Big Picture: Texas should be ecstatic with Louisville's record draft
On Saturday night, Louisville sports information sent out a press release touting the program setting a school-record for having 10 Cardinals selected in the NFL Draft.
"What an exciting day for our program," head coach Bobby Petrino said. "I'm very happy for all the players who were selected over the last three days. To have a total of 10 players drafted, it's a testament to the hard work these guys put in during their time at Louisville. I wish all these guys the best of luck, and thank them for all their contributions to our program. I look forward to watching them during their NFL careers."
Truth is, Texas should be celebrating that news every bit as much as U of L is. A big chunk of the Cards' draftees came from their 2011 signing class.
Four years ago, none of the major online recruiting sites ranked Charlie Strong's first full recruiting class at Louisville in the top 25, but it produced three first-rounders (Teddy Bridgewater, Calvin Pryor and DeVante Parker); three third-rounders (John Miller, Jamon Brown and Lorenzo Mauldin); two sixth-rounders (Deiontrez Mount, Charles Gaines); and one seventh-rounder (Gerod Holliman).
In all, Louisville had eight picks drafted in the first three rounds in the past two years. The Cards had only seven players picked in first three rounds in the previous 10 years. U of L also had four first-rounders in the past two years compared to just two first-rounders in the 16 years before Charlie Strong was hired.
A few months back I visited with Strong at UT, and he spoke in great detail about development. This is a prime example of what he's talking about.
Strong is quick to point out that only Bridgewater of that bunch was hyped as a blue-chip prospect. "Those guys weren't afraid to work because nothing was ever given to them," Strong said.
Texas sports info man John Bianco did reference the Cards' success with this tweet:
.@Longhorn_FB had 4 defensive players picked in 2015 NFL Draft, tied for second-most of any program. Only school with more? Louisville (6)
— John Bianco (@UT_Bianco) May 3, 2015
No doubt Strong's got a lot of work ahead of him, but his track record should provide Longhorn fans -- and brass -- with some comfort.
A nod to Michigan State
Evaluation and Development, Part II: Michigan State has won 53 games in the last five seasons and has finished in the top 10 three times. Impressive, especially when you consider Mark Dantonio's program seldom gets hailed as a big winner on Signing Day. Regardless, MSU has won a bunch of big games and is producing lots of top NFL talent.
The latest first-rounder is standout CB Trae Waynes, who went No. 11 overall to the Vikings. Waynes, like last year's first-rounder CB Darqueze Dennard, came to MSU as a "two-star" recruit and left as a first-round draft pick. Waynes was part of Michigan State's 2011 class, which is a great window into the Spartans' rise. He came in as a two-star, while All-American O-lineman Jack Allen, DE Shilique Calhoun and QB Connor Cook were all three-star guys.
Ouch, Tennessee
On the flipside, look at Derek Dooley's class from four years ago, which was ranked in the top 15 on Signing Day. That group fizzled out, and Dooley got booted. The upshot: This year the Vols failed to have a player drafted for the first time since 1964.
Miami is still a mystery
As I wrote after the Combine a few months back, one of the more puzzling aspects of this draft class was how did Miami, with as much talent as the Canes had last season, still not have a winning record (6-7)? UM produced two first-rounders (OT Ereck Flowers, WR Phillip Dorsett) and had five players selected in the top 77 picks of the draft with LB Denzel Perryman, TE Clive Walford and RB/KR Duke Johnson all getting drafted. The Canes also produced a fourth-rounder in OG Jon Feliciano and a sixth-rounder in DE Anthony Chickillo.
The Miami Herald's Barry Jackson had an interesting note related to this: Over the previous 11 drafts, 48 college teams had at least seven players picked and not one team, prior to this Miami group, had finished the previous season with a losing record. And, of those 48 teams, 33 won at least 10 games the previous season. Stuff like this doesn't lessen the temperature of Al Golden's seat coming into 2015.
Phillip Dorsett was one of many talented Canes to be picked in the 2015 draft.
