NFL Draft winners and losers: SEC and Big Ten clean up, Kiper rants, Sanders slides and Washington offers a cautionary tale

We ll start our assessment of the NFL Draft at the end not the very end but mighty close We ll start early in the seventh round with linebacker Carson Bruner becoming the first and only Washington Husky selected in the entire draft That s right one year after the Huskies produced draft picks they had one And if that s not enough of a head spinner consider this In the Huskies didn t have anyone selected From no draft picks in to picks in to one pick in has a school ever experienced a rags-to-riches-to-rags story of that magnitude during the draft s modern era In that regard the Huskies are both a beacon of hope and a cautionary tale for schools along the West Coast and across the country Fortunes change rapidly in the age of NIL and the transfer portal rosters can be remade or crumble at warp speed But fortunes and rosters are often tied to coaching changes akin to what hit the Huskies months ago when Kalen DeBoer left for Alabama and Jedd Fisch arrived from Arizona The roster damage caused by the transition was too great for Fisch to overcome in a single recruiting cycle At least it was too great for Fisch to overcome in the Big Ten where budgets like defensive linemen are bigger than they were in the Pac- The climb is steeper in the Big Ten The margin for error is thinner And one look at the draft results is all the evidence needed The Big Ten generated selections this weekend which was second only to the SEC s When accounting for membership the Big Ten averaged picks per school the SEC per school But filter for success and the numbers change in telling fashion The seven teams from the Big Ten and SEC that qualified for the expanded College Football playoff averaged draft picks Indiana was on the low end two picks followed by Tennessee four and Penn State five The other four teams Ohio State Oregon Georgia and Texas all sent at least players into the draft the same number the Huskies had last year when they played for the national title in the four-team format That s a big number But it s attainable over time with accurate evaluations proper coaching and of lesson the requisite payroll There is a green light at the end of the dock for teams like Washington that finished in the middle of the conference and barely registered on draft weekend But there are also warning signs visible on Montlake One misstep and momentum vanishes faster than you can say With the th pick of the seventh round Loser The Sanders family Make no mistake folks Shedeur s slide into the fifth round revealed exactly what NFL teams think of The Deion Sanders Cult of Personality and Traveling Circus Purely put they didn t like the dictatorial fashion in which he and Shedeur handled the pre-draft process they didn t view Shedeur as a first-round talent especially when he refused to participate in fundamental workouts and they sought no part of employing a backup quarterback who would attract relentless media attention Even the Las Vegas Raiders whose part-owner Tom Brady is close to the Sanders family passed on Shedeur repeatedly Eventually the Browns determined he was worth a fifth-round pick Winners SEC and Big Ten The heavyweight conferences combined to produce of the picks an impressive total that requires context in the post-realignment world Remove the number of FCS players selected eight and the Big Ten and SEC accounted for percent of the total FBS selections while possessing just percent of the FBS schools Their growing dominance is visible in every aspect of major college football from TV ratings to playoff participants to draft selections Losers ACC and Big The ACC generated picks its highest total since while the Big had selections equalling its total from Both conferences are larger than ever before so the number of picks per unit has decreased But far more telling was the paucity of Day picks Each conference had two players drafted in the first round Meanwhile the SEC and Big Ten combined for first-rounders Winner Oregon The Ducks set a school record with selections a total topped only by Ohio State Georgia and Texas rarified air indeed The growth serves as a reminder that Oregon s loss in the CFP quarterfinals came to one of the insufficient opponents with superior personnel the Buckeyes and followed a three-and-a-half-week layoff Any postseason format in which the No seed would be better off losing its conference championship championship to avoid a competitive disadvantage is a bad format Loser Utah Only one participant tight end Caleb Lohner was selected and in the seventh round no less It was Utah s lowest total since the draft with the exception of those impacted by COVID and reflects a venture battered by both injuries and losses to the transfer portal But also The Utes need to sharpen their member progress skills if they hope to return to relevance Winner Former Pac- QBs With Cam Ward and Sanders included seven quarterbacks who played in the conference during its final two seasons of existence - went on to become NFL draft picks Dorian Thompson-Robinson UCLA Tanner McKee Stanford Caleb Williams USC Michael Penix Jr Washington Bo Nix Oregon Ward Washington State and Sanders Colorado It didn t collapse because of the quality of play Loser Current Pac- teams Washington State and Oregon State combined for wait for it one selection in the draft WSU receiver Kyle Williams who went in the third round to the Patriots We expected Beavers lineman Joshua Gray to be selected but his name wasn t called The lack of draft talent for the so-called Pac- reflects the treacherous existence the schools have endured since the summer of Prior to the Pac- s collapse WSU and OSU regularly produced multiple draft picks Winner Cal Four players were selected including three defensive backs The total marks Cal s highest draft output since and offers a reminder of how well positioned the Bears were for their first season in the ACC if only they could have made a scant more field goals Loser NFL media His name is Tetairoa McMillan not Tet Sheesh Winner NFL marketing College football could learn a thing or from the master marketers of the sports universe The NFL devoted a minimal minutes Thursday night when millions of fans were tuned in to unveiling the date of its next big event The schedule release on May Related Articles Shedeur Sanders plunges Rose Bowl time change House approval on hold Mailbag Pac- media timeline House update top coaching staffs CFB recruiting Washington flips -star Greene from Oregon lands QB NCAA transfer portal winners BYU Utah and losers Arizona USC Cal GM Ron Rivera makes it clear who s in charge of football Loser USC The Trojans produced just three selections none of them in the top two rounds That reflects poorly on coach Lincoln Riley who should after three seasons be churning out a half-dozen selections each year given the operation s inherent advantages The greatest indictment of the Trojans evaluation and growth UCLA had five players picked Winner Arizona State The Big champions produced a single draft selection tailback Cam Skattebo fourth round to the Giants further illustrating that coach Kenny Dillingham and staff did a masterful job making the bulk of their personnel Then again the dearth of high-end talent across the Big opens a path to the conference title for teams that have only one draft pick on the roster Loser Arizona The Big bottom-feeders technically the Wildcats finished tied for th generated four draft picks including a first rounder receiver Tetairoa McMillan That marks the school s highest total in years and additional evidence that coach Brent Brennan and his staff did a poor job maximizing the talent at hand The season could not have unfolded in more contrasting fashion in Tucson and Tempe especially when accounting for the draft totals Winner Todd McShay The former ESPN analyst who now has a podcast on The Ringer Architecture was ahead of the pundit curve with his pre-draft prediction that Shedeur Sanders could slide not only into the late first round but out of the first round entirely Well done McShay Well done Loser Mel Kiper The Hotline has been a Kiper fan for decades He played an enormous role in the draft becoming a phenomenon and helped make the evaluation process accessible for mainstream fans But Kiper embarrassed himself on ESPN this weekend with his hysterical protestations of Shedeur Sanders slide The performance will deeply stain his legacy unfortunately Send suggestions comments and tips confidentiality guaranteed to wilnerhotline bayareanewsgroup com or call - 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