SEC Debate: If college football drafted, who’s picked No. 1?
By Ethan Levine
Published:
Football fans love to draft, even if it’s a mock draft. Whether it’s following for the NFL Draft each year or preparing for a fantasy football draft, we love to see who values which players more than others when building their own team.
College football doesn’t have a draft, however. Instead, it has the recruiting frenzy we’ve all come to love for a completely different set of reasons. But what if college football replaced the recruiting season with a draft, allowing teams to pick recruits one at a time instead of collecting them in bunches?
Alabama’s roster wouldn’t be as dominant, and teams like Kentucky and Vanderbilt might have a puncher’s chance in the SEC every few years.
If you were drafting on behalf of your college team and had the first overall pick in this hypothetical draft, which 2015 recruit would you take? Remember, once you pick every other team then gets to pick before you can pick again, so you have to make the pick count.
WHO WOULD BE THE NO. 1 PICK IF COLLEGE FOOTBALL HELD A DRAFT?
We asked the SDS staffers, and here’s what they had to say:
Jon Cooper (@JonSDS): Kyler Murray, QB
College football is becoming more and more like the NFL, and while the head coach is very important, it’s starting to become more about the quarterbacks. So, give me the best dual threat quarterback in the country, Kyler Murray. Murray is undersized and may not have the strongest arm, but for three or four years, give me the difference-maker at the quarterback position. Also, playing in Kevin Sumlin’s wide open offense is best suited for his talent, and Murray will be an impact player and, perhaps, quickly. Yes, Kyle Allen is a future star, too, but Murray is the biggest difference-maker.
Ethan Levine (@EthanLevineSDS): Martez Ivey, OT
I was taught a long time ago that winning football teams are built from the inside out. This means that aside from quarterback, which is on its own level of importance, winning football teams are the teams that win the line of scrimmage along the offensive and defensive lines. Thus, I’d take Ivey No. 1 overall no matter which team I was selecting for. He has all the makings of a dominant bookend left tackle, and he’d be able to free up running lanes on the outside while also keeping the quarterback safe and sound in the pocket. To me, Ivey at No. 1 is a no-brainer.
Christopher Smith (@CSmithSDS): Martez Ivey, OT
Defensive linemen tend to be the easiest to project from high school to college. But there’s a plethora of touted defensive ends and defensive tackles in the 2015 class. If this is a draft like the NFL, I’ll take my chances on talent still being available at the position in the second round. There are just four offensive tackles in the 247Sports Composite Top 100, none of whom are rated anywhere close to Ivey. This is an Andre Smith type sure thing at left tackle, a player who can start for your team as a true freshman like Cam Robinson and perform like an All-SEC candidate before heading to the NFL after three seasons. At 6-foot-5.5 and 275 pounds, the consensus second-best player of the 2015 class according to major recruiting websites will give one team — as of Tuesday, it looks like Florida — a hell of a player.
Brett Weisband: (@WeisbandSDS): Byron Cowart, DE
If you can’t get a franchise quarterback (to borrow an NFL term), you better be able to stop them. As passing offenses get tougher to figure out, the best way to shut them down is by knocking the quarterback down. This class is packed with top-notch defensive linemen, but I like Cowart’s potential the most. He’s tall and long at 6-foot-4, and all reports indicate that he has crazy strength that will allow him to move all over the defensive line. Whichever school lands him will be getting a guy who looks ready to play from day one.
Brad Crawford: (@BCrawfordSDS): Martez Ivey, OT
All football teams need a player to “protect the franchise” so to speak, that position being at quarterback. Based on every scouting report I’ve read and the two times I’ve watched Ivey live, this kid has the look of a three-year college player and eventual lottery pick in the NFL Draft. He has no weaknesses as a tackle — great strength, quick feet and athletic for his size.
A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.
