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Message: [QUOTE="billsin01, post: 1827304, member: 837"] That's a really interesting compilation. I found this link that just gives you who was drafted or signed as a free agent by year of their graduation/departure ([URL='http://cuse.com/sports/2006/10/26/NFLdraftyrbyyr.aspx?id=3345']link[/URL]). I'm sure, SWC, that you are well aware of this link but what I found interesting was how few guys were actually drafted in the first three or four rounds (Harrison alone in 96, Anderson and Abrams in 97, Jones, Darius and Roland Williams in 98, Mcnabb, Johnson and Konrad in 99, Bullock in 00). The point in looking at that is that it underscores how important it is to pack a roster full of good football players -- regardless of whether or not they end up being big time pros. As cool as it is to land big time recruits (the 3 star LB commitment this week, for example), what will make or break this staff (at least until we are winning a ton of games and putting up a ton of points) is how well they do landing kids like Phil Nash, Rod Gadson, Nate Hemsley, JR Johnson, Jason Poles, et. al. Not huge commits, not long, prosperous NFL careers, but really quality college football players that can help you win games. This isn't to say we haven't had those kids in the past 20 years or so, but we need a ton of them. Injuries happen at absurd rates these days and the ability to replace a Kyle McIntosh with a Dee Brown is essential. You also need to be able to sign a kid under the radar and develop that kid from a good athlete into a really good football player. In short, we all get excited over the Tommy DeVitos and Nadarius Fagans (and hopefully for good reason), but what this staff is able to do with in terms of finding and developing guys like Keirston Johnson and Kadeem Trotter is going to be extremely interesting. [/QUOTE]

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