2012 Draft Prospects

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List of underclassmen who have declared for the 2012 NFL Draft:

QB Andrew Luck, Stanford
QB Brock Osweiler, AZ State
QB Robert Griffin III, Baylor
QB Darron Thomas, Oregon
RB Trent Richardson, Alabama
RB Lamar Miller, Miami
RB LaMichael James, Oregon
RB Robert Turbin, Utah State
RB Ronnie Hillman, SD State
RB Bernard Pierce, Temple
RB David Wilson, VT
RB Mike Ball, Nevada
RB Chris Polk, Washington
RB Darrell Scott, USF
RB Edwin Baker, Michigan State
RB Alvester Alexander, Wyoming
RB Jewel Hampton, Southern Illinois
WR Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma State
WR Tommy Streeter, Miami *
WR Alshon Jeffery, South Carolina
WR Chris Givens, Wake Forrest
WR Stephen Hill, Georgia Tech
WR Mohamed Sanu, Rutgers
WR Rueben Randle, LSU
WR Eric Page, Toledo
WR Damaris Johnson, Tulsa
TE Dwayne Allen, Clemson
TE Orson Charles, Georgia
OL Matt Kalil, USC
OL David DeCastro, Stanford
OL Brandon Washington, Miami
OL Riley Reiff, Iowa
OL Peter Konz, Wisconsin
OL Jonathan Martin, Stanford
OL Bobby Massie, Ole Miss
DT Marcus Forston, Miami *
DT Dontari Poe, Memphis
DT Jarel Worthy, Michigan State
DT Fletcher Cox, Mississippi State
DT Michael Brockers, LSU
DE Nick Perry, USC *
DE Oliver Vernon, Miami
DE Whitney Mercilus, Illinois
DE Chandler Jones, Syracuse
DE Donte Page-Moss, UNC
DE Ronnell Lewis, Oklahoma
DE Max Holloway, Boston College
DE Jonathan Massaquoi, Troy
LB Donta Hightower, Alabama
LB Vontaze Burfict, AZ State
LB Luke Kuelchy, Boston College
LB Terrell Manning, North Carolina State
CB Morris Claiborne, LSU
CB Dre Kirkpatrick, Alabama
CB Jayron Hosley, Virginia Tech
CB Cliff Harris, Oregon *
CB Stephon Gilmore, South Carolina
CB Josh Robinson, UCF

Very early look at the 2012 draft prospects plus some youtube videos to wet your appetite.

Senior quarterbacks to keep an eye on include:

Nick Foles, Arizona, 6’5, 245lbs
Ryan Lindley, San Diego State, 6’4, 218lbs
Kirk Cousins, Michigan State, 6’3, 205lbs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3rsj3fjoOQ
Ryan Tannehill, Texas A&M, 6’4, 220lbs
Terrelle Pryor, Ohio State, 6’6, 235lbs
John Brantley, Florida, 6’3, 220lbs

Top underclassmen:

Andrew Luck, Stanford, 6’4, 235lbs
Landry Jones, Oklahoma, 6’4, 220lbs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8FpwaR-GUo
Matt Barkley, USC, 6’2, 220lbs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAdo1OyqiPc

If the top underclassmen all declare (chances are they wont) then the quarterback class looks pretty well stocked but even without them there is some depth to the class.



Michael Floyd, Notre Dame, 6’3, 228lbs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyfcBD_fZjU
Jeff Fuller, Texas A&M, 6’3, 215lbs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXJ4FcW8Nug
Juron Criner, Arizona, 6’4, 210lbs
Greg Childs, Arkansas, 6’3, 217lbs

Top underclassmen:

Alshon Jeffery, South Carolina, 6’4, 232lbs
Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma State, 6’1, 208lbs
Mohamed Sanu, Rutgers, 6’2, 218lbs

Much deeper class in 2012 than this year as beyond AJ Green and Julio Jones there weren’t many big guys who could run. Next year’s class however has a number of such types as well as others I haven’t mentioned.


Big year for offensive tackles?

Mike Adams, Ohio State, 6’8, 305lbs
Al Netter, Northwestern, 6’6, 310lbs
Nate Potter, Boise State, 6’6, 295lbs
Matt Reynolds, Bringham Young, 6’6, 322lbs
Andrew Datko, FSU, 6’6, 305lbs

Top underclassmen:

Matt Kalil, USC, 6’6, 295lbs
Jonathan Martin, Stanford, 6’6, 305lbs
Riley Reiff, Iowa, 6’6, 300lbs

There should be some good options for teams looking to improve their protection at the OT position even without the top underclassmen. There will probably be better depth in 2012 than there was this year as well.


