Grading the Best Bulldog Draft Classes
Mississippi State football celebrated the 2019 NFL Draft. Certainly the five drafted Bulldogs did, and most of all the program-record trio taken in the first round. For perspective, until last April only eleven State stars had been picked in the first round of all NFL, as well as AFL, AAFC, USFL, etc. drafts held since professional clubs began selecting players in 1936.
No, no Mississippi State College player was picked in the debut draft at all, never mind the first round.
Thus when Jeffery Simmons, Montez Sweat, and Johnathan Abram all were called on the opening round of the ’19 Draft, history was made. Then came Elgton Jenkins in the second round and Gerri Green in the sixth to round-out the class. If’n one cares calculate, that is an average round of 2.2 for the 2019 class.
That ‘score’ isn’t a record though. Mississippi State’s 1996 draft day may only have seen just two taken, but both Walt Harris and Eric Moulds went in the first round. They make for an unbeatable 1.0 average, likely unmatchable as well.
So. Do we proclaim the 2019 and 1996 ‘classes’ as the best Bulldog groups ever to turn pro in one year? It’s possible ’19 could end up that way with the called quintet off to strong starts.
However, even if we take incomplete-careers classes out of the calculations, there are a few other years which produced impressive rolls of NFL-bound Bulldogs. Let’s look at those, and try to compare first on ‘metrics’ as such and then on pure impression. Both are equally accurate. Sometimes.
To begin, let’s rule out class size as a measure of greatness. This can work against a class grade more than help in fact, if a bunch of Dogs get drafted at tail-end of the process and don’t stick with their squads. Agreeing that just getting drafted at all is still a worthy feat for any player, we are looking at complete classes.
Then there were extenuating circumstances which make grading the first few draft decades impractical. Most obviously so, is the 1944 group of eleven (!) Mississippi State College men selected in 30 (!) rounds. War-time obligations nipped quite a few careers of course. But pro football was not a sure path to fortune in those days either. The net result: of those eleven only two played and one of those not until 1947.
If one wonders, the draft was ‘trimmed’ to 20 rounds in 1960 as the AFL was organizing; to 17 in 1967, 12 in 1977, and finally the current seven rounds in 1994.
If one further wonders, here are the trivia answers: Johnie Cooks and Truitt Smith. The question? Who are the highest- and lowest-drafted Dogs ever. Linebacker Cooks was the #2 overall pick in 1982 by Baltimore. Smith, a back, was taken by Chicago in 1948…in the 30th round.
One more caution: we aren’t accounting for free agents, and State has turned out some good ones from Shorty McWilliams in 1949 to Deonte Skinner in 2014. Heck, maybe the greatest football Dog of all time, Jackie Parker himself, was only drafted in the 27th round in 1953 and played his whole career in Canada!
Of course small classes can be skewed statistically, too. Two Dogs were drafted in 1968 and only one played. But linebacker D.D. Lewis (#6 round) lasted 13 seasons with Dallas.
Here’s a rough-and-ready-to-critique ranking of the best Bulldog draft classes, in reverse order and judged by round-average on draft days, then how many years the whole group accumulated on League rosters. If none, they still counted against the average.
1995 – 6 drafted, average round 5.6. All 6 played, for 19 seasons. Average career 3.8.
This class scores more on quantity, in the seven-round era perspective, than quality. Five of the careers were two seasons, with fullback Fred McCrary (#6) having the only true tenure with nine seasons at Philadelphia.
1965 – 3 drafted, average round 6.7. 2 played, for 20 active seasons. Average career 6.7.
Most of the career score comes from tackle Tommy Neville (#7), who owns the distinction for sharing the record for longest pro football tenure by a Bulldog with Walt Harris.
1961 – 3 drafted, average round 6.5. All 3 played, for 20 active seasons. Average career 6.7.
We’ll award this group a bit of a bump over just the rough ratings though, as center Tom Goode (#2) earned the first Super Bowl ring for a Bulldog alumnus.
1987 – 4 drafted, average round 6.5. All 4 played, for 21 seasons. Average career 5.25.
The longest careers were seven years for both corner Kirby Jackson (#5) and receiver Louis Clark (#10). Don Smith’s #2 round pick didn’t result in a long tenure, just three years and as a spot-running back not quarterback. But he did score a Super Bowl touchdown, first Dog to do so.
1997 – 2 drafted, average round 3.5. 2 played for, 11 seasons. Average career 5.5.
Tackle Brent Smith (#3) skews the score with nine seasons while d-tackle Terry Day (#4) lasted two years. The small class is more a comment on how State’s mid-90s recruiting stalled, until finding juco gold that transformed the program entirely.
1998 – 3 drafted, average round 3.0. All 3 played, for 18 seasons. Average career 6.0.
Three excellent college players who had reasonable pro careers while the NFL was becoming all about specialization. That sorta offsets the high draft average. Others will disagree.
1975 – 3 drafted, average round 5.3. 2 played, for 20 seasons. Average career 6.7.
