The NFL Draft can tell you much about top tier college football programs, and after round one we learn that no Razorback player will be drafted until probably round 4 at the earliest, but most likely Round 5.
While 2 SEC West rivals had 3 players each taken in round 1 and will most likely have 8-10 players per team taken before the 1st Hog will hear its name called.
I have no idea what the Hogs can do to appeal to top talent, but until they do then Razorback Football Fans better get used to 7-5 & 8-4 seasons.
It all comes down to who has the best players.
I recall an interview with late great Professional Baseball coach Sparky Anderson talking about the Big Red Machine during the 1970’s where he took very little credit for the teams success due to his great coaching, instead he gave credit to the great players the orginization had assembled leading them several World Series Championships and making him look great.
I don’t know if we will ever be able to recruit at the level required to win the SEC in my lifetime, but I certainly would like to think we can. We aren’t in the SWC anymore and we don’t have history in the SEC like most other schools do and all of this hurts us in recruiting.
However, since Frank put us in the SEC then we should do everything possible to compete at a championship level much as we did in the SWC with Texas.
I don’t think it’s too much to ask that we win the conference 1 out of 7 years.
If that’s too much to expect then we have become the equivalent of the Rice Owls of the old SWC.
It’s time for Coach Bielma to get over the hump and have teams that compete as well at the beginning of the season as they do during the mid-season and finish strong or I’m afraid as much as I like him he will be gone after a couple of more 7-5 campaigns.
I could be mistaken, but I believe I heard on Bo Mattingly that Arkansas hasn’t had a first round pick since Felix and DMac. I think that is all you need to know about the talent level the past decade.
Arkansas has 22 1st rounders in school history. Key is to have a first rounder here and there and have several others in the earlier rounds. They maybe the best Arkansas can do.
So Richard, if you really feel like 1 first round talent plays for the Hogs every now and then and a few early round draft type of players mixed in then that’s simply not a formula that will ever win an SEC Championship.
So, basically we are left with a great season being 9-3 and a possible New Years Eve or New Years Day bowl game.
This year for instance we don’t have several early round NFL drafted players and certainly not a 1st rounder. Do you feel that we currently have several early round players coming out in the draft over the next few classes or a 1st round type of player on our current roster?
Can you explain why we for many years were at least able to somewhat compete with Texas for decades in the SWC and now after being in the SEC for about 25 years haven’t been able to reach the mountaintop just once?
It’s getting old hearing the same excuses year after year, so the reporters covering the Hogs should stop drinking the koolaide and serving it to the public every year if we all know that we don’t have enough talent across the board to win a conference championship.
Let’s just all hope for that 9-3 season. Wow, that’s really stinks.
Excellent post. I agree that it comes down to who has the best players. I’ve been thinking and saying that for years, although most, if not all, have disagreed with me on it.
LSU had two first-round picks and were never really contenders this past year and have had many years like that. I agree you have to have talent and more high-end picks than we have had. I think the potential is on campus for first-round picks in the future, perhaps Ragnow this coming year, maybe Agim in another year, Capps potentially, Whaley or Williams possibly. Even if not first round, top rounds. Again all on potential. If the defense is going to compete, it has to have first two day draft talent at each level. And the offense, too. We may never compete with Alabama and LSU for bulk of talent, but we must be able to get more draftable players that will allow us to be contenders more often than not.
I think it depends on the needs of the NFL teams as well. There were a few TE’s taken in the 1st round of this year’s draft. Hunter Henry was rated better than all of them, but he decided to go pro last year, when the needs of TE’s wasn’t as high. If he waited until this year, he would have been a 1st rounder. He had the talent, ability, and potential to be the 1st TE taken this year.
Why is it Richard’s job, or anyone else’s, to defend your opinion and feelings. Don’t you think all other fan bases have the same damn thoughts and conversations every year? Texas A&M fans wonder that all the time; UGA fans, hell, even Ole Miss fans have this same discussion and they are 0-(insert years here). You act as if everything is achievable in the blink of an eye. There are great college players who don’t fit any current NFL team’s scheme. Is that the college coaches fault, the players’ fault, or your fault? Let’s start wondering why fans are such insidious groups who believe their team’s $hit don’t stink and they should win the Natty every year. I wonder why I don’t win the lottery every week myself, but for Arkansas to win a Football national championship it will take a lot more than top talent. Like others have said, LSU had a number of people taken in the top rounds, and does so every year but still hasn’t competed well in a while. Univ of TN can say the same. USC, Stanford, (list goes on and on). Whenever the State of Arkansas begins to produce a ton of excellent athletes, then the Hogs will have a better chance. Until then, they have to raid all other states to field a team. Accept that fact and hope that the basketball team can continue to get quality talent from within the state.
Not saying they can’t compete for an SEC title. We were talking about the draft and history shows Arkansas won’t have a that many 1st rounders. I think with the right coach and I do believe Bielema is that guy and the amount of draftees can improve but it’s just not an overnight process unless you cheat like Ole Miss.
Texas and the SWC vs. the SEC is totally different. The SEC is on a whole another level. You have several Texas types in the SEC.
“Compete with Texas for decades”?? Our memories get a bit selective with time I guess. I think Rice had a better record against Texas in the SWC than we did. Only in the 60s were we truly competitive with the Horns (split 5-5 I think?). Overall I think we only won about 25% of our games with Texas. But of course we were more than competitive with everyone else in the SWC. The SEC West alone in my view has three teams as good or better than Texas (Ala, Aub and LSU) so yes we definitely stepped up in competition without having a clear roadmap of how we would remain as competitive. Now I am certainly not saying I wish Frank had kept us in the SWC. I truly enjoy being in the best collegiate conference in the country, but I do look forward to the days we can be more competitive. Petrino almost got us there before the motorcycle. And I think Bret can get us there on a fairly regular basis. WPS!
Do your research prior to throwing out percentages about Rice having a better record against Texas.
The Hogs have beaten the Tide 7 times since joining the SEC and currently on a 9 game losing streak. Does anyone believe that streak stops this season? I would love to see that happen and hope it does.
My point is, we eventually have to beat Bama if we are to ever have the opportunity to win our 1st SEC title. So, a plan should be incorporated to be able to consistently start getting top 15-20 recruiting classes, not 25 and below which puts us in the bottom quarter of SEC recruiting.
I’m a big fan, and have been since childhood and I believe they should and can be more relevant and look forward to the season that will have them turn that corner and go on a nice run themselves.
Well if you look at it from this perspective Rice had a better record against Texas when we left the SWC but whatever. If you honestly believe Bielema doesnt want and try to get top recruiting classes you are delusional. Bama wins because they are allowed to cheat.
Considering our facilities (which are nothing short of amazing) the only thing left is to begin cheating on an Ole Miss level. I for one will be happy with 9-3 as long as we don’t resort to cheating.