Which colleges produced the NFL talent in 2010?
By Terry OBrien
The college football National Championship game was played between Florida and Alabama, and then Alabama played Texas in an exhibition. Alabama, from what I saw, was easily the best college team in the nation. But will Alabama produce the most drafted NFL talent this year? I don’t think so. In the first three rounds of the draft, I see the following schools as having the most NFL ready talent in 2010.
First Place: Oklahoma. I don’t think there is any doubt about it. In the first three rounds of the draft, I expect to see QB Sam Bradford, DT Gerald McCoy, OT Trent Williams, TE Jermaine Gresham, and CB Dominique Franks all be called up to the big leagues. Oklahoma may place 4 guys in round one next week.
Second place: Florida. I think it has to be Florida. We know CB Joe Haden goes first round. DE Carlos Dunlap latest upper second round. OC Maurkice Pouncey gets a second round call. LB Brandon Spikes, TE Aaron Hernandez, and S Major Wright all probably make in in the first three rounds. We don’t know where QB Tim Tebow lands but he is in the first three rounds for sure. Even if Haden, Dulap, Pouncey and Tebow all land first round, Oklahoma has them beat I believe.
Third place: Texas. I think Texas wins over Alabama. We will see S Earl Thomas go first round, LB Sergio Kindle probable first round, QB Colt McCoy go by the third round and DT Lamar Houston go by the third. For Alabama, after LB Rolondo McClain goes first round, when will DT Terrence Cody and CB Kaseem Jackson go? Probably second or third. Then OG Mike Johnson is probably a third round selection. It is close between Texas and Alabama, isn’t it? I could go either way.
Honorable Mention: Georgia Tech. We have to give a nod to Georgia Tech this year. DE Derrick Morgan, WR Demaryius Thomas, RB Jonathan Dwyer, and S Morgan Burnett all look to be top three round talent. I still think Iowa smoked them in the Orange Bowl and would be happy to see Iowa guys show up in Black and Teal.
Surprise School: East Carolina. East Carolina has a way of sneaking guys into the NFL that do well. David Garrard is a Pirate as is new RB coach Earnest Byner. When David crosses his arm across his chest, that is the same to E. Carolina as the Gator Chomp is to Florida. Of course Chris Johnson lit up the NFL despite not impressing Pete Prisco. This year, if you are looking at very late round defensive line guys, you have to look at East Carolina. DT Linval Joseph put in a good combine thumper index of 77. DE CJ Wilson put up a combine thumper index of 72 and DT Jay Ross put up a 70. We are talking about a very good and very very strong defensive line with guys flying under the radar. I hope to see a few more East Carolina Pirates come to Jacksonville.
Missing in Action: The Big Ten. Where is the big ten this year? I see maybe, maybe three first round guys, OT Brian Bulaga from Iowa, DE Brandon Graham from Michigan and DT Jared Odrick from Penn State. Looks like NFL quality football is played mostly in the south. Iowa might produce the best crop of journeymen players this year from the big ten, linemen and linebackers. Of course, Penn State found this out the hard way.
So is this how you see it? Let me know!
– Terry O’Brien