SEC again leads way in opening round; PAC-12 goes out proud … Pretty much as usual, the SEC had the most players selected in the opening round of the 2024 draft as 11 former players in the conference were taken in the first round. At the same time, the PAC-12 went out with a bang as the conference had 8 players selected including USC QB Caleb Williams, the first player selected overall, while the Big Ten and ACC had 4 players selected each, and the Big XII had 3. In fact, one thing that really jumped out last night was the fact that just about every player selected was from a power conference and most were from traditional football powers. Indeed, counting Notre Dame OT Joe Alt, 31 of the 32 players selected in last night’s draft were from one of the major conferences (or Notre Dame) with Toledo CB Q Mitchell, who was selected 22nd overall by Philadelphia, the lone exception. And while its something of an unofficial count, by our count 24 of the 32 first round picks this year were from power schools which have traditionally been in contention for either national or Power-5 conference titles.
Interesting, though, that unlike recent years no one team really dominated this year’s opening round. Alabama, LSU and Washington, though, did lead the way with three picks each, while Georgia, Penn State and Texas each had two. On the other hand, national champion Michigan only had one player taken in the first round – QB JJ McCarthy – although quite a number of Wolverines are expected to be selected throughout the rest of the draft. Ohio State also only had one player taken in the first round as most of the Buckeyes top prospects opted to return to school for a run at next year’s national championship.