LB has the potential to be the class of the draft, provided some of the top underclassmen declare:

Courtney Upshaw, Alabama, 6’2, 260lbs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6DGTN-_qxU
Chris Galippo, Southern California, 6’2, 250lbs
Brandon Lindsey, Pittsburgh, 6’2, 250lbs
Tank Carder, TCU, 6'3, 237lbs

Top underclassmen:

Vontaze Burfict, Arizona State, 6’3, 245lbs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxQEkLHo0F4
Donta Hightower, Alabama, 6’4, 258lbs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyeXZTTcz8E
Shayne Skov, Stanford, 6’3, 243lbs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieo_ansbJmA
Manti Te’o, Notre Dame, 6’2, 245lbs
Luke Kuechly, BC, 6’2, 235lbs

I have included these prospects in particular because they are versatile and are moved around the defense regularly, particularly Upshaw, Hightower and Lindsey who are used at ILB, OLB and DE.

Bucs should trade down for more picks if RG3 is available at the time.
Jeffery,deCastro or a corner can be picked then/ Burfict in the 2nd,D'Qwell Jackson in FA with Finnegan,Nicks and DeSean or VJax and the Bucs look a lot healthier.
Ball is staying in school Derby.LaMichael James' stock just went up.

Thomond wrote:Bucs should trade down for more picks if RG3 is available at the time.
Jeffery,deCastro or a corner can be picked then/ Burfict in the 2nd,D'Qwell Jackson in FA with Finnegan,Nicks and DeSean or VJax and the Bucs look a lot healthier.
Ball is staying in school Derby.LaMichael James' stock just went up.

Well then James or Turbin could be still available in the 3rd if they're prepared to take a potentially risky strategy, also hopefully we won't let D'Qwell Jackson leave.

He is a Tampa guy so that will hopefully sway him. Tulloch if he isn't around.

David Wilson (VT) and Bernard Pierce (Temple) will both be leaving early. "With Wilson’s departure, five of the top 12 rushers in the country — San Diego State’s Ronnie Hillman (No. 3 in total rushing yards), Utah State’s Robert Turbin (No. 10), Washington’s Chris Polk (No. 11) and Temple’s Bernard Pierce (No. 12) being the others — have already announced they are leaving school early. Two other draft-eligible RBs — Oregon’s LaMichael James (No. 2) and Alabama’s Trent Richardson (No. 6, with the title game remaining) — are expected to follow suit.

Two seniors in that group as well, it likely means that just three of the top dozen rushers in 2011 will be on a collegiate field when the 2012 season kicks off."

Thomond wrote:Bucs should trade down for more picks if RG3 is available at the time.
Jeffery,deCastro or a corner can be picked then/ Burfict in the 2nd,D'Qwell Jackson in FA with Finnegan,Nicks and DeSean or VJax and the Bucs look a lot healthier.
Ball is staying in school Derby.LaMichael James' stock just went up.

Bit optimistic with all the FA signings there... the Bucs don't spend :p

I think rg3 will go top 3, he will wow at the combine and Seattle, the skins or cleveland will give most likely the vikings a package of picks. Also don't think any good fa's will want to go to tampa even if they flash some cash, really no attraction for a good player right now. Every draft reporter says the bucs are in love with alfonso dennard so i'd imagine if they traded down, it would be to take him.

I reckon, if the value of the players stay roughly the same, luck goes 1st, with kalil 2nd(even though they have high picks for o-line already), the vikes will look for a trade with someone, will probably hope for cleveland to give up their 2 picks, and take claiborne(my favourite player in the draft). Blackmon could go 2nd or 3rd but not convinced he should go that high.

A few more underclassmen to add to the list along with Wilson and Pierce:
QB Brock Osweiler, AZ State http://www.azcentral.com/sports/asu/articles/2012/01/05/20120105asu-football-brock-osweiler-nfl-draft.html
and
OL Peter Konz, Wisconsin http://host.madison.com/sports/blog/uw-football-source-says-konz-leaving-for-nfl/article_4f3088dc-3878-11e1-861a-0019bb2963f4.html

Konz adds to an already impressive OL class, if your team needs help anywhere on the OL there's a good chance of finding some in this draft IMO.

