They most certainly do NOT go hand in hand. In January I made a thread, about ACC players in the NFL. They had 4 players on NFL rosters. After the NFL draft and free agent signings, this is STILL the case. Look how far the other schools, except Duke, GT, and UVA, jumped up due to the draft and free agents.

Here's the current list.

Miami - 60 from 45

FSU - 38 from 30

UNC - 37 from 26

UMD - 33 from 30

Clemson - 32 from 23

VT - 29 from 18

Pitt - 29 from 21

Syracuse - 25 from 15

NCSU - 23 from 16

BC - 22 from 20

GT - 22 from 24 (They and UVA only schools to trend downward)

UVA - 22 from 23 (They and GT only schools to trend downward)

WF - 14 from 9

Duke - 4 from 4 (At least they didn't trend downward?)

Total - 395 from 304

Obviously these numbers will drop as players will be weeded out, but for Duke to still only have 4 on a roster is surprising. There are really no players NFL teams even want to look at?

I also looked up SEC teams they have 428 players total, currently, on NFL rosters. Their highest is LSU - 51 and lowest Vandy - 11.

Duke isn't that surprising. 2011 was not a very good year and they don't play a style of football that generates a lot of NFL prospects.

Great research, OrangeCrush22!

I interpret this data 2 ways:
1) ACC football was down from 2006 through 2009 (historically bad in fact).
2) ACC football showed signs of a comeback last year (and based on recruiting, it continues)

IMHO the future of ACC football is very bright. I'm not worried about whether we will get a team into the 4-team playoff... I'm worried about how long it will take us to get TWO teams in!

(06-22-2012 05:46 AM)OrangeCrush22 Wrote:  GT - 22 from 24 (They and UVA only schools to trend downward)

GT trending downward isn't so much a sign they aren't getting the talent as much as a product of the offense that they run. Back in the 1980's when Clemson was rolling running the triple option offense we had few offensive players go on to the NFL, and typically those who did go to the NFL went late.

UVA is a different story, however. Probably has a lot to do with the end of the Groh era.

What I get out of these stats is that the ACC lost a lot of talent.

Miami - 60 from 45 - lost 15 NFL prospects
FSU - 38 from 30 - lost 8 NFL prospects
UNC - 37 from 26 - lost 11 NFL prospects
Clemson - 32 from 23 - lost 9 NFL prospects
VT - 29 from 18 - lost 11 NFL prospects
Pitt - 29 from 21 - lost 8 NFL prospects
Syracuse - 25 from 15 - lost 10 NFL prospects
NCSU - 23 from 16 - lost 7 NFL prospects

Considering the ACC didn't really have a great year (despite putting an at large into the BCS), we lost a ton of potential NFL talent from all the top teams and Syracuse.

(06-22-2012 07:26 PM)ChrisLords Wrote:  What I get out of these stats is that the ACC lost a lot of talent.

Miami - 60 from 45 - lost 15 NFL prospects
FSU - 38 from 30 - lost 8 NFL prospects
UNC - 37 from 26 - lost 11 NFL prospects
Clemson - 32 from 23 - lost 9 NFL prospects
VT - 29 from 18 - lost 11 NFL prospects
Pitt - 29 from 21 - lost 8 NFL prospects
Syracuse - 25 from 15 - lost 10 NFL prospects
NCSU - 23 from 16 - lost 7 NFL prospects

Considering the ACC didn't really have a great year (despite putting an at large into the BCS), we lost a ton of potential NFL talent from all the top teams and Syracuse.

Can't worry about that, Chris... those guys weren't going to stay forever. Not sure how many were Seniors, too. I do wish Hosley had stayed another year though!

Ok, the more I think about it, what were all those Miami guys thinking?

(06-22-2012 05:46 AM)OrangeCrush22 Wrote:  GT - 22 from 24 (They and UVA only schools to trend downward)

Chan, Chan, Chan. I betcha all but maybe 6 or 7 are defensive players. Chan crushed the offensive pipeline to the NFL.

(06-22-2012 02:49 PM)catdaddy_2402 Wrote:  GT trending downward isn't so much a sign they aren't getting the talent as much as a product of the offense that they run. Back in the 1980's when Clemson was rolling running the triple option offense we had few offensive players go on to the NFL, and typically those who did go to the NFL went late.

I don't think this will hold, at least relative to the rock bottom of Chan Failey. I suspect GT will start sending alot more OL and backs into the NFL now. Bizarrely we still have the WR thing going on, and we have more tall and fast freaks coming up through the program.

Calvin Johnson --> Demaryius Thomas --> Stephen Hill ... next will be Jeff Greene

Where's Wake?

(06-26-2012 12:47 AM)WakeForestRanger Wrote:  Where's Wake?

Didn't you hear? Wake has been expelled from the ACC (along with Duke) so the rest of the teams can split the money 12 ways instead of 14... nothing personal, it's just business.


(psych!)