Keith Boggs: Don’t ignore the MAC

No one can deny that Toledo’s football program has enjoyed a fair amount of success over the past several years.

And usually, wins correlate with talent. But victories don’t necessarily get you recognition once college ends.

There are only nine active players in the National Football League who used to call themselves Rockets. It has been seven years since the last Toledo product heard his name called on draft day. That was 2008, when current Cleveland Browns tackle John Greco was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the third round.

Current free agent running back Jalen Parmele was selected by the Miami Dolphins three rounds later.

Since then, many Rockets have found their way to the next level as undrafted free agents (wide receivers Andrew Hawkins and Lance Moore come to mind) but none have gotten respect during the draft.

So why is there no love? Because Toledo plays in the Mid-American Conference of course.

In the past 14 years, the MAC conference has had seven first-round draft picks. In the past two drafts, the Big Ten has had five and the SEC had 11 last year alone.

The SEC, considered by most to be the current powerhouse conference of college football, which gives MAC teams a tough time on the football field and so it is understandable that they receive more attention from NFL scouts.

Ohio State’s recent national championship aside, the Big Ten has lost much of its luster recently. Yet this conference also continues to dominate the MAC on draft day. NFL.com predicts that the Big Ten could have up to nine players picked in the first round of this year’s draft.

The MAC is predicted to lose zero players to the NFL in the first round. Throw the expected class of former SEC players into this equation and it becomes even more evident that Toledo and its conference aren’t even on the radar of many professional football minds.

The phrase you hear most often is ‘strength of schedule.’ One of the biggest critiques of players coming out of the MAC is that they simply haven’t faced the speed and power that they will need to become accustomed to in professional football.

But if you ask me, current Oakland Raiders and former Buffalo Bulls linebacker Kalil Mack didn’t seem to have a problem with the transition. Neither did Kent State alums Antonio Gates and Julian Edelman, former Miami product Ben Roethlisberger or his backup, Toledo’s own Bruce Gradkowski.

It’s simply expected that schools in power conferences are deep wells of football talent and that it is rare for players from conferences such as the MAC to be able to make it in the NFL.

But the truth is that no matter which school and conference a player is from, draft day is a crap shoot. More often than not, the power conference products turn into busts, so picking from that well is by no means a surefire formula.

This year, at least two Rockets have a very good shot of breaking Toledo’s draft day drought. Offensive lineman Greg Mancz has been hailed as a top-five prospect at the center position, while kicker Jeremiah Detmer has wowed with his consistent leg.

If the drought continues, I’d put my money on current UT running back Kareem Hunt as the man to finally bring recognition to the Glass City. Hunt sat atop the MAC last season as the undisputed star, and his numbers were good enough to put him into contention against some of the best rushers in the country.

He will get his shot to play at the next level. The question is whether or not he will hear his name called when his turn at the draft comes around.

The MAC may never earn the respect that has come to conferences such as the SEC and the Big Ten. If that is the case, Toledo players will have to continue to prove scouts wrong by making their way to the NFL the hard way, via undrafted free agency.

At the very least, it’s high time the NFL shows the MAC just a little more love. Teams like Toledo have certainly earned at least that.