Recruiting rankings of SEC's first-round NFL draft picks

Sometimes, fans can get too hung up on a recruit’s rankings. There are three-star recruits who wind up making a huge impact at a school and getting drafted, like Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott and South Carolina’s Pharoh Cooper, and five-star prospects who don’t quite work out and wind up leaving the program early, like Georgia’s Josh Harvey-Clemons.

In fact, if you look at the recruiting rankings for each first-round pick, there are nine players that were rated three stars or lower.

But, for SEC players getting picked in the first round of this year’s NFL draft, there was a four-star minimum.

Eight SEC players were chosen Thursday night. Four were five-star recruits, while the rest were four-star prospects.

Here’s a look at each first-round selection and his recruiting history:

LEONARD FLOYD, GEORGIA

Pick: No. 9 overall

Selected by: Chicago Bears

Recruiting review: Floyd was a four-star recruit out of Dodge County High School in Eastman, Ga. He was rated as the 12th-best player in Georgia in the Class of 2012. Harvey-Clemons was Georgia’s top-ranked player in that class, and Jordan Jenkins and Kenyan Drake were also taken in the 2016 NFL draft.

VERNON HARGREAVES III, FLORIDA

Pick: No. 11 overall

Selected by: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Recruiting review: Hargreaves was a five-star recruit and the nation’s best cornerback prospect out of Tampa’s Wharton High in the Class of 2013. He was also the best player in Florida that year. Laremy Tunsil (2), Derrick Henry (4) and Kelvin Taylor (5) were also ranked in the state’s top five, and each was drafted over the weekend.

LAREMY TUNSIL, OLE MISS

Pick: No. 13 overall

Selected by: Miami Dolphins

Recruiting review: Tunsil was a five-star recruit and the nation’s best tackle out of Lake City, Fla. Tunsil had a tumultuous draft process. He was, at one point, the consensus No. 1 pick before falling to the 13th spot — making a few negative headlines along the way.

KEANU NEAL, FLORIDA

Pick: No. 17 overall

Selected by: Atlanta Falcons

Recruiting review: Neal was a four-star recruit out of Bushnell, Fla., and was the nation’s 13th-best safety prospect and the 19th-ranked recruit in the state of Florida in the same 2013 class that produced Hargreaves and Tunsil.

RYAN KELLY, ALABAMA

Pick: No. 18 overall

Selected by: Indianapolis Colts

Recruiting review: Kelly was a four-star recruit out of West Chester, Ohio, in the Class of 2011. He was the nation’s third-best center prospect and the 12th-rated player in his state. Ohio’s Braxton Miller, Michael Bennett and Doran Grant also chosen were in this draft from that class.

LAQUON TREADWELL, OLE MISS

Pick: No. 23 overall

Selected by: Minnesota Vikings

Recruiting review: Treadwell was a five-star recruit out of Crete, Ill., and was the nation’s best receiving prospect. He was also the top-rated player in his home state in the Class of 2013. LSU’s Ethan Pocic, who chose to stay in school for the 2016 season, was the third-best player from Illinois in that class.

ROBERT NKEMDICHE, OLE MISS

Pick: No. 29 overall

Selected by: Arizona Cardinals

Recruiting review: Nkemdiche was a five-star recruit and the best overall player in the Class of 2013 out of Loganville, Ga. He edged Jaylon Smith, Hargreaves, Tunsil and Su’a Cravens for that honor, and each of those players were selected by NFL teams this weekend.

GERMAIN IFEDI, TEXAS A&M

Pick: No. 31 overall

Selected by: Seattle Seahawks

Recruiting review: Ifedi was the last SEC player taken in the first round. He was a four-star recruit out of Houston in the Class of 2013. He was the 13th-best guard prospect and the 37th-ranked player in the state of Texas. Fellow Texan Corey Coleman, who was also taken in first round, was ranked 20th in the state that year.