And since the one drafted Dog who didn’t play pro was none other than beloved Rockey Felker, who cares? Defensive tackle Jimmy Webb (#1) was the first modern-day draft Dog first-rounder and played seven years. Safety Steve Freeman (#5) nearly doubled that at 13 years and is still in the League as a referee.
2003 – 3 drafted, average round 5.3. All 3 played, for 28 seasons. Average career 9.3.
Did I mention NFL specialization? Here were three Dogs who found the right roles on the right teams for long careers. Justin Griffith (#4) was fortunate to play back when fullbacks were still a thing, lasting eight years; while tight end Donald Lee (#5) and linebacker Mario Haggan (#7) each played ten seasons and each for three different clubs.
1982 – 3 drafted, average round 4.0. 2 played, for 15 seasons. Average career 5.0.
OK, this ranking needs some ‘splaining against the raw metrics. Had linebacker Curtis Stowers (#10) not been drafted at all, the class would have averaged a perfect 1.0. Because linebacker Johnie Cooks and defensive tackle Glen Collins both were first-rounders. And really, Stowers ought have caught on and played, he was good enough.
2012 – 3 drafted, average round 4.0. All 3 played (one current), for 14 seasons so far. Average career 4.7 and counting.
D-tackle Fletcher Cox (#1), the first Bulldog to turn pro early, does bias the class a bit as he holds one ring and is playing for more. If not for an injury though back Vick Ballard (#5) would have lasted more than five seasons and boosted the score more. This one is subject to change.
2011 – 4 drafted, average round 4.0. All 4 played (two current), for 26 seasons so far. Average career 6.5 and counting.
That career count would surely have been much better had not tackle Derek Sherrod (#1) had his shortened by injury to just four years. Linebacker K.J. Wright (#4) has more than repaid his draft slot call after nine years and has more left to give. The steal was big d-end Pernell McPhee (#5) with nine good seasons as a prototypical package lineman on championship teams.
1983 – 2 drafted, average round 2.0. 2 played, for 13 seasons. Average career 6.5.
The ’82 Bulldog offense, finally turned loose, smashed 11-game season records. As a reward the top two producers got good draft slots, all-time Bulldog back Michael Haddix (#1) going eighth overall and receiver Glen Young (#3) 62nd. Sigh. If only they’d been maximized in the ’81 season with an extraordinary defense to make the scoring stand.
2001 – 4 drafted, average round 3.75. All 4 played, for 32 seasons. Average career 8.0.
Yes, we all love to recall the low-profile, modest Fred Smoooooot (#2) for his two years at State and nine in the League. But it was blocker Pork Chop Womack (#4) who was the steal of that draft with his eleven seasons. For that matter d-lineman Ellis Wyms (#6) had a fine NFL career as well. An excellent group all-around.
2016 – 3 drafted, average round 3.0. All 3 are active, for 12 seasons so far and a 4.0 average.
This is a far-from-finished class but we know it will end up higher in time. Since one of them is quarterback Dak Prescott (#4) and another all-pro defensive tackle Chris Jones (#2) with his Super Bowl ring already, yeah. Let’s go ahead and put this class up with the elite years because their best is still to come for many more years. Now, if only corner Will Redmond (#3) had made one tackle in the ’14 Egg Bowl…
1999 – 4 drafted, average round 3.0. All 4 played, for 32 seasons. Average career 8.0.
How did Mississippi State win the SEC West in 1998? Here’s how, with seniors JJ Johnson (#2), tight end Reggie Kelly (#2 and 13 seasons), OG Randy Thomas (#2, 11), and FB Dennis McKinley (#6). Of course there were some future drafts on that ’98 roster too. The better question is how did State not repeat in ’99? Or State throw more often to Kelly for that matter.
2019 – 5 drafted, average round 2.2. All have finished their first season.
As stated above, this class may end up best when all careers are played out. It won’t match the perfect round score and for that matter tenure will be really tough to top as injuries are already adding up. But here quantity may well edge out ’96 quality in the end.
1996 – 2 drafted, average round 1.0. 2 played for 27 seasons. Average career 13.5.
Yeah. Quality over quantity and we do mean quality, with receiver Moulds going 12 years and defensive back Harris 15, tying for longest NFL tenure by a Bulldog to-date. Small class or not, we just can’t argue with these MSU metrics.
A few more worth considering:
1980 had just a pair taken, back James Jones and corner Kenny Johnson with a 4.0 round. But the played a combined 15 years. The 2000 draft had four Dogs for a 5.5 round but respectable 4.3 career led by lineman d-tackle Alvin McKinley’s nine seasons. The two-man class of 2005, tackle David Stewart and d-tackle Ronald Fields, averaged 4.5 on selection and 8.0 careers. The 2013 group scored well on selection at 3.0 for the three draftees, and corner Darius Slay (#2) is still on the job. But we thought corner John Banks (#2) would make it longer than four falls. We’ll give 2015 an incomplete as well with a 4.4 round-average on five Dogs, who have just 17 seasons among them so far.
