Morning Reading: NFL Prospects at Florida Colleges

The more I focus on college football, the less interested I am in the pro game. I blame this site really. Starting this site has me reading more about college football than I ever have in the past. And trust me, I read a lot in the past. It’s not that I still don’t enjoy the NFL, but I’m not nearly as hyped for the upcoming season as I have been in past years. Maybe it’s because

The state of Florida is packed full of high school talent. This is no secret. The colleges throughout the state are so successful (in the last 14 years, Florida schools have played in 10 national championship games and won five titles…if I counted right) because of the talent they can find close to home. It’s also no secret that the state schools provide the NFL with that talent as well. In the last five NFL Drafts, there were 159 first-round picks. 18 of them came from Florida, FSU, or Miami. That may not seem like a lot at first glance, but it’s pretty impressive that 11% game from only three schools. Go back one more year and that percentage increases due to six Canes being selected in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft. Basically, there’s talent at every level in Florida. And lots of it.

The Orlando Sentinel recently posted an article ranking the college players in the state of Florida with the best NFL potential. And with any list, I agree with some of it and disagree with other parts. Florida leads the way with 12 players on the list of 25. FSU and Miami both have four. USF places 3 on the list. And FAU and UCF round it out with one apiece. I can’t really argue with the numbers too much, but the placements may be a little off.

First of all, true freshmen can be listed. I don’t really have a problem with that. But I have a problem with them being listed too high. Two of the top four on the list are players that have never taken a college snap. While Ray Ray Armstrong and Jelani Jenkins were both highly-rated prospects coming out of high school and are special, SPECIAL talents, let’s at least give them a year to show they can play on a larger stage. Carlos Dunlap, Brandon Spikes, Patrick Robinson, George Selvie…these guys have proven it. Many times. They could’ve been drafted high if they had all entered the draft last year. The true freshmen need at least a season or two to prove themselves.

Speaking of Selvie, I have no issue with him coming in at 10th on the list. Had it not been for recent injuries, he may have been listed higher, but I’m comfortable with where he is. The big problem I do have is the inclusion of the other two USF defenders. Nate Allen at #15 and Jerome Murphy at #21. Anyone who watched a USF game during the 2008 season knew the secondary was scary. And not scary good. Not to say Allen and Murphy aren’t the leaders of that secondary and not to say they won’t improve in 2009, but to list them as players that will go in the top three rounds of future NFL Drafts at this point in ludicrous. Even the writer of the article states Allen is “solid, not spectacular.” How does “solid, not spectacular” get you into the second round? As for Murphy, if Trae Williams can drop all the way to the fifth round, there is no way Murphy goes in the third.

All-in-all, the list isn’t half bad and definitely something I have now thought of putting together myself, I just find it hard to believe some of those individuals can be projected to go that high right now. Talk to me after the 2009 season and we’ll get a better idea of where they stand.

And let me just ask one question: where is Will Hill? (H/T: One-Eyed Willy)