As Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III and Justin Jefferson tore up the NFL Combine, I had a thought. Maybe you’ve had it, too.

Is this going to be the best draft ever for SEC receivers?

Obviously, I don’t have a definitive answer to that question after watching guys compete in drills without pads. What we do know was that there were 15 SEC receivers at the Combine, and those 3 aforementioned wideouts all showed up in the 1st-round mock drafts.

But back to the question. Context is needed to answer that.

What is the best draft of the modern era for SEC receivers? That’s another interesting question. And for what it’s worth, I decided just to go back to when the draft went from 12-13 rounds down to 8 in 1993. During that stretch, there were 6 instances in which the SEC had at least 2 receivers come off the board in the 1st round:

  • 1996
    • Eddie Kennison (LSU), No. 18
    • Eric Moulds (MSU), No. 24
  • 1997
    • Ike Hilliard (Florida), No. 7
    • Reidel Anthony (Florida), No. 16
  • 2005
    • Troy Williamson (South Carolina), No. 7
    • Matt Jones (Arkansas), No. 21
  • 2007
    • Dwayne Bowe (LSU), No. 23
    • Robert Meachem (Tennessee), No. 27
    • Craig Davis (LSU), No. 30
  • 2011
    • A.J. Green (UGA), No. 4
    • Julio Jones (Alabama), No. 6
  • 2014
    • Mike Evans (Texas A&M), No. 7
    • Odell Beckham Jr. (LSU), No. 12

In my opinion, those are all in the running for most talented group of SEC receivers in the draft. Years like 2002 when Donte Stallworth went No. 13 overall and the SEC had 5 receivers drafted in the first 2 rounds were impressive, but having multiple 1st-rounders is unique.

Let’s start with the record year. The 2007 NFL Draft was the only time in the modern draft era that the SEC had 3 receivers selected in the 1st round. That feat stands alone. Ironically enough, though, none of those players were top 20 picks.

That, in all likelihood, won’t be the case for the SEC in 2020. Jeudy seems like a top 20 lock and Ruggs feels like a better bet than not to come off the board in those first 20 picks, especially after he ran a blistering 4.27-second 40 (the best among SEC prospects in the NFL database era that dates to 2006). If this year’s class is going to match that mark, it’ll likely take Jefferson coming off the board in Round 1, which at least seems more likely after his impressive 4.43 40 squashed concerns about his straight-line speed.

So there’s our first caveat for the 2020 SEC receivers being the conference’s best draft class — 3 in the 1st round.

And in case you were wondering, this is strictly how these players are viewed as prospects. Obviously we have the benefit of hindsight to say which one of those SEC receiver draft classes was the most talented. It’s 2011 or 2014. Those were the only times on the modern draft era when the SEC had multiple receivers in the top 15, and to no one’s surprise, they all turned out to be extremely good.

In case you didn’t feel like scrolling up, here’s what those classes had working in their favor:

  • 2011
    • A.J. Green, No. 4
    • Julio Jones, No. 6
    • Only time in modern draft era w/ multiple SEC receivers in top 10
    • 3 SEC receivers drafted in first 2 rounds
    • 5 SEC receivers in entire draft
  • 2014
    • Mike Evans, No. 7
    • Odell Beckham Jr., No. 12
    • 4 SEC receivers drafted in first 2 rounds
    • 8 SEC receivers in entire draft

Are Jeudy and Ruggs about to go No. 4 and No. 6 like Green and Jones? I’d be stunned if that happened. And even if that does somehow happen, I’d argue that the 2011 combination was still a better group of prospects. Could Jeudy and Ruggs go No. 7 and No. 12 like Evans and Beckham? I wouldn’t rule that out.

Getting Jeudy in the top 10 and Ruggs in the top 15 seems like the most realistic scenario for the 2020 class to enter this conversation.

Ultimately, we remember the elite talent not just at receiver but in all positions. In those 7 instances in which the SEC had multiple receivers drafted in the 1st round, the 2002 class had the most come off the board in the first 2 rounds with 5:

  • Donte Stallworth (Tennessee), No. 12
  • Jabar Gaffney (Florida), No. 33
  • Josh Reed (LSU), No. 36
  • Tim Carter (Auburn), No. 46
  • Reche Caldwell (Florida), No. 48

That’s an incredibly impressive mark that I’d be surprised if the 2020 class matched. Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller did a post-Combine 3-round mock draft that had 3 SEC receivers in the 1st round, but none picked in the 2nd. There seems to be a somewhat significant gap between the SEC’s big 3 and the next group, which includes guys like Bryan Edwards and Lynn Bowden (Miller had them as 3rd-rounders).

But here’s where the 2020 group can make up some ground with an overwhelming stat.

Of the 7 draft classes that had multiple SEC receivers picked in the 1st round, the highest total for the entire draft was the 2014 class that had 8. Even the 2011 class led by Green and Jones only had 5 SEC receivers drafted.

Often, that’s a tough thing to project. I’m not pretending like I know the exact amount of SEC receivers who are coming off the board. But consider this: The SEC had a total of 15 receivers who were invited to the Combine. Compare that to the number of invites SEC receivers got each of the past 10 drafts:

  • 2020: 15
  • 2019: 10
  • 2018: 7
  • 2017: 12
  • 2016: 9
  • 2015: 4
  • 2014: 10
  • 2013: 8
  • 2012: 7
  • 2011: 6
  • 2010: 4

Will all 15 receivers get drafted? Probably not. In that 2017 season when the SEC had 12 receivers invited to the Combine, only 5 were drafted and none in the 1st round. Last year when 10 SEC receivers were invited to the Combine, 7 were drafted and none went in the 1st round.

Either way, I’d argue that the odds are in the 2020 class’ favor to hit double digits, and to do so with 3 1st-round receivers. That would be something that, as great as that top-level talent was in 2011 and 2014, those classes didn’t accomplish.

We won’t know the answer to the all-important question for several more weeks.

But does the 2020 class of SEC receivers have a chance to leave a historic mark? Absolutely.