Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
The depth and the power of the SEC and its dominance in college football was on display again last night as the king of the gridiron placed 12 players in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft.
Luke Joeckel of the Texas A&M Aggies was the first SEC player to go at No. 2 overall. The Alabama Crimson Tide led the way with three picks followed by the Georgia Bulldogs, LSU Tigers and the Florida Gators who each had a pair of players drafted. The Missouri Tigers and the Tennessee Volunteers rounded out the SEC draftees with one a piece.
Following behind the SEC was the ACC who placed six players. The Florida State Seminoles led the charge and equaled Alabama with three first round selections followed by the North Carolina Tar Heels with a pair and the Clemson Tigers with one.
Rounding out the conference battle was the Pac-12 with five and the Big East, Big 12 and Independents with two picks each.
But enough with the numbers, let’s get to the story lines and the shockers.
The mighty and self-loving Big Ten nearly laid an egg as it had one player get drafted in Round One. And that was a shock as the Dallas Cowboys surprised everyone with the pick of C Travis Fredrick from the Wisconsin Badgers. Most draft experts had Fredrick as a second or third-rounder at best.
The Big Ten likes to think they are the closest conference to the SEC, but talent doesn’t lie. The truth is the ACC and Pac-12 are closer to competing on the field with SEC NFL talent than the Big 10. And it’s not even close.
The other chatter from round one centered around the pick of E.J. Manuel by the Buffalo Bills at No. 16. The fools at ESPN basically tweeted that it was as idotic as the pick of JaMarcus Russell back in the day. In fact to listen to Todd McShay, he thinks higher of Russell and maybe even Ryan Leaf than he does of Manuel. The Bills filled a need with the most talented QB in the draft. From a readiness standpoint, Manuel has faced elite talent in both the ACC, SEC and Bowl Games and was very, very successful. Give this guy two games any other QB on the board played? Manuel played four games every year against teams with NFL level talent at multiple positions including the Gators each and every season.
So as Geno Smith and Manti Te’o wait patiently for their name to be called one thing is certain. The SEC dominates college football because of its depth and talent. And this is a trend that will continue in Round 2 and 3.
Meanwhile, the Big 10 will be a big hit on Saturday and Sunday. Until that changes, they will never be considered elite in College Football.
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M Shannon Smallwood is a member of the Football Writers Association of America and the US Basketball Writers Association.
Follow him @woodysmalls.
