Early rounds of draft show where power lies

By the time the cream of the crop had been drafted Friday night, the SEC was proving once again to be the leader of the pack.

The first three rounds of the NFL Draft are usually predictable in that the best players, usually from the best teams, were going to get their names called.

Alabama led the way in the first round with four players drafted, and LSU was second with three — including the No. 4 player picked, running back Leonard Fournette, and No. 6, safety Jamal Adams.

Texas A&M had three players drafted in the first three rounds, including the No. 1 pick, defensive end Myles Garrett.

The SEC was once again the leader with a record-tying 12 players taken in the first round.

It followed that up with nine more in the second round and nine in the third round.

Those 30 players represented nine of the members of the SEC.

Mississippi State, Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia and the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville did not have anyone drafted in the first three rounds.

There’s absolutely no excuse for that happening to Georgia, where four- and five-star recruits seem to fall off trees.

The Mississippi State Bulldogs, Wildcats, Gamecocks and Razorbacks have it tougher in recruiting because of the lack of high-level players in their areas, although Mississippi does produce some nice players who the Bulldogs fight with

Ole Miss, Southern Miss and all the SEC schools to sign.

One thing is obvious from the draft every year: The better teams have the bulk of the good players.

Yes, guys such as Bret Bielema and Kentucky Coach Mark Stoops can coach players up, but Alabama Coach Nick Saban is taking five-star players and coaching them into the NFL.

Actually, Stoops should feel some extra pressure because while the Wildcats had no one drafted in the first three rounds, Western Kentucky had offensive lineman

Forrest Lamp go as the sixth pick in the second round and wide receiver Taywan Taylor as the eighth pick in the third round.

As well as the SEC did, all the schools apparently missed on Carlos Henderson, who was a running back at McDonogh in New Orleans but switched to wide receiver.

After catching 82 passes last season for Louisiana Tech, he declared early for the draft and was taken in the third round by the Denver Broncos.

It seems the whole country

missed on Adam Shaheen, a tight end from Galena, Ohio. His only scholarship offer was to play basketball at Pitt-Johnston, but after one season he transferred to Division II Ashland for a shot at football and ended up in the second round with the Chicago Bears.

While recruiting in college is not an exact science, guys such as Henderson and Shaheen prove the NFL Draft is much more exact because there are a lot more eyes and research done.

Sure there are misses, even in the first round (see

Ryan Leaf), but for the most part Thursday and Friday will shape the future of NFL teams.

Saturday was a factor, too. In the past three years, more defensive linemen drafted in the fourth round have contributed than those taken in the second or third rounds.

After that, the success rate drops. A player drafted in the seventh round might be better off going undrafted. That way he can sit down and study which team has a need for a player at his position and find the right fit.

There will be a ton of free

agent contracts, and while most are long shots, some have gone on to NFL fame, such as former Ouachita Baptist safety and Arkansas Hall of Famer Cliff Harris with the Dallas Cowboys.

The NFL Draft isn’t perfect, but it is a clear indication that the college teams with the best players win more than the ones with average players.