"POSITION U"
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Brett Ciancia - April 21st, 2016
Self-dubbed nickname by UCLA in 2013
One of the most common debates between fan bases centers around which programs produce the most talent at each position, and who can claim the title of "Position U." In 2013, UCLA dubbed themselves "Linebacker U" which enraged Penn Staters everywhere who had claimed the moniker for decades. Meanwhile, Clemson and Tennessee fans are very vocal about why they are the real "Wide Receiver U." Miami, LSU, and FSU love to argue about who really owns the secondary as "DB U."
After analyzing NFL Draft selections back to 2000, none of these schools are correct in their claims. We broke down every pick from every round of the last 16 NFL Drafts for a detailed view of trends by school, conference, and position. We will be tweeting out the all-time "Common Draft Era" stats all week leading up to the Draft, but for a more recent scope we limited our research here to NFL Drafts in this millennium -- sorry, Pitt and Minnesota, all those ancient draft picks don't apply here.
First, we will take a look at the total numbers per position, the pure quantity category. Then below you will find a ratio analysis showing which schools produce more of a certain position in relation to their total draft picks produced. This doesn't necessarily prove dominance in a certain position since it is scaled to each school's pool of draft picks, but it can highlight some program strengths.
After analyzing NFL Draft selections back to 2000, none of these schools are correct in their claims. We broke down every pick from every round of the last 16 NFL Drafts for a detailed view of trends by school, conference, and position. We will be tweeting out the all-time "Common Draft Era" stats all week leading up to the Draft, but for a more recent scope we limited our research here to NFL Drafts in this millennium -- sorry, Pitt and Minnesota, all those ancient draft picks don't apply here.
First, we will take a look at the total numbers per position, the pure quantity category. Then below you will find a ratio analysis showing which schools produce more of a certain position in relation to their total draft picks produced. This doesn't necessarily prove dominance in a certain position since it is scaled to each school's pool of draft picks, but it can highlight some program strengths.
DRaFT PICK TOTALS SINCE 2000
QUARTERBACK U
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RUNNING BACK U
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WR U
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TIGHT END U
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O-LINE U
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D-LINE U
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LINEBACKER U
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DB U
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It isn't surprising seeing LSU dominating the offensive skill positions, but it is shocking to see them leading the pack at quarterback given their recent struggles at the position. As expected, run-heavy Wisconsin controlled the offensive line category with 16 drafted linemen coupled with 8 drafted running backs. Ohio State owns the secondary, while FSU and Georgia lead the front seven. Four teams tie for the title of Linebacker U - none of which is Penn State who notoriously owned the moniker since the 1970s. Wisconsin (61%), Rutgers and Virginia (59%), Boston College and Baylor (58%) lead the pack in terms of highest ratio of offensive players drafted compared to their defenders drafted. The opposite unbalance, defense-first, is led by NC State (67%), Mississippi State (65%), Texas (63%) and Clemson (62%).
DRAFT PICK RATIOS SINCE 2000
QUARTERBACK U
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RUNNING BACK U
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WR U
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TIGHT END U
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O-LINE U
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D-LINE U
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LINEBACKER U
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DB U
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This section of data takes scale into account, showing each teams' percentage of draft picks by position to see where they relatively excel. By far the highest ratio is Boston College's 42% of all its draft picks as offensive linemen; BC is also 2nd (only to Miami) in terms of 1st Round draft pick percentage, as 30% of all BC drafted players are in the first round. Georgia Tech is at the top of the WR ratio leaderboard, despite running a triple option offense. Paul Johnson has been excellent at producing star receivers, even within his system, as we discussed in our Football Factories research piece. In the secondary, Virginia Tech leads the pack in DB ratio, a position unit that hit its peak in the mid to late 2000s under Beamer's most successful stretch but has cooled in recent years.
IF you would like to see your team's rank in a certain category or year span, please follow us on twitter and tweet/message us @PickSixPreviews
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