Pac-12 in NFL Draft Day 1: Four Conference Players Taken in Round 1

That’s one better than the Pac-12 did the past three years, but eight fewer than the SEC. So what does it mean?

Four Pac-12 players were taken in the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday, which is marginally better than the past three seasons, when three Pac-12 players were selected in the opening round each year.

It's still eight fewer than the number of first-round picks that came from the SEC on Thursday.

So what does it mean, if anything?

It's not what it means; it's what it reflects. But we'll get to that in moment. Let's list the four Pac-12 players who were chosen Thursday.

Oregon defensive end Trayvon Thibodeaux was the first Pac-12 player selected as expected, going No. 5 to the New York Giants.

USC wide receiver Drake London missed nearly half the 2021 season with an injury, but that did not prevent the Falcons from taking him with the eighth overall draft pick.

Utah linebacker Devin Lloyd was expected to be the next player from the conference to be taken, but it was Washington cornerback Trent McDuffie who went next, going to Kansas City with the 21st pick.

Lloyd still went in the first round, but it was a little later than expected, going to the Jaguars with the 27th selection.

So here's how the first-round picks break down by conference:

SEC -- 12

Big Ten -- 7

ACC -- 4

Pac-12 -- 4

American -- 2

FCS -- 2

Independent -- 1

Big 12 -- 0

What should we conclude from this? Well, nothing that can be printed in a scientific journal, but there seem to be some correlations.

The SEC had by far the most first-round picks, and it had two of the four teams in the College Football Playoff (Alabama and Georgia), including both finalists.

The Big Ten was next in first-round picks, and it had a team (Michigan) in the CFP and three of its teams were ranked among the final top eight.  The Pac-12 and ACC each had three fewer first-round picks than the Big Ten, and neither the Pac-12 nor the ACC had a team in the CFP.  The American Conference had two first-round picks, which is pretty good for that conference, which placed the fourth team in the CFP (Cincinnati).

The Big 12 did not have a team in CFP either, and having no first-round picks this year is simply an inexplicable embarrassment.

More significant is that each of the four teams in the College Football Playoff had at least one of its players taken within the first seven draft picks Thursday, and national champion Georgia had five first-round picks, more than the entire Pac-12.

So it seems that the number of first-round picks provides a pretty good reflection of how strong a team or a conference was the preceding seasons. That seems logical.

Let's take this reflection-of-strength theory one step further.  The Pac-12 has not had more than four players taken in the first round since the 2017 draft, when six Pac-12 players were taken on Day 1, and three of them were among the top nine picks. And guess what? That 2016 season that preceded that draft was the last time the Pac-12 had a team in the College Football Playoff (Washington).  The Pac-12 had no top-10 teams in the final polls this past season, but it had three in 2016.

The Pac-12 did even better in the first round of the 2015 draft, when nine of its players were taken on the first day, including seven in the top 20 picks. And, you guessed it, that 2014 season was the only time a Pac-12 team (Oregon) got to the CFP championship game. Six Pac-12 teams finished that season ranked in the top 25, including four in the top 15.

Pac-12 football had been on a downward trend ever since, and the number of first-round picks from the conference has declined along with it.

So it seems the first round of the draft offers a pretty good reflection of the previous season. It should come as no shock that the best teams and best conferences have the best NFL prospects.

When the Pac-12 produces more elite pro prospects, its football status will rise with it.  Hey, this is not rocket science.

If you want to take an optimistic perspective, the Pac-12 did have more first-round picks than it did each of the past three years, so maybe the conference's downward trend has bottomed out and is on the rise. What happens in the rest of this draft may offer some clues, and what happens in the first round of next year's NFL draft will provide a clearer picture of where the Pac-12 is headed.

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Cover photo of Kayvon Thibodeaux is by Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports

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Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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