With the NFL draft coming up rather quickly, I decided to look at how many Big 10 offensive linemen have been taken within the first five rounds over the past 20 years. The numbers are not shocking. We suck, firmly entrenched in the middle/bottom of the pack, furiously holding off such powerhouses as Indiana and Purdue. To anyone reading this from Boston College, you've been warned. Quite the legacy Walrusball leaves. Here are the numbers:
Team Players taken within 1st 5 rds Total number of players taken
Wisconsin 15 18
SCUM 14 20
Penn St 12 16
Nebraska 11 16
Iowa 11 15
Illinois 8 11
Michigan St 6 9
Purdue 6 10
Ohio State 6 12
Indiana 5 7
Northwestern 3 5
Minnesota 2 5
Our guys drafted were Korey Stringer '95 Rd 1 Alex Stepanovich '04 Rd 4
Orlando Pace '97 Rd 1 Rob Sims '06 Rd 4
LeCharles Bentley '02 Rd 2 Nick Mangold '06 Rd 1
Other late round draft picks were Jason Winrow '94/Rd 6, Tyson Walter '02/Rd6, Adrien Clark '04/Rd 7, Shane Olivea '04/Rd 7, Doug Datish '07/Rd 6, and Kirk Barton '08/Rd 7.
It's amazing we've had so many stud offensive playmakers over the years. Now that Bollman's gone, we've got nowhere to go but up, don't we?
