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Florida State Tops In Draft-Go ACC!!
Apr 29, 2013, 7:39 PM
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Going into the 2013 NFL Draft, it was known the SEC was going to be the talk of the weekend when looking at the draft from a college football and recruiting perspective. What wasn’t fully known was just how SEC-heavy this draft would end up being.
The conference that will enter the 2013-14 season with a streak of seven straight national championships had a whopping 63 players drafted, which topped the nearest conference by 32, the ACC. In fact, the SEC bettered the next two conferences combined, the ACC and Pac-12, by four.
By the seventh round, the talk of which SEC Division would have the most selections began heating up – and it took until the final pick to decide the discussion. The SEC East ended with 32 selections to 31 for the West. To put it into perspective even more, the SEC East had more selections by itself than any other conference. And the SEC West tied the ACC with 31 selections.
To add to the staggering numbers, the SEC had more players drafted in the first three rounds, 32, than any other conference the entire draft.
SEC on quite the run
While it shouldn’t come as surprise with the SEC having won seven straight national titles headed into the 2013-14 season, the conference has also dominated the draft over the uber impressive stretch. With the 12 first-round selections in 2013, the SEC now has 63 first-round picks in the last seven drafts. That is good for a 26-pick lead over second, the Big 12.
When talking about the last ten drafts, that number continues to increase. The SEC has 83 first-round selections since 2004, which is 32 better than the second place ACC, 34 better than the Big 12 and 39 better than the Big Ten.
Florida State topped with 11
EJ Manuel was the first of 11 Florida State players drafted.
While the SEC walked away with the conference award for most players drafted, it was Florida State that had the best three days for a singular program. The Seminoles had 11 players drafted, which bettered Alabama and LSU by two; and Florida and Georgia by three.
Rounding out the top ten programs in 2013 were South Carolina and Rutgers with seven, Notre Dame and Oklahoma with six; and Oregon and Texas A&M with five apiece.
When looking at the final AP Poll of the 2012-13 season, the top 10 teams accounted for 65 of the 254 selections – Alabama, Oregon, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Georgia, Texas A&M, Stanford, South Carolina, Florida and Florida State.
If one considers the top 25 in the final AP Poll, the teams accounted for 101 of the 254 selections, or 39.8 percent.
BCS Conferences rule the day, but trending down slightly
As expected, the BCS Conferences dominate the NFL Draft and that was no different in 2013. The six conferences combined for 185 of the 254 selections, or 72.8 percent of the picks.
A little silver lining for the non-BCS Conference schools is that percentage the last two drafts is 71.8 percent, which is slightly down from the 72.9 percent from 2009-11.
When looking at first-round selections, the numbers are staggering. In 2013, 28 of the first 32 selections came from BCS Conference schools, or 87.5 percent. That percentage is actually lower than the average of the last five drafts, which is 90.6 percent. In fact, another silver lining for non-BCS Conference players and universities can be seen in the last two drafts in which the percentage is down to 85.9 percent, compared to 93.8 percent from 2009-11.
California edges out Florida in 2013
In the race for the state with the most players drafted, California edged out Florida 28 to 27 with Texas right behind at 25. Considering the population of California nearly doubles that of Florida, the fact that the Sunshine State is neck-and-neck with California is very impressive.
Consider this when looking at the talent in the Southeastern Region of the country, which is by far the most talented. The states of Louisiana, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina total 38,563,129 estimated population in 2012, while California has 38,041,450. The quartet of Southeast states produced 70 players selected in 2013 (27.56 percent of players drafted) to 28 for California.
To truly drive home just how talented the Southeast Region of the country is, add in the states of Mississippi and Alabama and the population is 46,375,078 estimated in 2012. Those six states produced 81 of the 254 players drafted (31.89%), while California and Texas have a combined population of 64,100,633 and produced 53 of the 254 drafted (20.87 percent).
Following California, Florida and Texas in 2013 were Georgia (19), South Carolina (13), Louisiana (11) and Ohio (11) in double digits. Right behind was Pennsylvania (9), Alabama (8) and a trio with seven – North Carolina, Virginia and New Jersey.
Notable
- The BCS National Championship game featuring Alabama and Notre Dame combined to have 15 players drafted in 2013, including four first-round selections and a pair of second round picks.
- The state of South Carolina not only had 13 players drafted, but looking further the Palmetto State is also part of an impressive group. South Carolina was one of five states to have a player drafted in every round joining California, Florida, Texas and Georgia.
- The Long family has had NFL Draft success, to say the least. Howie Long was drafted in the 2nd round of the 1981 draft, while sons Chris Long and Kyle Long were first-round selections in 2008 and 2013.
- Chandler High in Arizona makes the notable list having had three players selected in the 2013 draft. Former Oregon defensive end Dion Jordan and California cornerback Marc Anthony were in the 2008 class, while former Oregon State wide receiver Markus Wheaton graduated in 2009.
- The Wisconsin Badgers had an offensive lineman taken in the first round (Travis Frederick) for the third straight year.
- Former FIU safety Johnathan Cyprien became the Panthers highest drafted player after being selected with the first pick of the second round, No. 33 overall. Prior to Cyprien, Florida International’s highest drafted player was T.Y. Hilton, who was selected 92nd overall in the 2012 draft.
- If one is looking for defensive tackles, the Show Me State should be on the list. The state of Missouri had three defensive tackles drafted over the weekend, and a fourth defensive lineman that could eventually slide inside.
- Rutgers set an all-time best with seven players selected over the weekend. The Scarlet Knights previous high was five in 2009.
- The SEC’s 63 selections covered 13 positions. Linebacker led the way with 10 selections, followed by defensive end with nine, running back with seven, and safety and wide receiver with six. Defensive tackle, cornerback, offensive guard and tight end each had 5, while offensive tackle had two. There was one quarterback, center and kicker drafted from the conference.
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