I really hope Cleveland don't give up the two 1st rounders (or any extra) to move up one spot to get RG3, I don't believe taking RG3 moves us much further away from where we currently are. The first rounders can be put to good use and improve the overall level of talent on this team, then if McCoy still isn't doing very good (which is never going to be that easy in the AFC North) then look for a replacement at QB, good ones come out of the college game every year.

Luke Kuechly and LaMichael James have both announced they will be leaving for the NFL.

I will update the list to include some you may have missed.

Derbyblue wrote:I really hope Cleveland don't give up the two 1st rounders (or any extra) to move up one spot to get RG3, I don't believe taking RG3 moves us much further away from where we currently are. The first rounders can be put to good use and improve the overall level of talent on this team, then if McCoy still isn't doing very good (which is never going to be that easy in the AFC North) then look for a replacement at QB, good ones come out of the college game every year.

There is an actual draft value chart, so they would not be able to give up that much to move up 1 spot.

The 3rd overall pick is worth 2200 points and the 4th pick is worth 1800 points, what you would find is the Browns would give up their 2nd worth 540, as there is still a difference the Vikings would give up their 4th worth 104 to balance is out.

However, the Vikings do not need a QB as they took Ponder last year and the Rams took Bradford 2 years before, however the Skins are the ones to look out for they crave a franchise QB, to move up 3 spaces from 6th (value 1600) they would have to give up their 1st (1600) 2nd (520) 4th (92 ) if they traded with either the Rams or Vikings and both need to re-build so these extra picks would come in handy, the extra 1st that high could be either used to have 2 top 10 picks or even traded for further picks, a good GM could make that extra 1st rounder into a further 2-2nd rounders and at least 3-3rd rounders and a few 4th rounders.

And for a team like the Vikings or Rams they could end up with 2-1st rounders, 3-2nd rounders 2-3rd rounders, 4-4th rounders 11 picks inside the top 120 means a lot of holes can be filled at least 5 starters then 6 guys that would come in on situational downs.

For those interested and if you have never seen it, below is the draft value chart.

Spoiler:

Dave,apparentyl they are now. I suppose you can't trust the Glazers though. Niner, you probably could have said the Panthers,Niners,Lions,Texans and Bengals last season. As iwrote in that thread, the Bucs problems are fixable and pretty easily fixable.

I agree that the bucs problems are fixable, like I said, with a decent draft, they could be at least a .500 team next year or better. My only worry is that they have no impact players to speak of, pretty much every bad team has someone who can be considered one of the best in their positions but tampa doesnt have that

niner wrote:I think rg3 will go top 3, he will wow at the combine and Seattle, the skins or cleveland will give most likely the vikings a package of picks. Also don't think any good fa's will want to go to tampa even if they flash some cash, really no attraction for a good player right now. Every draft reporter says the bucs are in love with alfonso dennard so i'd imagine if they traded down, it would be to take him.

No attraction? Are you kidding?

The best facilities in the whole league and 0% state income tax.

fair enough, but I think asomugha, ray edwards, franklin, sproles etc show some guys want to go to contenders. But then again, I suppose guys like sidney rice are good and they didn't go to a current contender.

Pr4wn wrote:

niner wrote:I think rg3 will go top 3, he will wow at the combine and Seattle, the skins or cleveland will give most likely the vikings a package of picks. Also don't think any good fa's will want to go to tampa even if they flash some cash, really no attraction for a good player right now. Every draft reporter says the bucs are in love with alfonso dennard so i'd imagine if they traded down, it would be to take him.

No attraction? Are you kidding?

The best facilities in the whole league and 0% state income tax.

I do find it hilarious how Florida, Texas and Nevada (there may be others) can have no income tax. Just seems silly but I imagine they just make up for it in other taxes

Niner, how many of those guys did the Bucs seriously go after? Asmougha is the only one they persued and it was a half hearted effort.

I didn't mean only tampa went after them, what I meant was that these guys had quite a few offers from other teams according to websites at the time but chose to go to playoff calibre teams. The niners were as bad as tampa last year and, even though they went after decent names, they were rejected. Free agent guys going to bad teams doesn't work, there are very few times something positive has come out of it

Thomond wrote:Dave,apparentyl they are now. I suppose you can't trust the Glazers though. Niner, you probably could have said the Panthers,Niners,Lions,Texans and Bengals last season. As iwrote in that thread, the Bucs problems are fixable and pretty easily fixable.

