ESPN’s Adam Schefter predicts that Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen will fall to the bottom of the first round, where the Vikings will take him at No. 30.
Dallas Morning News columnist Rick Gosselin (who annually puts out some of the most accurate mock drafts) predicts the same thing.
The Vikings were hoping a cornerback would slide to them but instead hit the jackpot with the slide of Clausen. He gives them their QB of the future when Brett Favre finally does retire, probably in 2011.
Well, my final mock just got blown to hell. I have Clausen falling to the Bills at No. 9 and I even had him as high as No. 4 to the Redskins before they acquired Donovan McNabb. Schefter is one of the most reliable NFL media members around and as previously noted, Gosselin is well respected around this time of year too.
I guess it wouldn’t surprise me to see Clausen fall. In fact, nothing would surprise me. The media tries its best to predict what will happen, but in reality, not even the teams know how things will play out. A team like the Vikings have an idea about who will be left on the board when they pick later tonight at No. 30, but really, they have to wait to find out just like everyone else. Players that they thought would be there won’t be, while a player they may have rated higher on their board will still be available. It happens every year.
Last year, linebacker Rey Maualuga was supposed to be a sure-fire top 20 pick and he fell all the way to the Bengals in the second round (No. 38 overall). In 2008, receiver Devin Thomas was supposed to be a first rounder and he too fell into the second round at pick No. 34 (Washington). So nobody knows.
It’ll be interesting to see how far Clausen falls, because he’s the one quarterback at the top of his position class that actually played in a pro style offense. Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow, Tony Pike and Dan LeFevour all played in the spread, which scares a lot of scouts because it takes time for those quarterbacks to develop. One would think that Clausen would be a top 15 pick, but maybe not.
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