Just saw that ESPN article about which collegs produce the most No. 1 draft picks and of course it’s all USC this and USC that. Back in the 1980s when we were grinding through the Vince Dooley years we didn’t care about individual draft slots we cared about winning SEC championships and going to the Cotton Bowl. Now everything is about draft stock and NIL valuations and kids transferring the second they don’t get enough targets. This whole conversation leaves us out because we develop complete football players not just flashy stat compilers.
The thing that gets me is we just put Monroe Freeling into the first round and people still want to talk about USC’s history from forty years ago. We have been churning out NFL offensive linemen and defensive backs consistently since the Kirby Smart era and nobody wants to give us credit for the depth of our program. I remember when Herschel Walker was the only Georgia player anybody talked about nationally and we were proud of that because he was ours and he stayed all three years. Now you got kids transferring after spring practice because they saw a better NIL deal on the portal.
We will never have a No. 1 overall pick because our system is built on balance and team football not on featuring one superstar. And you know what I am okay with that. The NFL scouts know what we produce and the draft board shows it every single year. Let USC and Oklahoma and Auburn have their No. 1 pick history. We will keep putting three and four guys in the first round and winning at a level those programs can only dream about in the modern era. The draftniks can keep sleeping on us.