Don't the Bucs have to spend to meet the salary cap minimum?

Pr4wn I took the "no attraction" comment to mean in terms of the likely hood of success not the states tax laws, if you were for example D'Qwell Jackson and you were being offered contracts by the Browns and Bucs but also someone who was a play off contender this year and all were offering pretty much equal wages would you seriously choose either of the Browns or Bucs? I mean I hope he does choose the Browns but I couldn't really blame him if he left for more of a shot at success.

Tyler Eifert will be staying at Notre Dame for his final season: "I didn’t come to Notre Dame just to help me get to the NFL,” Eifert said. “The value of the Notre Dame degree is so great, and since I am only two semesters away from graduating it would have been crazy for me to walk away now. Having the opportunity to go to the NFL will eventually be a bonus on an already great college experience.”

Clemson's Dwayne Allen however will be leaving for the NFL, is the John Mackey winner going to be the top TE prospect?

Running back Edwin Barker will be leaving Michigan state early, having spent the year sharing carries with Bell his value won't be as high as it could have been.

Bobby Massie leaving Ole Miss adds another OT to the draft class, not heard much of him but does he have a chance of going high?

Josh Robinson will be leaving UCF for the NFL. "Robinson has been a first-team All-Conference USA corner the past two seasons, and is probably most notable for being largely responsible for holding A.J. Green to just 77 yards receiving on eight catches in UCF’s bowl win over Georgia following the 2010 season."

Don't know much about massie, but over the last year, he has been a 2nd/3rd rounder in the mocks i've seen

Leedscowboys wrote:the Skins are the ones to look out for they crave a franchise QB, to move up 3 spaces from 6th (value 1600) they would have to give up their 1st (1600) 2nd (520) 4th (92 ) if they traded with either the Rams or Vikings and both need to re-build so these extra picks would come in handy

If that was all it took to get RG3 then I'd jump on it if I was Mike Shanahan and Bruce Allen! I know this is basedon the draft pick value chart but in reality I reckon it would take more than that to swap places with either of these teams. I saw somewhere a suggestion that to swap places with St Louis in the 1st round this year, it would take giving up our 2nd rounder this year and our 1st and 3rd round picks next year. That sounds more realistic to me and much, much harder for Shanahan and Allen to stomach. The thing that the draft value chart doesn't take into account is how desperate the Skins are for a QB - any team we contact about a trade will know that and they will rightfully play on that to drive a better deal for themselves. I love the offseason! It's been the best bit of the year for Skins fans over the last decade or so! Can't wait to get the playoffs and Superbowl out of the way so that we can get on with all the offseason evaluations and moves and see how this pans out for us!

Number-25 wrote:

Leedscowboys wrote:the Skins are the ones to look out for they crave a franchise QB, to move up 3 spaces from 6th (value 1600) they would have to give up their 1st (1600) 2nd (520) 4th (92 ) if they traded with either the Rams or Vikings and both need to re-build so these extra picks would come in handy

If that was all it took to get RG3 then I'd jump on it if I was Mike Shanahan and Bruce Allen! I know this is basedon the draft pick value chart but in reality I reckon it would take more than that to swap places with either of these teams. I saw somewhere a suggestion that to swap places with St Louis in the 1st round this year, it would take giving up our 2nd rounder this year and our 1st and 3rd round picks next year. That sounds more realistic to me and much, much harder for Shanahan and Allen to stomach. The thing that the draft value chart doesn't take into account is how desperate the Skins are for a QB - any team we contact about a trade will know that and they will rightfully play on that to drive a better deal for themselves.

That sounds very close to what Atlanta gave Cleveland and that was to move up 20 spots so I doubt you will be giving up that much to move from 6th to 2nd or 3rd, yes everyone knows that the Skins want a QB but everyones knows that the Rams and Vikings don't, Browns may look at taking RG3 if he fell to them but I think they could look to trade that away and the Bucs probably aren't looking for a new QB, so in reality the only bargaining tool they have with the Skins is the fear that someone could beat them to it and offer more, but dropping only a couple of spots in the first round will always be more favourable to what anyone else can offer. If the Redskins are the only ones offering or are matching the other offers they'll get RG3 because if time is running low and they miss out on the trade they're in a much worse spot than they want to be.

