"College Football Divisions and Conferences
College football is divided into a series of conferences and divisions to ensure the best possible competition among schools. The top division in NCAA Football is Division I, which features some of the best teams in the nation and some of the biggest universities and colleges around. Division I has several subdivisions, including Division I-A, I-AA, I-AAA, which is meant to put smaller schools with limited football budgets at a great competitive advantage. With the lesser Division I schools, the conferences are often schools within a small region or instate to save on transportation costs. Even further down the list are Division 2 and Division 3 schools, which are typically the smallest colleges and universities in the country."

Forgive me if my math is not perfect, but there are (I think) 119 schools in Division 1a alone, with approximately 125 players on each team (85 scholarship/balance non-scholarship). That works out to 14,875 football players in the top-echelon of college football.

There are 7 rounds in the NFL draft, consisting of 32 picks. 7x32= 224 picks. Add in a maximum of 32 picks in "supplementary compensatory selections" and you get a MAX of 256 picks. As far as the "Supplemental Draft" goes, there have only been 38 selections since it was first instituted in 1977.

Not even bringing into account all the talent that resides in the "lesser" divisions, and taking into account the wealth of information available, it is somewhat amazing to me that we even contemplate the concept of a "huge reach" in the draft. I understand that all is relative, but at least the math shows that even to be considered by an NFL team, a college NFL prospect has to be one amazing individual...

I have decided that I am going to pay attention through all seven rounds, right until the end. The kids deserve it, imo.

I must admit, just to get to a college level, you have to be quite an amazing athlete. Like going from High school to college, the transition between the NFL and college is huge. I mean, if you look at all the players playing in college compared to the amount of players in the NFL, it's not that weird that 7th round players don't tend to succeed.

On the division 2 etc though. I think there's alot of hidden talent in there, which often isn't recognized. Ofcourse the scouting has become way more effective than it was back then, but some guy called Deacon Jones once came out of a division 2 school if I'm correct.

I get your point though, that they're all amazing athletes and, in an open sport like soccer, would have had the talent to succeed. Maybe the new league that's starting might be a haven for a lot of these guys? Might find some Reggie Whites, Steve Youngs and Gary Zimmermans in there aswell.