this is remarkable...

It seems like just out of happenstance ISU would've had a couple of first-rounders in the past 40-ish seasons. I suppose it's a combination of things, one being lack of sustained, high-level success, although that could be chicken-or-egg question — has ISU been irrelevant because of lack of major talent, or has having a lot of mediocre or worst years water down the visibility of individual players?

Then there are examples like Troy Davis, who had an outstanding college career, but played on bad teams and apparently didn't have the type of game (or size?) seen as transferable to a big-time draft pick. And Iowa State has not had a mega-brand first-round QB, either. (Wallace and Rosenfels were in the neighborhood, but didn't quite get there).

I'm going a little off the top of my head for analysis/explanations.
 
some of these responses are ridiculous. just because you can point to johnny manziel being a bust and kelechi osemele being a stud and tom brady getting drafted 199th suddenly means we shouldnt care about developing first round draft talent? and who cares, seriously? if you only care about whether or not they amount to anything in the nfl, how does that help iowa state? if you get drafted in the 6th round, you probably didnt have a very standout collegiate career. going to bowl games and winning 8+ games per season kind of goes hand in hand with getting perennial talent from a higher tier, as shown by the fact that iowa state hasnt had that and no other power5 school is within 20 years of our drought.
I'd take Ryan Leaf's production at Wazzu ten times out of ten in a Cyclones uniform.
 
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Perhaps equally humbling, few Cyclones have even knocked on the door of 1st round since 1973.

Highest draft positions selected from Iowa State since Amundson in 1973:
2nd round:
31. Mike Strensrud, DT, 1979*
39. Keith Sims, G, 1990
51. Matt Blair, LB, 1974 (What a steal that pick was ... almost a 3rd-rounder**)
60. Kelechi Osemele, T, 2012

3rd round:
62. Troy Davis, RB, 1997
70. Karl Nelson, T, 1983
79. Dwayne Crutchfield, RB, 1982
84. Ellis Hobbs, CB, 2005
85. Tim Kohn, G, 1997
87. Reggie Hayward, DE, 2001

4th round:
91. Ike Harris, WR, 1974
96. Luther Blue, WR, 1977
102. Marcus Robertson, DB, 1991
109. Sage Rosenfels, QB, 2001
110. Seneca Wallace, QB, 2003

* Reminder: Only 28 NFL teams in 1979.
** Only 26 NFL teams in 1974
 
KO was a bad eval mistake by the entire NFL. They were too concerned about whether he could play Tackle. He dominated at LT at ISU. I could have told them that he could play RT in the NFL and be good at it. And if he was moved inside, he'd be a flat out mauler. That's exactly what he is...an above average RT or a dominant OG. That's worth a first round pick.

Unfortunately, we are going to have to start with having a bunch of mid round picks before we can expect a first rounder. ISU is going to need some luck to sniff out recruits with first round potential. Skill positions are really tough because everyone can see speed and quickness. Guys with speed and size don't go to ISU or any mid level P5 team. Our best chance is for Manning to sign OLs with potential and develop them. If you don't have NFL size/speed combination, first round is impossible.
 
KO was a bad eval mistake by the entire NFL. They were too concerned about whether he could play Tackle. He dominated at LT at ISU. I could have told them that he could play RT in the NFL and be good at it. And if he was moved inside, he'd be a flat out mauler. That's exactly what he is...an above average RT or a dominant OG. That's worth a first round pick.

Unfortunately, we are going to have to start with having a bunch of mid round picks before we can expect a first rounder. ISU is going to need some luck to sniff out recruits with first round potential. Skill positions are really tough because everyone can see speed and quickness. Guys with speed and size don't go to ISU or any mid level P5 team. Our best chance is for Manning to sign OLs with potential and develop them. If you don't have NFL size/speed combination, first round is impossible.

Yeah, Kelechi not being top 20 was bad. Good for Baltimore for not being dumb in round 2, which I think is part of the reason why the same 10 teams are always good.
 
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I forgot they moved him Oher and Bryant McKinney around in the playoffs and then went on their run his rookie year. They had a pretty awesome line that year.
 
I think part of this is a consistent undervaluing of our players. I'm not the person to ask but are there really any players that are overrated out of Iowa State? I think you see it some in the NBA too. Monte should at minimum be a very early second rounder. He will probably go late 1st round but there is a real possibility he falls later.
 
I saw this posted on @bcdivide Twitter earlier yesterday. It is what it is really. We'll never get the kids who have 1st round potential straight out of high school. But I do know that we have the right coaches in place to finally start building some athletes into potential NFL players.

