more talent as anyone in the country, and therefore should win championships every year. I think we get phenomenal athletes, but I also think other teams do as well. Maybe announcers for these other teams parrot the same expectations, I just don't watch them enough to know.
I gotcha. I should have read it better. You are right, and part of the problem is the heads' networks have rights to the NFL and NCAA so they will feed off of a college kid even when they know he may not succeed at the next level. Jack Hunt was incredibly smart and a safety most coaches would love to have, but we knew it wasnt happenin on the next level...but if it could get ESPN some money they'de pimp him out all day.
Miami had 11 guys go in the 2002 draft and 5 were 1st round picks. They had more overall picks in 88 with 12 but only 2 were in the 1st, Bennie Blades and Michael Irvin.
IMO, LSU does have more "talent" then anyone in the country with the exception of maybe USC. I believe this does equate to more victories when you have that kind of endless depth. Id rather have 75 guys that can step up and play at a high level at any moment than 10 potential 1-2 round NFLers and 65 guys who would have trouble making the LSU squad. Problem is, when you have that much talent, there is only one ball to pass around....stats (which everyone sees as the end result) become uncharacteristic of that players true potential. Imagine what Keiland Williams rushing yardage would be right now on 95% of the other programs in the country. However, the thing LSU has that trumps talent is chemistry, heart, and the never say die mentality. They have an attitude....swagger if you will...that carries over from season to season. This equates to much more victories as well.
i was bored while waiting on my son to get up and dressed, so i took Dude's stats and put them in a spreadsheet and ranked them both by total picks and 1st round picks. http://www.editgrid.com/user/drolar/nfl-top-draft-colleges-since-2000
