The 2012 NFL Draft got underway and, as predicted, Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck was the No. 1 pick selected by the Indianapolis Colts and Baylor Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Robert Griffin III , was picked second by the Washington Redskins.
The big surprise of Round 1 was the eight trades made, the most among the top 10 picks in NFL Draft history. Cleveland traded picks with Minnesota and included fourth-, fifth- and seventh-round picks to take Alabama running back Trent Richardson with the third pick in the draft.
Jacksonville moved up to No. 5 to take Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon, while Tampa Bay dropped to No. 7 and took Alabama SS Mark Barron. The Buccaneers also got the Jaguars’ fourth-round pick.
The Miami Dolphins, who missed out on Green Bay Packers backup quarterback Matt Flynn, got the guy they wanted, Ryan Tannehill, the 6-4 quarterback from Texas A&M. Tannehill will meet with his Aggie head coach, Mike Sherman, who took over as the Dolphins’ offensive coordinator earlier this year.
Dontari Poe, a Memphis defensive tackle who weighed 346 pounds at the combine, was rewarded for his outstanding performances at the NFL combine, which included a 4.8 rush for 40 yards, by being selected No. 11 by the Kansas City Chiefs. .
National champion Alabama had four players selected in the first round. Richardson and Barron along with CB Dre Kirkpatrick, taken at No. 17 by the Bengals, and OLB Dont’a Hightower, who was drafted by the AFC champion New England Patriots. Hightower projects as an OLB/DE hybrid in coach Bill Belichek’s 3-4 defense, while Kirkpatrick strengthens Cincinnati’s defense by giving them the big coverage cornerback they sorely needed.
The players projected to go to the first round were selected in the first round. There weren’t many surprise picks aside from Boise State OLB Shea McLellin selected 19th by Chicago and Seattle pick from West Virginia OLB Bruce Irvin with the 15th pick in Round 1.
The league moved into the meat of the draft where teams build their rosters from rounds 2 through 7. A handful of players bordering on first-round talent remained available as the NFL draft moved to Day 2. Alabama DE Courtney Upshaw , whom many teams considered first round, was not selected until the Baltimore Ravens called his number with the third pick in the second round.
Many clubs picked up some big values in the second round, including the Colts, who added Andrew Luck’s Stanford teammate from No. 1 pick TE Coby Fleener. Fleener is a 6-foot-6, 247-pound specimen, possessing a 4.5 40-yard dash speed and also posting a 37-inch vertical jump. While his college stats may be lacking, remember that he played in what was essentially a three-tight-end, run-first, mouth-smashing offense.
One of the most talked about picks of the second round was the St. Louis Rams pick of CB Janoris Jenkins out of North Alabama. Jenkins has had a history of trouble including being fired from the University of Florida football team after being arrested for a third time. Two of those arrests were drug-related charges.
The Rams, however, see the edge in Jenkins, tremendous talent, 4.46 speed, and he’s played in the SEC against big competitors. More importantly, though, the Rams had two second-round picks and could afford to take a chance on a player with some character issues. Time will tell, but the Rams think they have their coverage corner.
One of the surprises of the later rounds came in the fourth when the Washington Redskins, who took Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III with the second pick in the draft, selected Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins. The Redskins and head coach Mike Shanahan now have two rookie quarterbacks on the roster and two quarterbacks who are dynamically different. Cousins played in a pro-style offense at MSU and has a great head on his shoulders. RG III is a tremendous athlete who played in a spread offense and, like Cousins, is a quality individual. It will be interesting to see how the quarterback situation plays out in Washington.
And then the pick that everyone is waiting for… the definitive one. As is tradition, the final draft pick is known as Mr. Irrelevant and is rewarded with a June trip to Newport Beach, CA, where he will be honored with a parade and then treated to a trip to Disneyland. This year, the draft began with the Indianapolis Colts selecting a QB (Andrew Luck) and it ended exactly the same way. With the 253rd pick in the NFL draft, the Colts selected Chandler Harnish, a dual-threat quarterback from northern Illinois who turned out to be a four-year starter, MAC Offensive Player of the Year, and ended up last season ranked No. 5 in the country in total yards with 4,595.