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football Edit

SECs best teams lead way at NFL draft

The number has been well publicized in the past week.
The Southeastern Conference, which is home to the last seven national champions in football, proved to be the king of last week's NFL draft. A total of 63 SEC players were selected in last week's three-day event. Just three teams drafted no SEC players - New England, Atlanta and Carolina.
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There were six SEC teams who won at least ten games in 2012 - Alabama (13), Georgia (12), Florida (11), South Carolina (11), Texas A&M (11) and LSU (10). Those six teams were the leaders among drafted players - going from the Aggies at five to the Tigers and Crimson Tide at nine.
Of course, a case could be made that LSU underachieved. But, it must be pointed out was that there was no balance in the Tigers' selections - eight on defense and one on offense. By comparison, Alabama had five offensive players and four defensive players drafted.
Georgia was second to LSU in defensive picks with seven. Alabama's five offensive selections were the most for any SEC team. Arkansas, South Carolina and Tennessee each had four offensive players drafted. Moreover, the Razorbacks and the Volunteers had no defensive picks.
Credit must be given to three SEC coaches whose teams fashioned winning records while having few draft picks. Coach James Franklin's Vanderbilt team had a 9-4 overall record and a 5-3 SEC mark. The Commodores had just two drafted players.
Dan Mullen guided Mississippi State to an 8-5 record. Three Bulldogs players were picked. In his first season at Ole Miss, Hugh Freeze had a 7-6 record. No Rebels players were chosen.
Here is the breakdown of SEC drafted players by team. Seven points are given for first-round choice, six points for second-round choice, etc.
LSU (10-3): 9 players, 43 points
(two 1st round, one 2nd round, three 3rd round, two 5th round, one 6th round)
Alabama (13-1): 9 players, 42 points
(three 1st round, one 2nd round, two 4th round, two 5th round, one 7th round)
Florida (11-2): 8 players, 37 points
(two 1st round, one 2nd round, one 3rd round, one 4th round, two 5th round, one 6th round)
Georgia (12-2): 8 players, 34 points
(two 1st round, two 3rd round, two 5th round, two 6th round)
South Carolina (11-2): 7 players, 22 points
(one 2nd round, three 4th round, one 6th round, two 7th round)
Texas A&M (11-2): 5 players, 24 points
(one 1st round, one 2nd round, one 3rd round, one 4th round, one 6th round)
Tennessee (5-7): 4 players, 20 points
(one 1st round, one 2nd round, one 3rd round, one 6th round)
Arkansas (4-8): 4 players, 12 points
(one 3rd round, one 4th round, one 6th round, one 7th round)
Mississippi State (8-5): 3 players, 15 points
(two 2nd round, one 3rd round)
Missouri (5-7): 2 players, 12 points
(one 1st round, one 3rd round)
Vanderbilt (9-4): 2 players, 4 points
(one 5th round, one 7th round)
Auburn (3-9): 1 player, 5 points
(one 3rd round)
Kentucky (2-10): 1 player, 5 points
(one 3rd round)
Ole Miss (7-6): 0 players drafted
Here would be an All-SEC team of NFL-draft eligible players according to how they were chosen.
OFFENSE
WR: Cordarelle Patterson, Tennessee (first round, pick No. 29)
WR: Justin Hunter, Tennessee (second round, pick No. 34)
TE: Jordan Reed, Florida (third round, pick No. 85)
OT: Luke Joeckel, Texas A&M (first round, pick No. 2)
OT: DJ Fluker, Alabama (first round, pick No. 11)
G: Chance Warmack, Alabama (first round, pick No. 10)
G: Larry Warford, Kentucky (third round, pick No. 65)
C: Barrett Jones, Alabama (fourth round, pick No. 113)
QB: Tyler Wilson, Arkansas (fourth round, pick No. 112)
TB: Eddie Lacy, Alabama (second round, pick No. 61)
FB: none drafted
K: Caleb Sturgis, Florida (fifth round, pick No. 166)
DEFENSE
DE: Barkevious Mingo, LSU (first round, pick No. 6)
DE: Demontre Moore, Texas A&M (third round, pick No. 81)
DT: Sheldon Richardson, Missouri (first round, pick No. 13)
DT: Sharrif Floyd, Florida (first round, pick No. 23)
LB: Jarvis Jones, Georgia (first round, pick No. 17)
LB: Alec Ogletree, Georgia (first round, pick No. 30)
LB: Kevin Minter, LSU (second round, pick No. 45)
CB: Dee Milliner, Alabama (first round, pick No. 9)
CB: Darius Slay, Mississippi State (second round, pick No. 36)
S: Eric Reid, LSU (first round, pick No. 18)
S: Matt Elam, Florida (first round, pick No. 32)
P: none drafted
NOTE: Barrett Jones was drafted by the St. Louis Rams as a guard. The highest drafted SEC center other than Jones was South Carolina's T.J. Johnson (seventh round, pick No. 251).
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