The SEC proved its talent superiority in the 2011 NFL Draft with five of the first six picks.
If you go by draft rankings (mine at least), that may not be the case for the 2012 NFL Draft. Using a reverse point system for the top 32 players in my rankings shows that the Pac-12, paced by Stanford's Andrew Luck, has the most top-tier talent. The ACC and its many North Carolina players is also ahead of the SEC.
See the scores of the top four conferences after the jump. In the next couple weeks, I'll probably break down the rankings even further.
Is the SEC still the hotbed for NFL talent?
Pac-12 - 278 points
1. Andrew Luck | 6’5, 235 pounds | QB | Stanford * 50
3.
| 6’3, 245 pounds | MLB | Arizona State * 48
10. Jonathan Martin | 6’6, 305 pounds | OT | Stanford * 41
13.
| 6’2, 220 pounds | QB | Southern California * 38
17.
| 6’6, 295 pounds | OT | Southern California * 34
26.
| 5’11, 180 pounds | CB | Oregon * 25
28.
| 6’5, 245 pounds | QB | Arizona 23
ACC - 244 points
2.
| 6’6, 272 pounds | DE | North Carolina 49
12.
| 6’4, 235 pounds | DE/OLB | North Carolina * 39
14. Chase Minniefield | 6’0, 185 pounds | CB | Virginia 37
15.
| 6’3, 305 pounds | DT | Miami (Fla.) * 36
19. Brandon Jenkins | 6’3, 245 pounds | DE | Florida State * 32
21. Zach Brown | 6’2, 225 pounds | OLB | North Carolina 30
30.
| 6’4, 220 pounds | FS | Maryland 21
SEC - 221 points
5.
| 6’2, 190 pounds | Alabama * 46
8.
| 5’11, 220 pounds | RB | Alabama * 43
9.
| 6’4, 232 pounds | WR | South Carolina * 42
16.
| 6’0, 220 pounds | RB | Arkansas * 35
23.
| 6’2, 263 pounds | OLB/MLB | Alabama 28
24. Dont’a Hightower | 6’4, 258 pounds | MLB | Alabama * 27
Big 12 - 167 points
4.
| WR | Oklahoma State * 47
6.
| 6’4, 220 pounds | QB | Oklahoma * 45
20.
| 6’3, 215 pounds | WR | Texas A&M 31
27.
| 5’10, 196 pounds | RB | Texas A&M 24
31. Travis Lewis | 6’2, 232 pounds | OLB | Oklahoma 20
Note: No other conference had more than three players ranked in the top 32. There were three independent players in the rankings, two Big 10 players and one Big East player.
See More:
