SEC West Draft Picks by team(2011-2015)...

[DistrictDawg92]

I have always felt that we have done more with "less" than anyone in the SEC for the past five years, mainly due to player devolpment. I have compiled the draft picks for each Western team from (2011-2015) and compared it to their respective recruiting classes for the years (2007-2011), obviously i am looking at the recruiting classes between 2007 and 2011 because those are the players that would've been drafted from 2011 to 2015. So it should be clear that this is an argument for each team's coaching staff's ability to develop the talent that chose to come to their respective school. A few things may stand out to you.....

First we will start with draft picks per team from (2011-2015) ranking them from most to least...Draft Picks Link (http://www.drafthistory.com/index.php/colleges/)
1. Alabama(37)
2. LSU(33)
3. Arkansas(19)
4. MSU(16)
t5. Auburn(15)
t5. A&M(15)
7. Ole Miss(4)

Now let's look at the recruiting rankings for each Western team from (2007-2011). I used scout.com's rankings.Recruiting Link (http://www.scout.com/a.z?s=136&p=9&c=14&view=2&yr=2011)
1. LSU(5,7,3,7,8)>>Average ranking(6)
2. Alabama(22,1,2,4,7)>>Average ranking(7.2)
3. Auburn(6,18,13,5,2)>>Average ranking(8.8)
4. A&M(26,15,12,25,31)>>Average ranking(21.8)
5. Ole Miss(31,38,17,15,20)>>Average ranking(24.2)
6. Arkansas(34,26,21,37,17)>>Average ranking(27)
7. MSU(27,33,19,40,45)>>Average ranking(32.8)

Okay now lets look at how many 4 & 5-stars each team signed during this period, and how many of them were drafted, then find an average for the amount of 4 and 5-stars drafted from (2011-2015) divided by the amount of 4 & 5 stars signed by the respective school. This will show how well each team develops the elite talent that they sign, I will rank them from highest percentage to lowest.
1. Bama- 71 signed/27 drafted>> (38%)
2. LSU- 68 signed/23 drafted>> (33.8%)
3. MSU- 21 signed/7 drafted>> (33%)
4. Arkansas- 20 signed/6 drafted>> (30%)
5. A&M- 32 signed/6 drafted>> (18.75%)
6. Auburn- 58 signed/9 drafted>> (15.5%)
7. Ole Miss- 27 signed/4 drafted>> (14.8%)

Now lets look at the amount of 2 & 3-stars drafted from each school, ranking them from most to least.
1. Arkansas(14)
t2. Bama(10)
t2. LSU(10)
t4. MSU(9)
t4. A&M(9)
6. Auburn(6)
7. Ole Miss(0)

Now let's look at average star per draft pick for each team, ranking them from lowest average star rating to highest.
1. MSU(3.1875)
2. A&M(3.33)
3. Arkansas(3.368)
4. Auburn(3.53)
5. LSU(3.818)
6. Bama(3.945)
7. Ole Miss(4.25)

Finally let's look at the win's each team had during this time period (2010-2014).... Same as the Draft Years but the draft is in the Spring so it is (2011-2015). Ranking from most to least..
1. Alabama(58)
2. LSU(52)
3. Auburn(45)
4. A&M(44)
5. MSU(41)
6. Arkansas(35)
7. Ole Miss(30)

Takeaways: It's a lot to digest. LSU and Bama gonna LSU and Bama, they were near the top of every ranking which only makes sense. Auburn and A&M were surprisingly shitty, both had 1 less draft pick than us in the past 5 years and only managed to have (15.5%) and (18.75%) of their 4 & 5 stars drafted, respectively. Arkansas and us seem to do much more with less than anyone in the conference, very similar programs with very different playing styles. HOLY SHIT Ole Miss, only 4 drafted in the past 5 years?? and one was Powe and he shouldn't even count. We have had 4 2-stars drafted in the past 5 years(Slay, B-Mac, Preston and MoJo... J-Banks was rated 3 stars by Scout but 2-stars everywhere else but I tried to be objective as possible so had to stick to one site.) while Ole Miss has had 4 guys drafted period(Powe 5*, Moncrief 4*, Massey 4* and Golsen 4*). If the NCAA forces Ole Miss to slow down their recruiting tactics, Freeze will be gone within the next 3-4 years, that type of development with the resources SEC schools have is inexcusable. They have the lowest percentage of 4 & 5 stars drafted compared to signed, and didn't even have a single 2 or 3 star drafted in that time period either. I think it is pretty obvious who has actually been winning February every year.