Yeah it probably is a bit much and in fairness, when I look back it was done at a time between when we beat the Giants and lost to the Vikings and it looked like we would be picking slightly later than 6. I still think though that it's more realistic than just giving up a 2nd and 4th. I don't see any way that we wouldn't have to chuck in a pick next year too - probably a 2nd rounder. I think the Rams would be mad to risk moving down to 6th and risk losing out on one of the really elite guys that could help them. For anything less than a 2nd and 4th this year and a 2nd next year.

RGIII has officially declared (not that there was much doubt).

In addition Morris Claiborne has declared and will likely go straight in as the top CB prospect this year

I think that the Rams will be looking very closely at Blackmon, if someone like the Skins trades up to the 2nd or 3rd pick and takes RG3, then I reckon the Browns would probably take Blackmon and give McCoy another chance with a couple of playmakers, say Blackmon with the 4th pick and another skill position player with the pick they got from the Falcons.

If that happened, then the Rams would be left with the 6th pick with (probably) their number one choice gone and it being too early to go for another receiver.

I think the Vikings are a better target for a trade from the Skins, Vikings are looking at Kalil, if you look at the teams between 3rd and 6th, both have a decent LT already with Joe Thomas and Donald Penn. Vikings could afford to move down a couple of spots and pick up some more draft picks. I reckon theres less of a drop off between Kalil and the next best LT than there is between Blackmon and the next best WR

As crazy_dave has said QB Robert Griffin III, Baylor and CB Morris Claiborne, LSU have both declared for the 2012 Draft.

Others following them:
LB Donta Hightower, Alabama
RB Trent Richardson, Alabama (Richardson is one of the best RB prospects since Adrian Peterson)
CB Dre Kirkpatrick, Alabama

WR Eric Page, Toledo

TE Orson Charles, Georgia

WR Russell Shepard, LSU
DL Michael Brockers, LSU (6'6, 306lbs + athletic, this guy should intrigue just about every team in the league)

Bambam- While I don't like you calling Joe Thomas "decent" what you say makes a lot of sense if the Vikings can get Kalil at 3 then it would appear to be likely they can get him at 6 unless someone trades up but then I think both Cleveland and Tampa want to be up in the top 5 picks and may require some persuading. Then again if the Rams were at 6 having missed out on Blackmon and wanting one of the top WRs they could trade down again and turn the #2 pick into one between 10 and 20 with 2 second rounders, maybe 2 fourths and something next year.

Pretty glad to see Richardson declare (though it was expected) if Blackmon isn't there at 4 then I think Richardson is the guy to take and a WR with the Atlanta pick.

Well I thought Claiborne might be staying after what I had previously quoted him as saying but I can't blame him at all and he has to be the top CB prospect this year. Don't know about you guys but I don't see Shepard going in the top 2 or 3 rounds, maybe I've just seen his bad games but he hasn't impressed me.

Tulsa's WR Damaris Johnson has declared for the draft, there is a black spot on his record of being arrested in August and therefore currently being indefinitely suspended from the team, he is though the NCAA's career leader in all purpose yards.

Kalil will be gone by 6 but claiborne, reiff etc will be available. Joe thomas is the best lt in the league and kalil is the best since so whoever gets him should be excited. Would like the vikings to get kalil, but claiborne or reiff and some other good picks would be nice.

Yeah I see your point Derby, Joe Thomas is definitely more than a "decent" LT, and I do rate him as one of the top 2 or 3 in the league even though it didn't come across from my post! My point was that both teams have a solid enough base at LT to look elsewhere with their top picks.

As a Browns fan, do you want them to take Griffin if available? Or would you rather see them take Richardson as you said above. For me, the 4th overall pick is too high to take him, even if he is the best RB prospect since Peterson. With the way the league is now, I can see the Browns taking the BPA, probably Griffin but if not available then someone like Claiborne, ensuring a top quality pass defence with Haden for years.

The Browns could take the BPA at number 4, then with the Falcons pick and their own high second rounder take a receiver and running back, such as Kendall Wright and one of any number of RBs.

Niner do you really think Kalil will be gone by 6 if the Vikings trade back to 6? Colts will take Luck/Griffin, Rams need a playmaker, the Browns and Buccs have quality left tackles already. Can see him at 6 if Vikings are there

I wouldn't be shocked if he was at 6 but its very unusual for a franchise lt to drop that low. Also, regardless of how many high picks the rams have used on o-line, saffold and the rest of them were horrible this year and that caused bradford to miss a lot of games. The wr class is really deep this year and I think that they would rather ensure that bradford isn't killed again this season. The way I look at it is that, you can get a great lt in kalil in the 1st and a potential no 1 wideout in jones in the 2nd or you can take a wr in the 1st but it very rare to get a good tackle in the 2nd in recent times.

