Last week, I wrote an article about a draft approach I had been wondering about. While I believe there is merit to it, the following are two more useful ways of distinguishing between prospects, and they are circumstances far more common than the presence of an Alabama player of similar ability.

Where did you come from?


In the world of college football, specifically college football rankings, the College Football Playoff committee looks hard at strength of schedule. When two teams have the same record, the committee often distinguishes between them by the quality of their opponents.


What this has meant on a practical level is that the SEC, and, to a slightly lesser extent now, the Big Ten, have more teams in the top rankings than other conferences. In the final rankings before the college football playoff this past season, the SEC had five schools in the top 10, while the Big Ten had three. Fans of Notre Dame were understandably upset about being left out of the playoff, since their record, 12-2, was better than that of a few teams that got in. One was Alabama.

The factor that swayed the committee between the two was that Notre Dame was 0-2 against top-15 teams, while Alabama was 4-2. (I am not arguing the correctness of their decision, just identifying some reasons for it.)

The way this applies to the draft is when two prospects have very similar production, experience, character, and measurables. In that regard, if one of the players went to an SEC school, he should be the choice.

The reason goes along with the cliché that iron sharpens iron. SEC prospects will likely have gone up against some of the other top prospects in the draft. For instance, in Mel Kiper's list of best players by position, the SEC is well represented across all positions, and that does not take into account the stars still in school that a current prospect might have played against. It doesn't take into account the quality of the teammates he had to compete against in practice.

If you look at the league's current makeup, many of the top players at their position come from that conference. For instance, these receivers played in the SEC:



And of course, Niners fans have fond memories of South Carolina's Deebo Samuel excelling on Sundays.

Running backs?


And here is my point. Achane was taken in the third round. I don't know if the Saints were considering him when they made their selection, but I am sure they would rather have him now than TCU's Kendre Miller.


(This is hypothetical. The point of this article is that if a team is seriously debating between two prospects. It is very possible Achane was not on the Saints' radar.)

And this approach applies to many positions. Teams stack their draft boards differently, but internal debates are had every year. If an SEC player is part of that debate, his experience in that conference should decide it.

Note: We are blessed that the "small school" label is less and less a factor. Teams having access to game film from schools in small conferences has thankfully changed the evaluation landscape.

What is your college bloodline?


While Miami goes by "The U," many years ago, Penn State was known as "Linebacker U." That was because so many great linebackers came out of that school. (Niners fans have fond memories of their LBU product, NaVorro Bowman.)

Some schools currently fall into that category for certain positions.


In the past few years, receivers Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Emeka Egbuka, and Marvin Harrison, Jr., have all come from Ohio State. If I were deciding between OSU's Carnell Tate and Arizona State's Jordyn Tyson this year, Tate's experience with the coaches in Columbus would be a not-small part of my decision.

When it comes to defensive backs, Ohio State has also developed numerous NFL stars. The other school whose defensive backs have dominated in the NFL is Alabama. Patrick Surtain II, Marlon Humphrey, Xavier McKinney, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Brian Branch, Jordan Battle, Josh Jobe, to name a few current ones.

Jobe went undrafted and started for the Super-Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.

Just as coaches who come from particular coaching trees have had great success (Bill Walsh is the greatest example), players from specific school "trees" often do, too. They have received coaching from the same person, and there is a strong track record to consider.

In various mock drafts, the Niners are predicted to take any number of players. I have never seen mock drafts this unsettled at this late stage in the process. Receiver is one of them. In the second round, Tennessee's Chris Brazzell II and Notre Dame's Malachi Fields are two often cited. If push comes to shove, I would go with the SEC's Brazzell II.


General manager John Lynch often drafts cornerbacks. NFL.com's draft evaluations give Duke's Chandler Rivers and Ohio State's Davison Igbinosun the same grade. If Lynch is deciding between the two, unless there are red flags, I would advise him to select Igbinosun. The history is on that young man's side.

The NFL draft is often compared to gambling. If a tough decision must be made, there are some ways you can hedge your bets.

Written By:

Jack Stewart


Jack Stewart was educated at Alabama and Emory and was a Brittain Fellow at Georgia Tech. His poetry has been published widely in the US and several other countries. His book No Reason was published in the Poeima Poetry Series in 2020.
All articles by Jack Stewart


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