The NFL Draft is now less than two weeks away. This will be my 31st straight draft. Back when I was a little kid and it was on Tuesday mornings I used to stay home from school so I could see who the Cowboys selected. Ah, the gold old days when I would actually be happy on draft day. After re-watching a bunch of college football games and going through all of my prospect videos, I’ve finalized my rankings. Let’s start off with quarterback, which will produce the first two picks in the draft.
Quarterbacks
1. Robert Griffin III, Baylor
-Griffin is my top rated player on the board. The more I watch of him the more he impresses me. Griffin is NFL-ready and has very few weaknesses. I think he’s going to be a star.
2. Andrew Luck, Stanford
-Luck is basically 1B. I like Griffin a tad more but it’s razor close. Luck is smart, athletic and deadly accurate. It won’t take long for Luck to prove why he was the first overall pick.
3. Brandon Weeden, Oklahoma State
-I’ve been going back and forth on Weeden and Tannehill. I settled on Weeden. He can be streaky but I like the way Weeden reads defenses and grasps an offense. I think Weeden is more ready to play in the NFL than Tannehill but Tannehill has the higher ceiling physically.
4. Ryan Tannehill, Texas A&M
-Tannehill is a good prospect, I just don’t see him being a Top 10 pick. Tannehill is athletic, a great leader and he has a strong arm but I think he has a long ways to go. Remember, Tannehill only started 20 games at quarterback in college after moving over from receiver. He has potential but whichever team selects Tannehill needs to be patient with him.
5. Ryan Lindley, San Diego State
-Lindley is my sleeper in this class. He had an up-and-down 2011 season but the talent is there. When Lindley is on, he looks like a first round pick. The problem is when Lindley is off, he’s really off. If a coaching staff can help Lindley become more consistent, they’ll have a heck of a quarterback on their hands.
6. Kirk Cousins, Michigan State
-I’ve compared Cousins to Matt Moore and people think that’s a slam on him. It’s not. There are only a few Peyton Mannings on the planet. Not every quarterback coming out of college is going to be a star. Some of them become Kyle Orton and that’s OK. I think Cousins will be a very good backup and spot starter in the NFL.
7. Brock Osweiler, Arizona State
-I’m not a huge Osweiler fan. I see the physical skills but I also think he still has a long ways to go. I don’t see much difference between Lindley and Osweiler personally other than one guy will get overdrafted. Sometimes Osweiler looks like a first round pick and other times you wonder if he should be drafted. I love when people say he looked good at his pro day. You mean he looked good throwing against air? That’s impressive.
8. Russell Wilson, Wisconsin
-It’s a shame Wilson isn’t a few inches taller. He’s a really smart kid with a cannon for an arm. I think Wilson will settle in as a solid NFL backup and if a guy like Troy Smith can start some games in the league, Wilson certainly can as well if he’s asked to.
9. Nick Foles, Arizona
-I think I’m the last remaining person on the planet who still likes Foles. He has some mechanic issues that need to be addressed but when the whistle sounds he comes to play. If Foles goes to a team with a good QB coach like Green Bay or New England, I think he has a chance to surprise.
10. Kellen Moore, Boise State
-Moore is in the same category as Wilson. It’s a shame he doesn’t have a stronger arm because Moore has all the intangibles. He surveys the field as well as any quarterback in this class, he just doesn’t posses some of the physical traits needed to be an every-week NFL starter. Still, I’ll put my money on Moore developing into a valuable backup at some point.
