Which was USC’s best NFL Draft class?

Several South Carolina players are anxiously awaiting Thursday – after five months of training, of being poked, prodded and put upon by doctors, scouts and agents, the time has arrived.

The NFL Draft begins Thursday and concludes Saturday, likely extending the Gamecocks’ streak of having an NFL draftee to 15 years. Receiver Pharoh Cooper, rising tight end prospect Jerell Adams, offensive lineman Brandon Shell and tailback Brandon Wilds are the favorites to hear their names called, while others who participated in USC’s Pro Day and have performed their own non-NFL Combine training also are hoping to get a chance.

There will be plenty of talk of who should go where, as in pick or professional team, but the buildup also is a chance to look back. USC has a solid history in the NFL Draft, featuring 12 first-rounders.

Which class was the best? Considering how many players were drafted in that year, how many embarked on lengthy pro careers and how many possessed star power, what group is considered the top?

The top five:

1. 2012

Numbers and star power elevate this class to the top. The Gamecocks had six in the draft, with two first-rounders (Stephon Gilmore and Melvin Ingram). Each is still with their original teams on their fifth-year contract option, with the chance of lucrative free-agent deals waiting next season.

Alshon Jeffery has signed a franchise tag with Chicago for nearly $15 million, giving the Bears until July to come up with a long-term deal. Besides the obvious amounts of gas he can buy, Jeffery’s stock continues to rise despite injuries and playing in an inefficient offense. One of the best receivers in the NFL, Jeffery will be able to command any figure and any team he wants.

Antonio Allen signed a one-year deal with Houston after three seasons with the Jets (he sat out last year with an Achilles injury). Rokevious Watkins played four games during two years in the NFL, and Travian Robertson played in 14 games in three seasons.

2. 2009

A seven-man class mostly made up of guys who are still playing. The top pick, Jared Cook, just signed with Green Bay after seven seasons with Tennessee and St. Louis. Jasper Brinkley played 15 games with the Giants last year, his seventh in the league.

Jamon Meredith is currently a free agent, but has bounced among eight NFL teams, while Captain Munnerlyn is beginning his eighth year in the league. The Gamecocks’ first “Mr. Irrelevant,” Ryan Succop, is back with Tennessee this year after starting with Kansas City.

The other two draftees in the class were the late Kenny McKinley and Stoney Woodson. Woodson bounced around some practice squads, but never got into an NFL game.

3. 1988

Five players were taken (six if you count Ryan Bethea, who went in the supplemental draft but never played in the NFL), and the top two are two of the biggest entries in USC’s “What Might Have Been” category. Sterling Sharpe, taken with the No. 7 overall pick, and Brad Edwards (54) each had terrific NFL careers, but there is a sense of unfinished business.

Sharpe was a five-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro receiver during his seven years in the league, breaking the 1,000-yard plateau five times and nearly doing it a sixth time (961 yards in 1991). There’s no doubt that had Sharpe not been forced to retire because of a neck injury, he would have achieved the claim in brother Shannon’s Pro Football Hall of Fame acceptance speech – the only brothers in the Hall.

Edwards played in 122 games over nine seasons and became one of the league’s best defensive backs, intercepting 18 passes. He should have been immortalized, though – with a record five passes defensed and two interceptions in Super Bowl XXVI, Edwards nearly single-handedly shut down Buffalo’s prolific K-Gun offense. Yet quarterback Mark Rypien was named game MVP.

4. 2002

Five players (all on defense) played a combined 454 games over 33 NFL seasons. Sheldon Brown had the most, playing 175 over 11 years, while Andre Goodman had 127 over 10. The year’s highest pick, Kalimba Edwards, stuck around for seven years and 101 games while Willie Offord had 47 over four. Even John Stamper got in four games with Chicago in 2002.

5. 1954

It’s still a program record: Nine Gamecocks were selected in this draft, led by Clyde “Mule” Bennett in the third round. Some of the other notables of USC’s early history also were taken in this draft – Frank Mincevich and Johnny Gramling. Only two other USC draft classes got within two picks of the Class of ’54’s haul.

This story was originally published April 25, 2016 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Which was USC’s best NFL Draft class?."