[msstate7]

Nice research

[Political Hack]

bravo. can we inscribe this on a stone tablet so Freeze will read it?

Every coach in MS should see this.

[Beaver]

Hard to believe all LSU got out of all that talent was a shutout loss to Bama in the NC game...

[TUSK]

Hard to believe all LSU got out of all that talent was a shutout loss to Bama in the NC game...

damn... thanks for reminding me to reorder my TAF tickets!

[messageboardsuperhero]

Good post.

[MSUDawg99]

This is good recruiting tool. Coach Mullen & the staff could use this. Send it to Bill Martin. Ha.

[cbrunt29]

Nice stuff

[MSUDawg99]

The Umiss faithfuls who "love" ED were on this last night already. Ha. So predictable. They wonder why this was even created. I'm like WHY is a good question...WHY can't your damn team develop talent? But that's the reason they HAVE to croot 5* talent cause they can't develop talent otherwise. How else would they have a fightin chance in the SEC?

[messageboardsuperhero]

The Umiss faithfuls who "love" ED were on this last night already. Ha. So predictable. They wonder why this was even created. I'm like WHY is a good question...WHY can't your damn team develop talent? But that's the reason they HAVE to croot 5* talent cause they can't develop talent otherwise. How else would they have a fightin chance in the SEC?

Uhhhhh, I don't know... Maybe the same reason anything on a sports message board is created?? To talk about sports?

It's not like anything in the post isn't true- it's all undeniable fact. If people don't like that UM has only put 4 players in the draft in the past five years, maybe they should be mad at the coaching staffs (both Nutt's and Freeze's) for not identifying and developing talent instead of being mad at a random person posting it on a message board. That number will go up a good bit for UM after this next draft, but it's still atrociously bad that UM has put 11 fewer players in the draft than the 6th place team. What's most shocking to me is that UM has not had a single player below a four star drafted in at least half a decade- that is truly pathetic.

[maroonmania]

This is good recruiting tool. Coach Mullen & the staff could use this. Send it to Bill Martin. Ha.

Exactly, if our coaches don't have this in hand when recruiting against OM for the same high ranked player then we are idiots.

[Prediction? Pain.]

This is great information. Nice research, man. I've been tossing around a similar idea for a recruiting-based analysis of the SEC West. If I end up doing it, I'm coming back here for a resource.

One of the things that struck me about this is that while LSU and Alabama have been winning with a bunch of NFL talent, Auburn in the same span has twice won the SEC and reached the NC game -- and once won it all -- with far fewer draft picks. (Hell, they've got less than State in the same span.) So this seems to say that Auburn over the past 5 years has been good at getting a lot out of talented college guys without really developing all that many of them (relative to other SEC teams that have shared Auburn's on-field results) into NFL players. They've had lower lows than Alabama and LSU in that span, but that doesn't take away from what their mostly undrafted guys did in two high years ('10, '13). Interesting stuff.

[GreenheadDawg]

Exactly, if our coaches don't have this in hand when recruiting against OM for the same high ranked player then we are idiots.

It needs to be forwarded to our coaches if it hasn't already been

[Ralph]

This really is amazing stuff. Nice research and bravo to Mullen and Co. and LOLzz to CHF

[Beaver]

This is great information. Nice research, man. I've been tossing around a similar idea for a recruiting-based analysis of the SEC West. If I end up doing it, I'm coming back here for a resource.

One of the things that struck me about this is that while LSU and Alabama have been winning with a bunch of NFL talent, Auburn in the same span has twice won the SEC and reached the NC game -- and once won it all -- with far fewer draft picks. (Hell, they've got less than State in the same span.) So this seems to say that Auburn over the past 5 years has been good at getting a lot out of talented college guys without really developing all that many of them (relative to other SEC teams that have shared Auburn's on-field results) into NFL players. They've had lower lows than Alabama and LSU in that span, but that doesn't take away from what their mostly undrafted guys did in two high years ('10, '13). Interesting stuff.

Had the same thought. However, Cam Newton was a juggernaut and Coach Malzahn is an offensive genius. Doesn't fully explain Auburn, but it helps.

[Tbonewannabe]

This is great information. Nice research, man. I've been tossing around a similar idea for a recruiting-based analysis of the SEC West. If I end up doing it, I'm coming back here for a resource.

