I wouldn't trade Francis or pancake for freeling, so in this instance I agree since Mario has a strong track record with OL. However, this bias probably has at least as good a chance of being validated based on (relatively recent) historical 1st round picks/total draft picks/and team success in the SEC, as it does of being wrong.
I am not under the impression that these guys know better than college staffs. I think if the recruiting writers knew talent projection they would have a job in that field. I think these writers SHOULD be leaning into who has offers from certain programs for these rankings. In part also because when it comes to predicting first rounders and draft picks in general the school you go to has an impact, and one conference is substantively ahead of the rest.
They could stick to their guns and it would be admirable if they got it right, but if they end up being wrong more as a result I don't think that makes them more credible in their rankings just for having faith in their own eyes. I also don't think it makes it worthless, it just makes them more clearly what they really are, information aggregators and not talent scouts.