I am not a huge NFL guy, I much prefer college over the pro game any day. That being said football is football and I love watching the game anytime it is on TV.  I have some observations on Rounds 1-5 of the Draft that I think shed some light on what has been going on in Athens (especially on Defense) the past few years.

David Hale wrote a column sometime ago and there was a great discussion on here regarding our personnel on the Defensive side of the ball. The question was raised as to whether our defensive decline was a result of a drop off in talent, poor coaching or a combination of the two. I think what has happend so far in the first 5 rounds of the draft certainly supports both points. In past years we have had the following defensive players drafted in the first few rounds:

2009-3rd Round-Asher Allen CB, Corvey Irvin DT

2008-5th Round-Marcus Howard DE/OLB

2007-3rd Round-Quentin Moses DE, Charles Johnson DE, Paul Oliver CB (supplimental draft)

2006-2nd Round-TIm Jennings CB

2005-1st Round-Thomas Davis S, David Pollack DE/OLB

2004-2nd Round-Sean Jones S, 4th Round-Robert Geathers DT, Bruce Thornton CB

2003-1st Round-Jonathan Sullivan DT, 2nd Round-Boss Bailey LB

This year so far we have had the following players drafted

3rd Round-Rennie Curran LB

4th Round-Geno Atkins DT

5th Round-Reshad Jones S

Remaining Players: Jeff Owens DT, Kade Weston DT, Mike  Moore WR

I think what you can see from the last few years is that we aren't bringing in the talent that we had in the early 2000's and evidently our D lineman aren't being "coached up" either (which is a bit disturbing since Rodney Garner is the only hold over from the last coaching staff).

For comparison purposes here is the breakdown of our SEC foes from this draft. (Defense only)

Florida-Joe Haden CB (1st Round), Brandon Spikes LB (2nd Round), Carlos Dunlap DE (2nd Round),

Alabama-Rolando McClain LB (1st Round), Javier Arenas CB (2nd Round), Mt Cody NT (2nd Round),

Tennessee-Eric Berry S (1st Round), Dan Williams DT (2nd Round)

Thoughts from the peanut gallery?