The ACC’s 2023 draft wasn’t earth-shattering. Neither was the previous football season, but you have to start somewhere.
In 2022 the bottom fell out for the ACC and the NFL Draft. The ACC finished 5th by among the Power 5 conference by any measure. It was the culmination of some lean football seasons, that we wrote about last year.
In 2019 the ACC finished the year with 1 ranked team – Clemson at #2.
No other ACC team had fewer than 5 losses, and the ACC went 4-7 in bowl games and went 4-14 against Power 5 schools.
In 2020 the ACC went 0-6 in bowl games.
In 2021 the ACC went 2-4 in bowl games, and at one point lost 12 straight bowl games from 2019 – 2021.
Against Power 5 schools, the conference went 6-16.
But as we predicted – the signs were there for a turnaround to begin, and it looks like we were right on target.
The fruits of the start of this turnaround won’t be seen in the NFL draft until the 2023 and 2024 NFL Draft.
The ACC went from dismal 21 picks to a more respectable 32 picks in 2023. That mirrors the modest, but unmistakable improvement seen in the 5-4 bowl record and 5 of the 10 best decade so far OOC wins coming last year.
The ACC finished with 32 picks representing 13 different institutions. Clemson and Pitt led all ACC teams with six selections apiece, followed by North Carolina (4), Louisville (3), Miami (3), Syracuse (2), Wake Forest (2), Boston College (1), Florida State (1), Georgia Tech (1), NC State (1), Virginia (1) and Virginia Tech (1).
It was the 2nd best draft for the ACC since 2018.
So the real question is whether ACC football trending is upward or not?
Well, good questions. I think it’s quite clear that Florida State’s worst days are behind it, and the Noles are one of a handful of ACC schools that can recruit at an elite level. Clemson still produces plenty of NFL talent. North Carolina has a potential top 5 pick at QB with Drake Maye, and schools like Pittsburgh and NC State are on solid footing.
I think there is improvement in the conference, but the real question is the ceiling.
That’s hard to say, but I think it’s safe to say the decline has come to an end and that’s a positive.
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