It always kind of amazes me when you hear guys talking about basketball players and which ones they think will make the most impact in the league. A guy could have next to no impact on his collegiate team but then you hear he's a projected top 10 lottery pick. Makes no sense whatsoever but I guess that's why scouts prefer upside over experience. Like saying Monte is a late 2nd rounder, give me a freakin break when you look at the list of guards they say will be chosen in front of him.
 
I saw this posted on @bcdivide Twitter earlier yesterday. It is what it is really. We'll never get the kids who have 1st round potential straight out of high school. But I do know that we have the right coaches in place to finally start building some athletes into potential NFL players.

It always kind of amazes me when you hear guys talking about basketball players and which ones they think will make the most impact in the league. A guy could have next to no impact on his collegiate team but then you hear he's a projected top 10 lottery pick. Makes no sense whatsoever but I guess that's why scouts prefer upside over experience. Like saying Monte is a late 2nd rounder, give me a freakin break when you look at the list of guards they say will be chosen in front of him.
Monte is listed as a late 1st/early second rounder. Not late second.
 
KO was a bad eval mistake by the entire NFL. They were too concerned about whether he could play Tackle. He dominated at LT at ISU. I could have told them that he could play RT in the NFL and be good at it. And if he was moved inside, he'd be a flat out mauler. That's exactly what he is...an above average RT or a dominant OG. That's worth a first round pick.

Unfortunately, we are going to have to start with having a bunch of mid round picks before we can expect a first rounder. ISU is going to need some luck to sniff out recruits with first round potential. Skill positions are really tough because everyone can see speed and quickness. Guys with speed and size don't go to ISU or any mid level P5 team. Our best chance is for Manning to sign OLs with potential and develop them. If you don't have NFL size/speed combination, first round is impossible.

It was less common for a while to take OG prospects in the first round. It was just seen as a position where you could wait until the 2nd and get a good prospect. It was usually LT or nothing. I think it has become more common in the last few years if there is a guard rated that high though.

KOs issue was that as an LT prospect, he was probably a 2nd rounder. Ravens were really smart to put him at guard and let him maul everyone.
 
Lazard was looked at as a 5-7th rounder if he had come out this year. In my opinion if he has a 1000+ yard and 10+ touchdown season, with very few drops, he could be a 3rd or 4th round pick, he would need to do all that, plus be in the top 5 of every measurable for receivers at the combine to become a 1st round pick.

EDIT

Apparently CBS released their receiver rankings for next years class and Lazard is #12, there are only 2 guys in front of him with size comparable to his, so if he has a strong season he has a case to be picked very early as long as he doesn't bomb the combine.
 
Monte is listed as a late 1st/early second rounder. Not late second.

Just depends which projection you are looking at but good try.

The four I looked at this morning were:

NBA Draft.Net: 47th Overall to Knicks
SEC Country: 59th Overall to Spurs
Land of 10: 34th Overall to Orlando
Draft Express: 43rd Overall to Houston

And I know SBNation doesn't have him projected in the 1st round either.
 
This stat is annoying trust me, but how many players do we have on active rosters on teams? The draft is over-hyped and as much of farce as anything.... There are as many overachiever as there are underachievers. I get this does show a pure talent discrepancy in the program when compared to the pool across the nation, but we are getting players on active rosters that are having successful careers especially as of late

Did some research on active roster Cyclones as of last year:
EJ Bibbs - Jacksonville
Jeremiah George - Dallas
David Irving - Dallas
Leonard Johnson - Bills
AJ Klein - Saints
KO - Raiders
Ahtyba Rubin - Seattle
Quenton Bundrage - Texans
Jamison Lalk - Bills
Josh Lenz - Texans
Oni Omoile - Raders
.
 
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It being very hard to get, is exactly why its an issue. Other schools that have lots are because they have a lot higher group of 4-5 star guys. No they dont always pan out, but if you have 20 of them, some are going to be great. We get zero. Thats the problem, and is going to be for the foreseeable future. Kstate isnt good just because of their coach. They are good because of Coach Snyder, but also because they have great athletes he gets to go there. The comments that have been made year after year that stars dont matter is the dumbest thing ever said on this site. ;) And thats tough to do. An individual players, star ranking, may not matter, but two handfuls of high star rankings, every single year, do!
 
great, yeah just keep posting this stuff on our message board so recruits can see they have little chance of going first round if they come here.
 

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