This year’s NFL Draft wasn’t the typical prime-time infomercial the SEC utilized to flaunt its wealth of elite level talent over the rest of the world. With 12 overall picks selected in this year, five coming in the first round, Ohio State interrupted the 10-year advertisement that had become synonymous with draft night. The Buckeyes launched their own marketing campaign and pushed the SEC to the backseat. Not only were the results from the draft a highlight for the players, it served as an additional accolade the Buckeyes can use to bolster their recruiting strategy. “Absolutely we’re going to use that for recruiting,” Urban Meyer said last week. “We’re pretty creative around here and I don’t even know what (director of player personnel Mark Pantoni) is going to do.” By all accounts, the 2016 draft was another impressive feat that secures the legacy Meyer and distinguishes Ohio State from several other programs in college football. In the broader scope, though, the disparity between the SEC and the Big Ten in churning out NFL-caliber players is beginning to diminish. Sure, the SEC still produced more draft picks than any other conference in the country with 51, but it didn’t outshine the Big Ten by double-figures like it has five of the past six years. The gap was narrowed from a 19-player difference between the two conferences to just four. The representation of the Big Ten seen in this year’s draft wasn’t an aberration, either. Instead, it’s a preview of what will become a common occurrence. Ohio State’s record setting weekend was a supplemental boost for a program that’s been flooded with talent for decades…
Continue Reading: Ohio State’s big draft helps future of Big Ten recruiting
