Of course there is a correlation … do more players get drafted from Alabama because the team is successful or is the team successful because they've got more good players? I get that.
But I would argue that in today's NFL there are fewer and fewer "misses" from a draft perspective. The NFL knows who the top 250 or so eligible players are … these kids these days are analyzed so closely and so finitely that there are few misses. Stanley Morgan and Devine Ozigbo were not passed over because NU had a losing record. They were passed over because there were (in the eyes of the NFL) better players or greater needs elsewhere.
Kids are getting drafted from SE Missouri State, Tarleton University and South Dakota State … 2 decades ago that did not happen as frequently. I would bet my paycheck that Morgan and Ozigbo were thoroughly vetted by all 32 NFL teams.
I think the general rule is winning teams get more players drafted not because they're watched more but because those winning teams have more NFL caliber players.
Never has their been a statement on here that was so wrong.
QB
Steve McNair- Alcorn State (drafted 3rd overall, 1 SB appearance)
Joe Flacco- Delaware (drafted 18th overall, 1 SB)
Rich Gannon- Delaware (1 SB appearance, 1 MVP)
Tony Romo- Eastern Illinois (horrible, two broken collarbones)
Kurt Warner- Northern Iowa (3 SB appearances, 1 SB)
Phil Simms- Morehead State (drafted 7th overall, 2 SBs)
Doug Williams- Grambling State (drafted 17th overall, 1 SB)
Ron Jaworski- Youngstown State (1 SB appearance)
HB
Walter Payton- Jackson State (greatest RB of all-time, IMO)
Wilbert Montgomery- Abilene Christian
Brian Westbrook- Villanova
David Johnson- Northern Iowa (future fantasy football 1st/2nd rd pick)
WR
Jerry Rice- Mississippi Valley State (greatest WR of all-time, IMO)
Terrell Owens- Chattanooga
Harold Carmichael- Southern University
Marques Colston- Hofstra
Vincent Jackson- Northern Colorado
Victor Cruz- UMass
TE
Julius Thomas- Portland State
Eric Green- Liberty University
OL
Jahri Evans- Bloomsburg University (Actually D2 and not FCS)
Jermon Bushrod- Towson (2x probowler)
DL
Robert Mathis- Alabama A&M
Jared Allen- Idaho State
Howie Long- Villanova
LB
London Fletcher- John Carroll University
Jeremiah Trotter- Stephen F. Austin University
DB
Justin Bethel- Presbyterian University
Cortland Finnegan- Samford
Antoine Bethea- (3x probowler)
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie- Tennessee State
K
Adam Vinatieri- South Dakota State
Dan Carpenter- University of Montana