2. Small Schools Are Getting More Recognition
You have to go all the way back to 1970 when Ed 'too tall' Jones was selected out of Tennessee State, to find a number 1 pick that was from a major, household name College football program. Since then, the number 1 overall pick in the draft is a rotating list of familiar division I powerhouses- Oklahoma, USC, Texas, Nebraska, Auburn , Notre Dame, Alabama, LSU, Penn State, Michigan, etc. However, in the 2013 NFL draft the Kansas City Chiefs selected Offensive tackle Eric Fisher , from Central friggin' Michigan. Not THE Michigan, not Western Michigan, but Central Michigan, There hasn't been a player drafted number 1 overall from a college with the word 'central' in front of it ever. Granted , fellow Central Michigan Chippewa offensive tackle Joe Staley was taken 28th in the 2007 draft, but that's a big difference from number 1 overall. Central Michigan is only the fourth largest college in the state of Michigan and compared to the University Of Michigan's 40,000 plus students, has only 20,000 on campus students. Fisher was a known commodity, with a 4th round grade leading up to the senior bowl, where he made division I defensive ends his bitch on a regular basis in practice, resulting in an astronomical ascent to the number 1 pick. But it shows that the small school stigma is officially in the books. Sure, NFL history is littered with small school studs (hall of fame WR Jerry Rice was drafted out of Jackson State, hall of fame Defensive tackle John Randle was undrafted out if Texas A & I) but to be taken number one overall, and over a highly decorated player at the same position from a major conference, (Texas A & M's Luke Joeckel) simply shatters the barrier. NFL scouts are simply digging deeper and further. Small schools are getting more of a look as the NFL tries to find the next gem. The league's second leader rusher last year, Alfred Morris, was from Florida Atlantic . Heck, this year, a British Olympic athlete who has never played football in his life, Lawrence Okoye, was signed as a free agent by the San Francisco 49ers. Sure the big boys will always dominate the draft and especially the first round, but some relatively highly rated prospects were targeted and drafted from the likes of Elon, Missouri Southern, Western Kentucky, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Florida International and Harvard. And these weren't late round flyers, these were guys who will play and contribute this fall. Throw in the fact that previously 'small 'schools like Boise State an Appalachian State are now considered football factories shows that a division I draftee isn't always the most sure thing.