I've said before that I don't think we should draft a replacement for McCoy this year as so far in his short career he has been rushed into the starting line up due to injuries to Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace and he impressed enough to retain the starters job for this season, but in that shortened offseason he had to learn a new offense, gel with his new weapon Greg Little and cope with injuries to the O-line and Massaquoi, the run game also completely dissappeared.

Do we take Griffin if he's there at 4? It depends on who has gone, if Blackmon is there I would want him over RGIII. Richardson is the best prospect since Peterson and a solid run game helps a young quarterback which is being shown with Yates at the Texans, I don't know too much about the rest of the RB class but I'm sure there are others who could handle the starting RB spot. Do we take Claiborne well that would give us a very exciting young CB partnership for years to come but the best part of our defense is already how we handle the pass the issue is in stopping the run which will get worse if Jackson leaves and having two shut down corners just makes teams want to run against you and if there is something all the AFC North teams (excluding the Browns) do well it's run the ball. If the Vikes trade to the Skins and they take RGIII would I want to take Kalil? While it would be lovely to have every other teams starting LT at RT something tells me that would cause a whole heap of problems off the pitch. In reality if Blackmon has been taken in the top 3 I wouldn't complain at them trading away from 4th because if he's gone then Kalil or RGIII will be available and they should have plenty of teams interested.

I still don't reckon Richardson will go in the top 15... its just not a valuable position anymore. Though his talent arguably deserves it I see him slipping, but not as much as Ingram last year because of the talent level.

The Browns could target someone like Chris Polk out of Washington in round two if they feel that they need a new RB, what with Hillis getting moody and Hardesty getting hurt all the time

crazy_dave23 wrote:I still don't reckon Richardson will go in the top 15... its just not a valuable position anymore. Though his talent arguably deserves it I see him slipping, but not as much as Ingram last year because of the talent level.

The Browns could target someone like Chris Polk out of Washington in round two if they feel that they need a new RB, what with Hillis getting moody and Hardesty getting hurt all the time

Do you think Richardson could slip to 22 and the Browns pick from Atlanta? If we already have a WR with the number 4 pick then I would see that as great value but don't think the other RBs will be gone by the time they pick in the second, I think Hillis will be leaving and Hardesty would appear to have injury problems, but Ogbonnaya will still be around and hopefully Brandon Jackson will be fit so I could understand them leaving an RB until a later round or picking one up as BPA.

I haven't yet given it much thought but here's how I could see the early picks shaking out:

01: IND-Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford
02: STL-Matt Kalil, OT, USC (LT>WR)
03: MIN-Morris Claiborne, CB, LSU (Possible trade down, WAS might trade up for Robert Griffin III)
04: CLE-Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylor (Pick hinges on whether the Browns give up on Colt McCoy, I would)
05: TB-...

As for Trent Richardson, if he does fall I doubt he gets past the NY Jets at #16.

Derbyblue wrote:]Do you think Richardson could slip to 22 and the Browns pick from Atlanta? If we already have a WR with the number 4 pick then I would see that as great value but don't think the other RBs will be gone by the time they pick in the second, I think Hillis will be leaving and Hardesty would appear to have injury problems, but Ogbonnaya will still be around and hopefully Brandon Jackson will be fit so I could understand them leaving an RB until a later round or picking one up as BPA.

Don't think he would go that far, but then again depends on what is really going on with running backs in this league!
I'd reckon every other back would conceivably be on the board when Cleveland picked in rd 2, so it would make more sense then

LSU will be losing WR Rueben Randle after it was reported earlier this week that fellow WR Russell Shepard will be leaving, though apparently Shepard may just be transferring if they do both make it to the draft who goes higher?

DE Max Holloway will leave Boston College and head for the NFL.

Apparently Orson Charles will be the only underclassman to leave Georgia early.

reuben randle would go much higher, maybe even late 2nd whereas shepard would be a 5th or 6th id imagine, he has done nothing

Russell Shepard has announced he will actually be staying at LSU.

Kenjon Barner will be returning to Oregan for his final year.

Alvester Alexander is the 12th running back to declare early for the draft, he rushed for 695 yards this season and his 27 career rushing touchdowns rank third in Wyoming's history.

