No South Carolina players could be selected in NFL Draft for the first time since 2001

Today is the first day of the NFL Draft, when college players from around the country are set to get the good news that they have been selected to continue their football careers with a professional team. There’s significant debate as to who might be picked first overall (Mitchell Trubisky? Myles Garrett?) and we’ve seen mock drafts for days projecting who might go where.

Unfortunately, South Carolina might have a dubious distinction by the time the day’s up on Saturday: not having any players go in any of the weekend’s seven rounds. It would be the first time that’s happened since 2001.

We don’t mention that to indict the current staff or the previous staff. The Gamecocks were 8-4 in 2000 and still didn’t see anyone go in the following draft that spring! They had two players - John Abraham (one of the all time leaders in the sack department) and Arturo Freeman - get picked in the 2000 draft despite the team going 0-11 in 1999.

It will certainly be a strange feeling if, in fact, a South Carolina player doesn’t have his name called this weekend. But there are several that might get free-agent looks when it’s all said and done (Mason Zandi and Elliott Fry are a couple I’d keep an eye on), and there’s a chance that the projections are wrong and we could indeed see a player taken.

What do you think? Are you majorly concerned that the Gamecocks may not have anyone drafted, or are you fairly indifferent about it? Let us know in the comments.