alt=Doug RobinsonThere’s no baseball, no basketball, no golf, no nothing — so let’s geek out on the NFL draft one more time, and we’ll try not to make this as cringeworthy as watching Roger Goodell serve as a cheerleader and game show host.
WARNING: If you’re a BYU fan, sorry, you might want to leave the room because this is not good news for you. We’ll give you a minute to move on to the next story (tapping my toe, looking at my watch), or, if you have a strong stomach, feel free to read on.
Let’s start with the in-state results of the 2020 draft. Score it Utah 7, Utah State 1, BYU 0.
To put it in perspective, since 2010 (11 drafts in all) the Cougars have had only seven players drafted, whiffing four different years. It’s the school’s worst dry spell since the 1950s.
Utah State, by comparison, has had 13 draft picks in that time.
Then there’s Utah, which has had 39 players drafted since then — 12 in the last two years alone. That includes 23 defensive players, 14 offensive players and two special teamers.
The Utes didn’t just beat the in-state competition, they also beat the Pac-12, which had 32 players chosen in last week’s draft, ranking third among conferences. The tally: Utah 7, Oregon 4, Cal, Colorado, UCLA and Oregon State tied with 3 each, Washington, Stanford, Arizona State and USC tied at 2, Washington State 1 and Arizona 0. What is most surprising is the slide of the league’s traditional powers Washington, Stanford, USC and UCLA.
“The Utes led the Pac-12 with seven picks, and nobody else was close,” wrote reporter Jon Wilner of the Mercury News. “... No coaching staff in the conference does a better job identifying talent that fits the system, and then developing that talent.”
He might have added that Utah does not sign many blue-chip recruits out of high school, and yet they turn out NFL draft picks, which speaks to Wilner’s contention that Ute coaches develop players.
The Utes have risen to the challenge of playing in the Pac-12. They had only five players drafted during their first three years in the league. Here’s the draft tally in the six years since then:
26 — Utah, Washington
25 — USC, UCLA, Stanford
17 — Oregon
14 — Arizona State
12 — Cal
11 — Oregon State
9 — Washington State, Colorado
4 — Arizona
While the Utes are taking bows for their showing in the draft, we might also wonder why the presence of so many future NFL draft picks hasn’t resulted in a title. To be fair, they have come close, advancing to the conference championship game the last two seasons.
As expected, USU’s Jordan Love was the first local collegian to be selected in the draft, taken by the Green Bay Packers with the 26th overall pick. He is the highest drafted Utah collegian since Utah offensive lineman Garett Bolles in 2017 (20th overall) and BYU defensive lineman Ziggy Ansah in 2013 (5th overall).
For Love, who is still a work in progress, the situation in Green Bay is ideal. Since the Packers already have superstar Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, they won’t rush him onto the field before he’s ready. He can serve an apprenticeship just as Rodgers did behind Brett Favre, and Patrick Mahomes behind Alex Smith, and Steve Young behind Joe Montana. Not many teams could have offered Love a better situation. But for the Packers, this move makes little sense, particularly in the short term, and has been widely criticized.
Rodgers, who is 36, has said he wants to play till he’s 40. If he’s not quite the dominant player he once was, he certainly played at a very high level last season. How long can the Packers keep Love on the sideline before they’re forced to choose?
The team has been down this road before with Rodgers and Favre. The San Francisco 49ers faced the same situation with Young and Montana and later Smith and Colin Kaepernick. They all ended awkwardly.
Another drama is waiting to happen in Green Bay.