I have seen a few of the 'bowl' games over the past few weeks and Justin Blackmon stood out most for me.

NFL MIKE wrote:I have seen a few of the 'bowl' games over the past few weeks and Justin Blackmon stood out most for me.

Oh, he is very very good.
Last year I was contemplating him vs AJ Green and sided with Blackmon.
He has kept it up this year at OSU and he should be very good. Same Uni as Dez Bryant, but doesn't come across has having the ego Bryant does but does have the raw talent needed to be a success. Could go top 5 - should go top 5.

In a rather bizarre move, QB Darron Thomas has decided to leave Oregon and head for the NFL Undrafted Free Agency Signing Spree a year ahead of time.

Admittedly I stole the the fact he will likely go undrafted from ESPN, mainly because I saw it on the NFL.com pages this morning and went "Really???... what round to they actually think he will go" and started hunting out opinions.

Seems like a dumb move given that Oregon would likely remain National Title contenders this coming year. Without LaMicheal James or Thomas, the Ducks could be in a for a little bit of a rough year - but will no doubt be there or there about's.
He's a slightly unconventional passer/very occasional runner in a spread offence without the intangibles of someone like Cam Newton. His stats are slightly inflated because of how Oregon beats up on many of their opponents, although he is by no means a bad QB per se.


http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/33274/thomas-makes-surprising-draft-decision

stupid move imo

Sounds like a poor move by Darron Thomas, but who knows if he does well at the combine he might spark some interest.

Jewel Hampton is leaving Southern Illinois early for the NFL, he has torn both his ACLs while he was at Iowa before transferring.

Defensive end Jonathan Massaquoi is leaving Troy early.

Does anyone what time the deadline today is for players to file their paperwork to become draft eligible?

massaquoi is a beast, he was considered a 1st rounder for next year in some mocks

It's fascinating how the top 6 picks or so might shake out - there's just so many different permutations. There's only 2 QBs worthy of an early 1st round pick and arguably, worthy of being picked in the 1st round at all, so anyone wanting one this year will need to be picking early or will have to trade up to get there. Also, can we really be sure that the likes of the Rams, Vikings and Bucs are so set on the young QBs they have recently picked? Bear in mind that the Rams and Bucs have new HCs coming in - might the new guys want to pick their own guy?? For what it's worth, I think they'd be daft to dump Bradford and Freeman but you just never know! Also, you gotta be thinking that Frazier has to win with the Vikings this year to keep his job - did he really see enough from Ponder this season to convince him that he can help him keep his job. Again, it's hard to imagine that they give up on Ponder so soon but RG3 looks to be the real deal so maybe Frazier will find him hard to resist if he's still there at 3???? Then there's the Browns and Redskins - I'll be honest, I don't see enough in McCoy to convince me the Browns can win with him but then, you never know.... I'd have said the same about Alex Smith before this season!! In my opinion they really should be addressing other concerns but it wouldn't be the first time a franchise fell in love with a star player in the draft and ignored greater needs to pick him. Surely Holmgren's too smart for that though?? The Redskins just have to get a QB this year and if they decide it's going to be in the draft then the Vikings do look to be the most obvious trade partner. The Rams would be risking too much to miss out on Kalil or Blackmon by dropping to 6th as they could conceivably go to Minnesota and Cleveland before they then pick. You'd have to give up loads to trade with the Rams I reckon and if you're going to do that, then maybe the Skins would be as well going the whole hog and asking Indy what it would take to get the number 1 pick and Andrew Luck..........

I love the draft!!!

The single best thing in american sports, i get excited about half way through the season, now im just looking forward to buying the three major draft guides in march online like i have for the past few years, Its sad but because of them, i can watch the 6th round online and instantly know off by hear the height, 40 time etc of a small school player out of somehere like montana

Can't wait for the draft, hope I don't have anything early on a monday this semester.

Barrett Trotter is leaving Auburn a year early, not actually seen anything of Cam Newtons replacement but his stats and being benched during the 7th game don't fill me with confidence for his future.

Apparently Darron Thomas' departure from Oregon is a surprise to his former team-mates as well as everyone else.

Also as he's missing from the list Bryce Brown RB will be leaving Kansas state, which rounds do you think the former number one recruit will be likely taken in or is he destined to be a free-agent pick up?

the draft is always on a thursday night, p[lus i have fridays off uni so im sorted