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Come Fan with UsSunday, June 21, 2026

What the NFL Draft and college football recruiting tell us about each other

Welcome to The Crootletter (sign up to get this in your inbox every morning!). I’m Bud Elliott, SB Nation’s National Recruiting Analyst, and in this space I’ll be sharing news, rumors and musings on the world of college football recruiting.

Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

SB Nation National Recruiting Analyst Bud Elliott is back with another episode of the College Football Recruiting Podcast to discuss the NFL Draft, its impact on recruiting and what recruiting rankings can predict about the draft. Topics include:

  • None of us can escape the topic of satellite camps
  • How teams are using the NFL Draft to recruit via social media
  • The teams most equipped to benefit from the NFL Draft in recruiting
  • Breaking down the recruiting rankings of the projected first round (this is a great draft for blue chips!)
  • The special nature of the 2013 class
  • What happened with the five projected first rounders who were ranked as two-stars? I break down the factors that lead to players slipping through the cracks and ending up as stars, and
  • Why you should take a QB in the first round instead of the second

Reader questions

If there were a way to trade recruiting positions like draft picks, what teams would freak out and trade up for five-stars?

Do you believe that Wentz going No. 2 will influence coaches to expand recruiting trails to find these “diamonds in the rough?”

Is there a school(s) that NFL teams think tend to excel at next level or conversely that have higher bust potential?

Previously

Did you miss a day of the Crootletter? No problem.

I previously looked at Jalen Ramsey and Derrick Henry, Chris Jones, Alex Collins, LaremyTunsil, the amazing 2013 cornerback recruiting crop and examined how offensive systems preparing QBs for the draft impacts QB recruiting.

NFL teams may need to adapt to the spread offenses if more blue-chip quarterbacks decide to pick those schools.

Carson Wentz being an NFL QB prospect does not invalidate the QB recruiting machine.

Where do NFL Draft sleepers come from? We map it out for you.

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