Fact or Fiction: Michigan is the biggest underachiever in football
National recruiting director Mike Farrell and national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney tackle three topics daily and determine whether they believe the statements or not.
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NFL DRAFT: What We Learned | Biggest winners of the weekend | Five storylines | Did we hit or miss on HS rankings of 32 first-rounders? | First-round grades | Why did Rivals miss on Burrow's, Herbert's rankings? | Day Two thoughts | Looking ahead to top 10 players for 2021 draft
CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2022: Top 100
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1. LSU helped itself more than any college program in the NFL Draft.
Farrell’s take: FACT. This was the year of LSU all around. Its 14 players drafted tied the all-time record set in 2004 by Ohio State. And this is just after a year where Ed Orgeron started to recruit nationally, something LSU hasn’t done well over the years. This could take LSU recruiting to the next level, and that should be a scary thought for other programs around the sport.
Gorney’s take: FACT. There are no sporting events on television, recruits cannot visit schools and coaches cannot see them at their high schools, so everyone was sitting around the television this weekend watching the draft. And what many elite prospects saw was one LSU player after another getting picked – and from across the board positionally. Quarterback Joe Burrow went first, defensive end K’Lavon Chaisson, receiver Justin Jefferson, linebacker Patrick Queen and running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire were also first-rounders. Ed Orgeron has a tight grip on in-state recruiting, he does well regionally and LSU is now going national. The draft helped the Tigers in numerous ways.
MORE FARRELL: Who is the best recruiter of the Rivals era, Nick Saban or Urban Meyer?
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2. Michigan is the biggest underachiever in college football.
Farrell’s take: FACT. Michigan pumps out NFL players but not division titles, not conference titles, not College Football Playoff appearances, not even bowl wins (lost 11 of its last 14 bowls). I can’t think of another program that qualifies for this title.
Gorney’s take: FACT. Not only is the biggest underachiever in college football but someone needs to start asking coach Jim Harbaugh and his staff where this program is headed. Clearly, the problem is Ohio State, which is far superior to every team in the Big Ten and only getting better. But Penn State isn’t going anywhere and the Wolverines seem stuck in neutral. That’s incredibly hard to believe since Michigan has produced 28 NFL Draft picks over the last four years.
MORE BIG TEN: How top-ranked players from 2018 for each school are faring
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3. The Longhorns will start producing more NFL players.
Farrell’s take: FACT. The lack of NFL production for a big program with such a recruiting edge in geography is puzzling. Texas had only three players selected in the NFL Draft this year and no one in rounds one or two. That’s embarrassing, especially with how the state of Texas dominated in this year's draft. Sam Cosmi, Sam Ehlinger, Joseph Ossai and others will be in next year’s draft and I have to believe the Longhorns will start to roll out more NFL players over the next few years.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. This NFL Draft class is proof that the Longhorns have done a poor job recently of keeping elite talent in the state and until that drastically changes, I don’t see regular draft classes among the likes of Alabama, LSU, Ohio State and other top programs. Cosmi is almost a virtual guarantee as a first-rounder next year but no other Longhorns are locks. Ehlinger, Ossai and Caden Sterns are some other ones to watch but until in-state recruiting gets better, the numbers probably won’t move much higher.