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Why Alabama, not Michigan, actually won the 2017 NFL draft

The Wolverines had one more pick, but it’s all about draft value.

By Jason Kirk
CFP National Championship Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

The Michigan Wolverines had the most picks in the 2017 NFL draft, a flat-out impressive achievement, especially considering those players were recruited by a doomed, prior regime.

But if we try a slightly more sophisticated scoring system, we see Michigan didn’t produce the most pro value this time around. Smh, it’s the Alabama Crimson Tide again. I’ll explain it below this chart.

2017 draft points by college

Ranking Team Conference Draft Points Picks Average
Ranking Team Conference Draft Points Picks Average
1 Alabama SEC 2020 10 202
2 Michigan Big Ten 1602 11 145.64
3 LSU SEC 1306 8 163.25
4 Ohio State Big Ten 1304 7 186.29
5 Florida SEC 1231 8 153.88
6 Clemson ACC 958 6 159.67
7 Tennessee SEC 944 6 157.33
8 Utah Pac-12 920 8 115
8 Washington Pac-12 920 5 184
10 Texas A&M SEC 851 5 170.2
11 North Carolina ACC 730 6 121.67
12 UCLA Pac-12 694 5 138.8
13 Miami ACC 686 9 76.22
14 USC Pac-12 597 5 119.4
15 Wisconsin Big Ten 583 3 194.33
16 Oklahoma Big 12 539 4 134.75
17 Florida State ACC 536 4 134
18 Colorado Pac-12 521 4 130.25
19 Temple AAC 519 3 173
20 Iowa Big Ten 494 4 123.5
21 Stanford Pac-12 491 2 245.5
22 Western Michigan MAC 436 3 145.33
23 Pitt ACC 430 5 86
24 Western Kentucky C-USA 392 2 196
25 Houston AAC 373 3 124.33
26 Auburn SEC 352 4 88
27 San Diego State MWC 350 3 116.67
28 Michigan State Big Ten 344 2 172
29 Ole Miss SEC 329 4 82.25
30 Eastern Washington Big Sky 308 2 154
31 Louisiana Tech C-USA 303 3 101
32 Toledo MAC 296 3 98.67
33 Vanderbilt SEC 288 2 144
34 Cal Pac-12 284 3 94.67
35 Ohio MAC 274 2 137
36 Arkansas SEC 263 3 87.67
37 Youngstown State MVFC 252 2 126
38 Boston College ACC 248 2 124
39 Texas Tech Big 12 241 1 241
40 West Virginia Big 12 237 2 118.5
41 Missouri SEC 229 1 229
42 USF AAC 228 3 76
43 Notre Dame Indy 225 2 112.5
44 East Carolina AAC 214 1 214
45 South Alabama Sun Belt 207 1 207
45 Villanova CAA 207 2 103.5
47 Ashland GLIAC 205 1 205
48 Kansas State Big 12 197 2 98.5
48 NC State ACC 197 3 65.67
48 Oregon State Pac-12 197 2 98.5
51 UConn AAC 195 1 195
52 Charlotte C-USA 186 1 186
53 Illinois Big Ten 183 1 183
54 Indiana Big Ten 180 1 180
55 Virginia Tech ACC 174 4 43.5
56 Penn State Big Ten 167 1 167
57 Troy Sun Belt 166 1 166
58 Texas Big 12 162 1 162
59 UCF AAC 161 1 161
60 NIU MAC 155 1 155
61 Grambling State SWAC 153 1 153
62 FIU C-USA 151 1 151
63 Lamar Southland 150 1 150
64 FAU C-USA 148 1 148
65 Wyoming MWC 147 2 73.5
66 Boise State MWC 145 2 72.5
67 North Carolina A&T MEAC 132 1 132
68 West Georgia GSC 129 2 64.5
69 Bucknell Patriot 121 1 121
70 Northwestern Big Ten 121 2 60.5
71 BYU Indy 117 1 117
72 Albany State SIAC 107 1 107
73 Kutztown PSAC 104 1 104
74 Memphis AAC 98 1 98
75 San Diego Pioneer 86 1 86
76 Wake Forest ACC 83 1 83
77 Georgia SEC 79 1 79
78 Drake Pioneer 77 1 77
79 Purdue Big Ten 76 1 76
80 UTEP C-USA 69 1 69
81 Georgia Southern Sun Belt 68 1 68
82 Nebraska Big Ten 67 1 67
83 Cincinnati AAC 64 1 64
84 UL-Lafayette Sun Belt 63 1 63
85 Tulane AAC 62 1 62
86 Louisville ACC 59 2 29.5
86 Oklahoma State Big 12 59 2 29.5
88 Coastal Carolina Transitioning 48 1 48
89 Georgia State Sun Belt 42 1 42
90 Mississippi State SEC 41 1 41
91 Chattanooga Socon 34 1 34
92 Washington State Pac-12 30 1 30
93 Minnesota Big Ten 29 1 29
94 Arizona State Pac-12 27 1 27
95 East Central OK GAC 25 1 25
96 TCU Big 12 24 1 24
97 Alabama State SWAC 20 1 20
98 Georgia Tech ACC 18 1 18
99 Utah State MWC 13 1 13
100 Baylor Big 12 8 1 8
101 Buffalo MAC 1 1 1
101 Eastern Michigan MAC 1 1 1

This here’s draft points, which awards 250 points for the first pick (Aggies on the board!), 249 for the second, and on down to one point for the 250th pick and any lingering picks after that.

If you’d still rather go by raw picks (aka, if you’re a Michigan or Miami fan or just hate Nick Saban), that’s cool, but this gives us a simple way to look at who’s actually sending the most top talent, rather than just the most top-250 talent.

We’ve been doing it for a couple years now. It changed the ranking order in 2015 as well, and last year, Ohio State had the best draft class ever, according to this system (and any of the many similar systems, including the classic trade value chart or one based on the average NFL production gained from the players in each spot). The updated top 10 shows 2017 is Bama’s best class ever.

Best draft points classes ever

Ranking Class Draft Points Top pick Total picks in top 250
Ranking Class Draft Points Top pick Total picks in top 250
1 2016 Ohio State 2351 No. 3, DE Joey Bosa 12
2 2017 Alabama 2020 No. 16, CB Marlon Humphrey 10
3 2004 Ohio State 1999 No. 18, DE Will Smith 14
4 1981 Pitt 1990 No. 7, LB Hugh Green 11
5 1988 Oklahoma 1800 No. 5, CB Rickey Dixon 13
6 2008 USC 1790 No. 7, DT Sedrick Ellis 10
7 2006 Ohio State 1779 No. 5, LB A.J. Hawk 9
8 2009 USC 1769 No. 5, QB Mark Sanchez 11
9 2000 Tennessee 1766 No. 5, RB Jamal Lewis 9
10 2006 USC 1755 No. 2, RB Reggie Bush 11

Michigan had five players picked in the first 95. That’s an elite accomplishment, considering most Power 5 schools didn’t even have five players picked in total.

But Alabama had five in the top 34 and nine in the top 79. Bama had more first-round defenders than Michigan had first-rounders. The Tide won by loading up the first few rounds, and that’s despite watching its first-round crew briefly slip behind Western Michigan and Temple, to much internet delight.

The beatings will continue, as Alabama just signed the highest-rated recruiting class of its seven-year Signing Day streak and had the top-rated remaining recruit from the 2014 class just chilling on its roster as his peers got picked in the 2017 first round. At least five Tide players already have potential 2018 first-round buzz.

And just think: Mr. Irrelevant beat this program. That’s wild.

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