Hoosiers did not fair well on draft day

After a year where two Hoosiers were drafted in the second round of the NFL draft, IU had no players drafted this year.

Five players were on the board, including wide receiver Andrew Means, running back Marcus Thigpen and kicker Austin Starr.

This doesn't mean none of them will end up in the NFL, but it certainly is a lot tougher to make a team as an undrafted free agent.

By comparison, Ohio State had seven players drafted, Penn State had five. Northwestern and Minnesota also were shut out, but West Texas A&M had one player drafted: quarterback Keith Null, who was taken by the Rams in the sixth round. Null threw for nearly 5,100 yards and 48 touchdowns last season, averaging 392 yards per game.

What does this mean for the IU program? Probably not much. As was noted, some much better Big Ten programs had no players drafted. I have to think it doesn't help much for recruiting. Seeing that IU logo appear during the pre-draft process and during the ESPN draft telecast was exciting. I remember how excited I was because IU had a Pro Day in last year.

College football teams can win a lot of games without NFL-calibre talent. But I don't think it's a coincidence that the year IU goes 7-5 -- its first winning season in recent memory -- is the year a defensive back and wide receiver are taken high in the draft.

Are we going to continue seeing no cream and crimson draft picks?