Aggies close out impressive OL class in style
When the Jets selected massive Texas A&M O-lineman Jarvis Harrison in the fourth round, it put a bow on what should go down as arguably the top O-line recruiting class in recent college football history. Earlier in the draft, Harrison's teammate OT Cedric Ogbuehi went in the first round to Cincinnati to become the third offensive tackle from A&M's 2010 signing class picked in the first round, joining Luke Joeckel and Jake Matthews from the previous two drafts. Former A&M coach Mike Sherman, a long-time line coach, had a keen eye for O-line talent.
A win for LSU
Texas and LSU folks like to banter about which school is the real "DBU." My vote goes to LSU. CB Jalen Collins went in the second round to Atlanta to become the Tigers' eighth DB drafted in the past five years.
Coach O has quite the track record
Speaking of LSU, when USC's Leonard Williams was selected sixth overall by the Jets, he became the 11th D-lineman Ed Orgeron, the new Tigers defensive line coach, helped develop into a first-round pick and the fourth to go in the top seven overall.
The draft's two most underrated prospects
The two guys I think were most underrated by draft analysts were K-State's dynamic WR/return man Tyler Lockett and ASU's standout WR Jaelen Strong. They actually went back-to-back in the third round, with Lockett going at 69 to Seattle and Strong at 70 to Houston. I expect both will outshine most of the WRs picked ahead of them.
Big 12 defensive coaches told me over the winter they thought Lockett was the best player in their league and toughest to defend. I know he's small, but he's explosive and tough, and it's not like he wasn't a marked man the past few years and he still made tons of big plays.
As for Strong, an NFL coach I'm buddies with said he wasn't that enamored with Strong because he didn't think he played that fast and certainly not as fast as the 4.44 he ran in Indy or as explosive as his 42-vertical jump. All I know is I watched a lot of ASU games, and he made more big catches in traffic or when he was "NFL open" than any college wideout I saw last year.
Best late-round draft pick
The Falcons snagging Clemson DT Grady Jarrett in the fifth round. He's explosive, relentless and will be a steal.
Most intriguing pick of Day 3
The Jets taking Baylor QB Bryce Petty. I had one NFL coach tell me over the weekend he thought Petty was "the most natural passer" in this draft class and that he would not be shocked if he's the best QB of this group in four years. Will Petty get that time to develop? That's another question.
An early Rookie of the Year candidate
Todd Gurley, if healthy, has the special talent to make a run at Rookie of the Year. The issue with how fast he recovers is what kind of O-line will he run behind, but credit the Rams for grabbing some quality beef -- Rob Havenstein (Wisconsin), Jamon Brown (Louisville), Andrew Donnal (Iowa) and Cody Wichmann (Fresno State) -- later in the draft to try to support him. I wouldn't bet against Gurley.
With a full health and a solid O-line, Todd Gurley could do some damage in his first year in the NFL.
Star Watch
Dolphins first-round pick DeVante Parker was a former three-star recruit. After the draft, the Dolphins picked up a handful of undrafted free agents. Among them were two former five-star prospects -- Georgia's Ray Drew and UCLA's Ellis McCarthy.
Stat of the Draft
We're in the heart of the spring evaluation period and college coaches are flocking to the Sunshine State. Here's more proof why: In the draft's first three rounds, the state of Florida produced twice as many picks (16) as the next best states (California, Georgia and Texas). Florida also produced seven first-rounders, including three of the top six picks in Dante Fowler, Amari Cooper and Leonard Williams along with Flowers, Nelson Agholor, Dorsett and Damarious Randall.
Stat of the Draft, Take II
Washington had four defenders -- DT Danny Shelton, LB/S Shaq Thompson, CB Marcus Peters and OLB Hau'oli Kikaha -- go in the top 44 picks of this draft and somehow ranked 80th in total D last season.
Stat of the Draft, Take III
This year there were nine FSU players taken in the first five rounds, making it 23 Noles selected in the top five rounds the previous three seasons.
Stat of the Draft, Take IV
When Amari Cooper was picked in the first round Thursday night, he became Alabama's 16th first-rounder since 2010. For perspective, keep in mind that Bama had zero first-rounders in the six years before Nick Saban arrived.
Bruce Feldman is a senior college football reporter and columnist for FOXSports.com and FOX Sports 1. He is also a New York Times Bestselling author. His new book, The QB: The Making of Modern Quarterbacks, came out in October 2014. Follow him on Twitter @BruceFeldmanCFB.