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The 2015 NFL draft is now behind us, and for the eighth year in a row the SEC produced more draft picks than any other conference in the land.
But, of course, as soon as one draft ends the nation’s draft experts waste no time in releasing early (likely way too early) projections for the following year’s draft.
So far, dozens of sports media outlets have released 2016 mock drafts, and as expected they’re littered with SEC prospects. We found seven mock drafts released by prominent media outlets — 247Sports, CBS, Sporting News (SN), Sports Illustrated (SI), Bleacher Report (BR), Walter Football (WF) and SBNation (SBN).
Now, these mock drafts are obviously subject to change following the 2015 season, and the draft order used in these mocks is likely to look totally different by next spring. But for the sake of discussion, let’s take a look at how many SEC prospects are included in these mock drafts and where they’re currently being projected to come off the board.
Below are a list of the players included in at least one of the seven mock drafts listed above. The chart will show which mocks projected the player in question as a first-roiund pick, and with what pick they’re projecting that player will go.
(NOTE: The 247Sports mock draft only includes the first 15 picks, not the entire 32-pick first round.)
| Player | School | Outlets (pick No.) |
|---|---|---|
| Laremy Tunsil | Ole Miss | 247Sports (1), CBS (17), SI (5), BR (6), WF (2), SBN (10) |
| Robert Nkemdiche | Ole Miss | 247Sports (3), CBS (9), SN (8), SI (13), BR (2), WF (5), SBN (22) |
| Carl Lawson | Auburn | 247Sports (7), CBS (26), WF (31), SBN (17) |
| D’haquille Williams | Auburn | 247Sports (8), SN (29), SI (16), BR (26), WF (20), SBN (16) |
| A’Shawn Robinson | Alabama | 247Sports (9), CBS (4), SI (22), BR (11), WF (15), SBN (18) |
| Vernon Hargreaves | Florida | 247Sports (11), CBS (3), SN (32), SI (14), BR (9), WF (4), SBN (2) |
| Laquon Treadwell | Ole Miss | 247Sports (12), CBS (8), SN (17), SI (8), BR (10), WF (8) |
| Tony Conner | Ole Miss | CBS (22), WF (26), SBN (28) |
| Pharoh Cooper | South Carolina | CBS (28) |
| Germain Ifedi | Texas A&M | CBS (32), SI (21) |
| Jalen Mills | LSU | SN (5), SI (23), BR (28) |
| Jordan Jenkins | Georgia | SN (7), SI (26) |
| Vadal Alexander | LSU | SN (24), SI (32) |
| Jonathan Williams | Arkansas | SN (25) |
| Leonard Floyd | Georgia | SI (19), BR (21), WF (13), SBN (25) |
| Derrick Henry | Alabama | BR (27), WF (21), SBN (14) |
| Reggie Ragland | Alabama | BR (30) |
| Chris Jones | Mississippi State | WF (29), SBN (20) |
| Travin Dural | LSU | WF (30) |
| Tre’Davious White | LSU | SBN (19) |
| Eddie Jackson | Alabama | SBN (23) |
So what can we take away from this chart? Here are a few notes we came up with.
- According to these seven mock drafts, of the 21 players mentioned in at least one mock draft there were two who were unanimous first-round selections: Ole Miss defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche and Florida cornerback Vernon Hargreaves.
- It’s worth noting that there were four more players listed in at least six of the seven mock drafts: Ole Miss offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, Auburn wideout D’haquille Williams, Alabama defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson and Ole Miss wideout Laquon Treadwell.
- Tunsil was the only player in any of the seven mocks, SEC or otherwise, to be named the No. 1 pick in one mock draft and to be left off another mock entirely. He was excluded from Sporting News’ first round mock.
- Five of the 21 players listed above were only named in one of the seven mock drafts. LSU cornerback Tre’Davious White was the highest-projected player among those one-hit wonders, coming in as SBNation’s No. 19 selection.
- Ole Miss, Alabama and LSU were the most-represented SEC schools on the list with four first-round nominees apiece.
- Ole Miss crop was the most impressive, including one unanimous first-rounder (Nkemdiche) and two more listed in six of seven mock drafts (Treadwell and Tunsil).
- Alabama had four players listed, but two were only listed in one of seven mock drafts. LSU also had two players listed only once, and none of its four of its first-rounders were listed in more than three of seven mock drafts.
- Tunsil was the only SEC player projected to go No. 1 overall. He was a projected top-10 pick by five media outlets.
- Nkemdiche was also a projected top-10 pick by five media outlets; Treadwell earned four top-10 selections, as did Hargreaves. Alabama’s Robinson was named a top-10 pick by three media outlets, while Auburn’s Lawson and Williams turned up in the top 10 of one mock draft apiece.
- Ten SEC schools have at least one player listed above: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Texas A&M.
- The four schools excluded were Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.
