This was a very nice breakdown that shows what the SEC is all about and you can see some great correlations to the positional players coming out of other conferences. I know there are some holes but I am just copying the numbers. Mike's findings: QB: SEC 7 P10 6 ACC 5 RB: SEC 7 ACC 6 P10 5 WR: B10 13 FB: B10 5 Small Schools 5 SEC 3 ACC 3 TE: SEC 8 ACC 7 P10 5 B10 5 OT: B10 14 ACC 12 SEC 10 OG: SEC 15 B10 10 ACC 7 B12 7 C: SEC, B12, and WAC 5 Offensive Projected Totals: SEC 63 B12 28 WAC 16 DE: SEC 17 ACC 10 B12 10 DT: SEC 13 B12 13 OLB: ACC 17 B10 11 SEC 7 MLB: SEC 10 ACC 9 B10 6 CB: SEC 14 ACC 11 Small 7 S: SEC 12 B12 12 ACC 10 P10 8 Defensive Totals: SEC 74 ACC 65 B10 48 B12 44 P10 32 Total: SEC 137 ACC 121 P10 70 BEast 33 Small 57 CUSA 22 MtWest 22 WAC 21 MidAmer 19 Indep 13 SunBelt 12 SEC Teams: Tenn 20 UGA 19 LSU 16 UF 16 AUB 13 Bama 12 MSU 11 USC 9 ARK 8 OM 7 Vandy 5 UK 1 http://www.bayoubuzz.com/News/Louis...C_LSU_New_Orleans_Saints_Drew_Brees__6750.asp
should be normalized by #teams/conference for the conference comparisons to mean much---hate to say it, but the PAC10 starts off in a hole. and whats up with WRs?
SEC - 137/12 = 11.42 per team ACC - 121/12 = 10.08 per team Big Ten - 105/11 = 9.55 per team Pac 10 - 70/10 = 7.00 per team Big 12 - 72/12 = 6.00 per team Big East - 33/8 = 4.13 per team Note: The ACC and Big East numbers are skewed a little. The juggernaut Miami teams of late 90's and early '00s are listed with the ACC, even though those guys actually played in the Big East (same with Va Tech and Boston College).
The one really surprising number to me is the QB position. For a conference known more for their smash mouth, non passing attack, run oriented style of football, having the most starting QB's is sorta surprising. I guess us southerners are smarter than some would give us credit for.
Yeah, but when you list out those 7 qb's, only one is widely considered elite, and that would be payton manning. the other 6 are eli manning, jamarcus russell, jason campbell, jay cutler, brodie croyle, and rex grossman. Sure, eli has won a superbowl and grossman has lost one, but they still aren't great qb's. the rest are young and unproven.
True as that maybe, they are still listed as the starting QB's. Which young, unproven or not still doesn't take away from that.
Sorry I just had to reply to this statement. Eli Manning somehow managed to defeat the undefeated 18-0 Patriots in the SUPER BOWL and yet he still isn't a great QB? Last season was his breakthrough year, sure he still isn't on the same level of his older brother but he IS a great QB. He has gotten much smarter in the pocket and more patient compared to earlier in his career. I do agree on the other 5 SEC QB's being young and unproven, although I do think Cutler has stepped his game up a bit. Look for him to have a much improved year next season. And Russell has certainly benefited from the offseason, having McFadden in the backfield to throw to, and a deep threat in Javon Walker will certainly improve his game.
According to that article, this is how the big five conferences rank by 2008 NFL starters: 137 -- SEC 121 -- ACC 100 -- Big Ten (not counting QBs or RBs, which is at most 8) 72 -- Big 12 70 -- Pac-10 This is pretty much the same as other studies I've seen on NFL talent per conference. The Pac-10 and the Big 12 are weak.
