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What would potentially annoy the rest of the country more: Another national championship won by an SEC school or an NFL draft filled with nothing but conference players in the first round? That second scenario will probably never happen — but we found one that comes pretty darn close.
So far, dozens of 2017 mock drafts have been released, and as expected, they’re full of SEC prospects. We found seven mock drafts released by prominent media outlets — Pro Football Focus (PFF), CBS, Sporting News (SN), Sports Illustrated (SI), Bleacher Report (BR), Walter Football (WF) and SBNation (SBN) — and those drafts collectively listed 33 SEC players who could go in the first round, which is one more than the 32 who are actually selected every year.
Obviously, these mock drafts are subject to change following the 2016 season, and the draft order used in them is likely to look different by next spring. But for discussion’s sake, let’s take a look at how many SEC prospects are included and where they’re being projected to come off the board.
Below is a list of the players included in at least one of the seven mock drafts mentioned above. The chart will show which mocks project the player in question as a first-round pick, and with what pick they’re projecting that player will go.
| PLAYER | SCHOOL | OUTLETS (PICK NO.) |
|---|---|---|
| DE Myles Garrett | Texas A&M | PFF (2), CBS (2), SN (2), SI (4), WF (3), BR (5), SBN (13) |
| DE Derek Barnett | Tennessee | PFF (3), CBS (10), SN (28), SI (22), WF (7), BR (30), SBN (27) |
| CB Jalen Tabor | Florida | PFF (5), CBS (11), SN (16), SI (8), WF (4), BR (16), SBN (10) |
| DE Carl Lawson | Auburn | PFF (6), CBS (7), SN (3), SI (6), BR (2) |
| DE Charles Harris | Missouri | PFF (10), CBS (26), SN (15), SI (28), WF (13), BR (20), SBN (30) |
| RB Leonard Fournette | LSU | PFF (12), CBS (8), SN (4), SI (5), WF (6), BR (6), SBN (9) |
| DE Jonathan Allen | Alabama | PFF (13), CBS (13), SN (5), SI (10), WF (17), BR (8), SBN (19) |
| OL Cam Robinson | Alabama | PFF (14), CBS (4), SN (14), SI (3), WF (9), BR (3), SBN (4) |
| DE Deatrich Wise Jr. | Arkansas | PFF (16) |
| RB Nick Chubb | Georgia | PFF (21), SN (23), WF (25), BR (32), SBN (18) |
| CB Cam Sutton | Tennessee | PFF (24), SBN (20) |
| DB Eddie Jackson | Alabama | PFF (26), CBS (23), WF (26) |
| LB Tim Williams | Alabama | PFF (29), CBS (19), SI (18), BR (14), SBN (3) |
| TE O.J. Howard | Alabama | PFF (32), CBS (15), SI (23), BR (17) |
| CB Tre’Davious White | LSU | SN (25), WF (10), SBN (24) |
| DE Lewis Neal | LSU | WF (14) |
| C Ethan Pocic | LSU | WF (15) |
| LB Jaylen Reeves-Maybin | Tennessee | WF (19) |
| WR Malachi Dupre | LSU | SN, (29), WF (22), SBN (25) |
| LB Jarrad Davis | Florida | WF (24), CBS (20), SI (21), BR (18) |
| S Jamal Adams | LSU | CBS (3), BR (27) |
| QB Chad Kelly | Ole Miss | CBS (25), SBN (7) |
| DE Marquis Haynes | Ole Miss | CBS (30) |
| LB Reuben Foster | Alabama | CBS (28) |
| DT Davon Godchaux | LSU | SN (17) |
| LB Skai Moore | South Carolina | SN (22) |
| LB Kendell Beckwith | LSU | SN (26) |
| DE Daeshon Hall | Texas A&M | SN (27) |
| LB Lorenzo Carter | Georgia | SN (31) |
| DB Tony Conner | Ole Miss | SI (27) |
| DB Marlon Humphrey | Alabama | SI (19) |
| OL Avery Gennesy | Texas A&M | SI (28) |
| OL Greg Pyke | Georgia | SBN (26) |
So what can we take away from this chart? Here are a few notes.
- Seven of the 33 SEC players mentioned were unanimous first-round selections: Texas A&M DE Myles Garrett, Florida CB Jalen Tabor, Tennessee DE Derek Barnett, Missouri DE Charles Harris, LSU RB Leonard Fournette and Alabama teammates Jonathan Allen and Cam Robinson.
- Fifteen players were named in only one of the seven mock drafts. LSU defensive end Lewis Neal was the highest-projected player among those one-hit wonders, coming in as Walter Football’s No. 14 selection.
- LSU and Alabama are the most-represented SEC schools with eight and seven first-round nominees apiece, respectively.
- Alabama’s crop was the most impressive, including two unanimous first-rounders (Allen and Robinson) and three more listed in at least three mock drafts (CB Eddie Jackson, LB Tim Williams and TE O.J. Howard).
- Of LSU’s first-rounders, only one (Fournette) was unanimous and four were mentioned once: DE Lewis Neal, OL Ethan Pocic, DT Davon Godchaux and LB Kendell Beckwith.
- No SEC player is projected to go No. 1 overall, but Garrett is projected to go No. 2 by Pro Football Focus, CBS and Sporting News. Auburn DE Carl Lawson is projected to go No. 2 by Bleacher Report.
- Eleven SEC schools have at least one player listed above: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Missouri, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Tennessee and Texas A&M, which is good news for Butch Jones since no Volunteer was drafted this year. The three schools excluded were Kentucky, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.
For the 10th year in a row, the SEC produced more draft picks than any other conference in the country. If these mock drafts are any indication, it very well could make it 11 straight.
Stan Chrapowicki is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers SEC football, Alabama and Auburn.
