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Football
NFL Draft Dominated by Perennial Power Schools
By Tony Gerdeman

A few weeks ago I took a look back at the Big Ten’s NFL draft history over the last 20 years in order to find the most fortuitous path to the NFL for players in the Big Ten.

The data from NFL.com showed that more Ohio State defensive backs (26) were drafted than any other position group from any other school in the conference since 1990. (Technically, only 23 of those Buckeyes played in the secondary at Ohio State, as running backs Derek Combs and Butler By'not'e and quarterback Steve Bellisari were all drafted to play defensive back in the NFL.)

Since then I've received feedback asking how the draft numbers that Ohio State produced matched up against the other top programs in the nation. What I've done is taken what I felt were the top NFL producing schools in the nation and tallied up all of their draft picks over the last 20 years to see where the Buckeyes stack up.

I should tell you that this is not an exhaustive list, because I only looked at the teams that I felt produced enough draft picks to merit inclusion. And I did check some schools that didn't end up in the top 20, such as Clemson, UCLA, South Carolina, etc. If you don't see a school that you believe should be included, feel free to let me know and I'll see where they fall, but I think I got everybody of note.

Now that the caveats are all out of the way, let's get to some background numbers. First (per my naked eye), here are the top-20 draft-pick producing schools since 1990.

1. Miami 121
2. Florida State 120
3. Tennessee 116
4. Ohio State 114
5. USC 113
6. Notre Dame 110
7. Nebraska 104
8. Florida 101
9. Michigan 92
9(t). Penn State 92
11. Georgia 88
12. Oklahoma 78
13. LSU 77
14. Alabama 75
15. Texas 73
16. Virginia Tech 72
16(t). California 72
18. Michigan St. 70
19. Wisconsin 68
19(t). Auburn 68

Of the 114 draft picks for the Buckeyes, an amazing 69 of them have been since 2000. For comparison's sake, Miami has produced 62 draft picks in that same timeframe. USC produced 59 draft picks since 2000, and Florida State and Tennessee have both produced 54.

That's a fairly significant “lead” for the Buckeyes over the last decade and makes you wonder if they will continue to distance themselves in NFL production from the rest of the nation over the next few years.

So with the overall numbers known, let's answer the question that we're all here for. Which position at which school gives you the best chance of being drafted?

Here are the top ten draft-pick producing positions:

1. Ohio State defensive back (26)
2. Nebraska defensive back (25)
3. Miami defensive back (24)
4. Notre Dame defensive back (23)
5. Florida wide receiver (22)
6. Florida State linebacker (21)
6(t). Florida State wide receiver (21)
8. Nebraska linebacker (20)
8(t). USC linebacker (20)
10. Florida State defensive back (19)
10(t). Miami wide receiver (19)
10(t). Tennessee linebacker (19)
10(t). Virginia Tech defensive back (19)

Of those 26 Ohio State defensive backs, 15 of them have been drafted since 2000. Miami has produced 12 defensive backs since 2000 and Nebraska has produced just nine.

Also, the number of Notre Dame defensive backs drafted definitely surprised me, especially when you consider that most of them used to box. (It should probably be noted that Notre Dame has produced 25 draft picks from the offensive line in the last 20 years as well, which is six more than the next two schools—Michigan and Penn State.)

Perhaps my favorite bit of trivia from the list above is that of the 22 Florida receivers drafted since 1990, only TWO of them have ever had 1,000-yard seasons in the NFL (Willie Jackson, fourth-round pick in 1994 and Darrell Jackson, third-round pick in 2000). The Gators have had nine receivers taken in the second round or earlier and NONE of them have had 1,000-yard seasons. By way of comparison, the Buckeyes have had five of their 18 drafted receivers produce 1,000-yard seasons—and five of those who haven't done it yet are still on the front side of their careers.

Also, it bears mentioning that USC has had eight linebackers selected in the last three drafts.

Now that we know the top spots, lets take a look at the breakdowns at each position.

Center: 1. Notre Dame (7); 2. California (6); 3(t). Nebraska, Ohio State, Virginia Tech (4)

Defensive Back: 1. Ohio State (26); 2. Nebraska (25); 3. Miami (24)

Defensive End: 1. Miami (15), 2(t). Florida State, LSU, Tennessee (12)

Defensive Tackle: 1. Florida State (12); 2. Florida (11); 3(t). Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame, Texas (10)

Guard: 1. Notre Dame (13); 2(t). Nebraska, Penn State (10)

Linebacker: 1. Florida State (21); 2(t). Nebraska, USC (20)

Quarterback: 1. USC (9); 2. Michigan (7); 3(t). Florida State, LSU, California (6)

Running Back: 1(t). Penn State, Tennessee (14); 3(t). Ohio State, USC (13)

Tackle: 1(t). Michigan, Wisconsin (8), 3(t). USC, Auburn, California (7)

Tight End: 1. Notre Dame (9); 2(t). Miami, Michigan (8)

Wide Receiver: 1. Florida (22); 2. Florida State (21); 3. Miami (19)

If you're interested, both the Big Ten and the SEC show up nine times in the rundown above.

Since this is tangentially a column about the Buckeyes, I guess I should give you the complete draft rundown for Ohio State over the last 20 years as well. Here you go:

Defensive backs 26
Linebackers 18
Wide receivers 18
Running backs 13
Defensive ends 8
Guards 6
Quarterbacks 5
Tackles 5
Centers 4
Defensive tackles 4
Tight ends 3
Punters 2
Kickers 1
Long snappers 1

You'll probably notice that the closer to the line of scrimmage you get, the smaller the numbers become. In fact, if you just look at the offensive and defensive lines, the number of draftees is 27. Compare that to the 26 defensive backs drafted and you have to wonder how the four spots in the secondary produced one less pick than the nine spots on the line of scrimmage. (Note: I didn't include the tight end in this number because they weren't always a third tackle at Ohio State.)

But as most people will tell you, it's much more difficult to find the hogmollies than the athletes. (You just wish sometimes maybe they'd look a little harder.)

So, for those who asked, I hope your questions have been answered. And I hope the numbers in the trenches don't depress you. If anything, you should be impressed with the sheer overall numbers over the last decade. The Buckeyes are averaging nearly seven draft picks every year since 2000—that's almost one-third of your starting lineup going to the NFL every year.

That's a pretty impressive recruiting tool.

Except in the week leading up to Signing Day, of course.

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