One of the things that struck me about this is that while LSU and Alabama have been winning with a bunch of NFL talent, Auburn in the same span has twice won the SEC and reached the NC game -- and once won it all -- with far fewer draft picks. (Hell, they've got less than State in the same span.) So this seems to say that Auburn over the past 5 years has been good at getting a lot out of talented college guys without really developing all that many of them (relative to other SEC teams that have shared Auburn's on-field results) into NFL players. They've had lower lows than Alabama and LSU in that span, but that doesn't take away from what their mostly undrafted guys did in two high years ('10, '13). Interesting stuff.

Having Cam Newton and Nick Fairly helped. The 2 most dominant and disruptive players on each side of the football. If Chris Jones plays up to Fairly's level, we could have a very special season.

[Prediction? Pain.]

Having Cam Newton and Nick Fairly helped. The 2 most dominant and disruptive players on each side of the football. If Chris Jones plays up to Fairly's level, we could have a very special season.


Had the same thought. However, Cam Newton was a juggernaut and Coach Malzahn is an offensive genius. Doesn't fully explain Auburn, but it helps.

No doubt that having Fairly and Newton helped in 2010.

But that only makes 2013 all the more interesting. Maybe something to do with having a great system and having players that are (a) talented and (b) taught exactly how to excel within the system? Hell, a future NFL DB playing QB led Auburn to an SEC title and a couple of minutes away from a national title in 2013.

Also note that the talent was back-loaded in those years for Auburn. AU had 4 NFL players taken in the 2011 NFL draft -- besides Newton and Fairly, they had an OT and DT taken in the 7th round -- but only had one in both the 2012 and 2013 drafts. In 2014 and 2015, though, they had a total of 9 players drafted.

What that wouldn't explain, though, is the lows. Putting aside Chizik's last season, and tabling the mediocre 2011 team for the sake of ease, the 2014 season is difficult to explain given how much experience they returned from 2013. 8 starters on O, 6 on D. (I'm assuming without knowing that the team brought back a lot of experienced guys with its starters.) SEC champs with one regular season loss to an 8-5 team with most of the same gears in the machine. Maybe that's just how thin the line is in the SEC West between greatness and mediocrity? (After all, other than the UGA beatdown and the 15-point loss to State, the losses were close -- 3 to A&M, 11 to Alabama, and 3 to Wisconsin.) I don't know.

[DistrictDawg92]

Another interesting note I didn't mention, two of Arky's draftees were transfers(Mallett and a TE) so that puts us one draft pick away from having the 3rd most draft picks in the West in the last 5 years while at the same time having the worst average recruiting classes by a pretty large margin. The proof is in the pudding, Mullen is the second best developer of talent in the SEC behind Saban who had the highest percentage of 4stars drafted AND the second most 2 & 3 stars drafted. At some point you have to ask yourself, is Mullen that good of a talent developer? Or that good of a talent evaluator? The answer is both, but the media doesn't like to face facts, they like STARS assigned by some douchebags who judge 17 year old boys for a living more than recurring facts. And if Ole Miss wants to say "we will have at least 4 or 5 drafted next year!!!!" to make themselves feel better they can have it. But it's not impressive when it's 4 of the top 20-30 recruits for their class, who are currently under investigation for their recruitment, especially when none of them have developed a bit since they graduated high school.

[Tbonewannabe]

Another interesting note I didn't mention, two of Arky's draftees were transfers(Mallett and a TE) so that puts us one draft pick away from having the 3rd most draft picks in the West in the last 5 years while at the same time having the worst average recruiting classes by a pretty large margin. The proof is in the pudding, Mullen is the second best developer of talent in the SEC behind Saban who had the highest percentage of 4stars drafted AND the second most 2 & 3 stars drafted. At some point you have to ask yourself, is Mullen that good of a talent developer? Or that good of a talent evaluator? The answer is both, but the media doesn't like to face facts, they like STARS assigned by some douchebags who judge 17 year old boys for a living more than recurring facts. And if Ole Miss wants to say "we will have at least 4 or 5 drafted next year!!!!" to make themselves feel better they can have it. But it's not impressive when it's 4 of the top 20-30 recruits for their class, who are currently under investigation for their recruitment, especially when none of them have developed a bit since they graduated high school.

We will also have at least 4 or 5 drafted. Dak, Chris Jones, Redmond, Calhoun, Ryan Brown, Bear, and possibly someone else will all get drafted. Redmond and Chris Jones will probably go 1st round. Dak will probably go anywhere from 1st (hopefully) to 2nd or 3rd (more likely). If we have our Oline develop like we hoped at this time last year, we have a lot of high level talent. Possibly more draft picks at earlier picks.