Mock Draft: Top Of NFL Draft Might Be SEC-Light Next Year

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Will next year’s NFL draft be less SEC-centric than its recent predecessors?  At least at the top of the draft it might.

Andrew Perloff of SI.com has posted his first 2012 mock draft and only one SEC player is listed among the first 11 picks.  Considering last week’s draft produced five SEC picks in the first six selections, going one for eleven would be quite a dry spell.

Overall, Perloff sees nine league players being taken in next year’s first round.  That’s certainly more in tune with the league’s usual production.  Year-in and year-out you can expect nearly 30% of the NFL’s first-round picks to come from the SEC.

Here are the conference players he expects to get first-day calls next April:


8.  Dre Kirkpatrick, CB, Alabama — Raiders

12.  Stephon Gilmore, CB, South Carolina — Lions

15.  Trent Richardson, RB, Alabama — Jaguars

16.  Morris Claiborne, CB, LSU — Texans

17.  Knile Davis, RB, Arkansas — 49ers

18.  Courtney Upshaw, LB, Alabama — Buccaneers

21.  Alshon Jeffery, WR, South Carolina — Ravens

22.  Dont’a Hightower, LB, Alabama — Patriots

27.  Devin Taylor, DE, South Carolina — Chargers