The SEC dominated the draft. Here’s how Mizzou football can catch a ride on that wave
When it comes to which conference produces the most NFL talent, there’s no question it’s the Southeastern Conference.
For the 14th straight year, the SEC had the most players selected in the NFL Draft — 63 — of any conference in the land. The SEC saw a record-setting 15 players selected in the first round alone.
Missouri did its part during the three-day draft, albeit on a small scale, with two former Tigers drafted: defensive tackle Jordan Elliott (Cleveland Browns) and tight end Albert Okwuegbunam (Denver Broncos). It was the 16th straight NFL Draft in which a Mizzou player was picked, a sign of at least some ongoing consistency in Columbia.
But as a mid-tier school, Mizzou pales in comparison with the top dogs of the SEC. It’s a harsh reality of college football: Marquee programs swallow up most of the highest-ranked recruits, leaving teams like Mizzou to fight for what’s left.
Teams such as Alabama, Georgia and LSU bring in top-10 recruiting classes like clockwork. That wealth of talent directly translated into picks — LSU alone had 14 players chosen over the three-day draft, including the top pick of the Kansas City Chiefs, running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
So how do the Tigers consistently compete with those programs? Especially as first-year MU coach Eliah Drinkwitz finds his footing in the conference?
According to Allen Trieu, Midwest recruiting analyst for 247Sports, it starts with recruiting talent-rich areas in relative close proximity to Columbia — namely, St. Louis, Kansas City and the rest of Missouri. While recruiting beyond state lines is important, too, Trieu said the foundation of each year’s incoming recruiting class should originate in-state.
“I don’t think Missouri should stop recruiting the other areas they’re recruiting,” Trieu said. “But I do think there’s enough talent in-state to at least be the foundation of your recruiting classes.”
But recruiting the best available local talent alone isn’t enough to push Mizzou into the higher tier of SEC schools. Trieu said a school like MU must also capitalize on development opportunities.
While the Tigers won’t typically have their choice of blue-chip prospects, developing under-the-radar recruits once they’re on campus can enable them to punch above their weight class.
Trieu compared Mizzou to some of the Big Ten’s programs. He pointed out that teams such as Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan State are in a similar situation as Mizzou: They don’t necessarily land the most elite prospects, but they develop well the recruits they do attract and consistently turn out NFL-caliber players.
“The development piece is a huge part of it,” Trieu said. “They have guys drafted every single year. You can model it after them a little bit, in what they look for in evaluation and how they develop those guys once they get to camp.”
The Tigers are doing this now, with players already on their roster. Texas native Nick Bolton was the 1114th-ranked recruit in the nation, according to 247Sports, and became an All-SEC linebacker at MU. Running back Larry Rountree III was lightly recruited out of Raleigh, N.C., before choosing Mizzou and contributing. Others — defensive lineman Kobie Whiteside, defensive back Joshuah Bledsoe — could tell similar stories.
In a stellar year, Mizzou will have perhaps six players selected in the draft. Since the Tigers’ current streak of having players drafted started in 2005, that’s happened twice: 2009 and 2015.
When Mizzou jumped from the Big 12 to the SEC in 2011, the financial and competitive benefits of a new conference were viewed as strong lures. And at first, under former coach Gary Pinkel, the Tigers were dominant, marching to SEC East crowns in 2013 and 2014.
While Trieu said continued attention to in-house development under Drinkwitz should help the Tigers get back on track, securing the best talent possible, especially in a school’s own backyard, is crucial.
And for Drinkwitz’s regime, that must start in Missouri.
“You can get a good portion of your talent from the state of Missouri,” Trieu said. “You look at the amount of Division I athletes in St. Louis, you look at the amount Kansas City is producing and you look at the few that are coming out of Columbia every year. Between those three places, you get a good chunk of your class right there.”