Almost right on cue, the supposed No. 1 quarterback’s stock is starting to fall.

Every year the media crowns someone the best quarterback prospect in the draft and every year that top signal caller’s stock starts to fall right around the combine. This year, the QB atop most pundits’ rankings is Missouri’s Blaine Gabbert, whose draft stock has begun “slipping” according to ESPN’s Mel Kiper.

Rotoworld has the details:

According to Kiper, Gabbert’s fall has occurred after NFL teams did “more film work” on the underclassman’s junior year. It’s true that Gabbert did not dominate his competition in 2010, throwing for 16 touchdowns compared to nine picks and averaging an unimpressive 6.71 yards per attempt. Gabbert was much better as a sophomore.

I always find reports like these humorous because they’re so vague. How many teams are we talking about? Because there are five teams in the top-10 that could use a quarterback (Carolina, Buffalo, Arizona, San Francisco and Tennessee), seven if you believe the Bengals will trade Carson Palmer and the Redskins will dump Donovan McNabb.

Have all those teams soured on Gabbert after watching more film? Have three? Have two? Have one?

Or were these not the teams that Kiper was referring to? If they weren’t, then I wonder why Gabbert’s stock would fall just because teams that draft in the middle or bottom half of the first round didn’t like what they saw on film.

I’m not trying to discredit Kiper’s report but without knowing what teams have soured on Gabbert, this news means very little. Plus, he’s a junior so he didn’t perform at the Senior Bowl, the combine is still over a week away and he hasn’t had his Pro Day yet. There’s still a lot of time before the draft, so I would take reports like these with a grain of salt.

Former NFL agent Josh Luchs told Sports Illustrated that he provided cash and benefits to college football players in hopes of signing them as clients. He also said that ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. helped him and agent Gary Wichard scheme in order to woo potential clients by using Kiper’s draft rankings.

But Kiper is now calling shenanigans on Luchs and his employer has already shut the book on a potential probe.

From NBC Sports:

Why did the investigation end so quickly? One of the reasons may have been Kiper’s machine-gun rattling of the instances where he had a Wichard client rated lower than the Wichard client actually was picked, which we heard on ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike in the Morning. Kiper also defended himself vigorously in an online chat, which was much easier to digest because the information could be gleaned without, you know, having to listen to him speak.

Or maybe ESPN realized that the Sports Illustrated article didn’t actually constitute new information. The Kiper-Wichard connection has been well known for years; ESPN surely has crossed this bridge long before Kiper’s latest contract was signed. It would have been unfair and wrong for ESPN to suddenly wring hands and gnash teeth regarding a relationship of which ESPN has been well aware.

Or maybe ESPN is confident that Kiper hasn’t been corrupted by relationships with Wichard or other agents. Former ESPN producer Fred Gaudelli, who now produces NBC’s Sunday Night Football, contacted us via e-mail today with a first-hand assessment of Kiper’s work.

“I was the Producer or Executive Producer of ESPN’s coverage of the NFL Draft from 1990 to 2001,” Gaudelli said. “I spoke to Mel Kiper virtually every day from combine time through draft day(s). I knew his thoughts and opinions of the top 50 to 100 players each year and trust me when I tell you he never falsely pumped or promoted any player for any reason.

The evidence seems to be mounting for Kiper, not against him so he should be fine. Considering how adamant he’s been about not helping these agents, I tend to believe him. That said, I wouldn’t doubt that he’s been approached by agents to pimp their prospects and I’m sure agents have told clients that Kiper will help them out. But again, there doesn’t appear to be any evidence to suggest that Kiper has been prospect pimp.

We’ll see if more comes out but as of now, there’s nothing here.

The Detroit Lions are now on the clock.

Well, they have been on the clock since the first week of preseason. The unofficial kickoff to the upcoming football season is here, as the 2009 NFL Draft will be the highlight event of the weekend. Your mock draft is due prior to the start of the draft. So be sure to cram in every player’s 40 yard time and wonderlic score during an all-night study session tonight. And if you want to play a good drinking game on Saturday, take a sip when Mel Kiper says “that was a value pick” or “he was the best player available.” I guarantee you will pass out halfway through the first round.

All times ET…

NFL
Sat, 4 PM: 2009 NFL Draft (ESPN/ESPN2/NFL Network)
Sun, 10 AM: 2009 NFL Draft (ESPN/NFL Network)

NBA Playoffs
Fri, 7 PM: Cleveland Cavaliers @ Detroit Pistons (ESPN)
Fri, 8 PM: Orlando Magic @ Philadelphia 76ers (ESPN2)
Fri, 9:30 PM: Portland Trail Blazers @ Houston Rockets (ESPN)
Sat, 1 PM: Denver Nuggets @ New Orleans Hornets (ESPN)
Sat, 4 PM: San Antonio Spurs @ Dallas Mavericks (TNT)
Sat, 6:30 PM: Atlanta Hawks @ Miami Heat (TNT)
Sat, 9 PM: Los Angeles Lakers @ Utah Jazz (ESPN)
Sun, 1 PM: Boston Celtics @ Chicago Bulls (ABC)
Sun, 3:30 PM: Cleveland Cavaliers @ Detroit Pistons (ABC)
Sun, 6:30 PM: Orlando Magic @ Philadelphia 76ers (TNT)
Sun, 9 PM: Portland Trail Blazers @ Houston Rockets (TNT)

NHL Playoffs
Fri, 7 PM: New York Rangers @ Washington Capitals (Versus)
Sat, 1 PM: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Philadelphia Flyers (NBC)
Sat, 10 PM: Anaheim Ducks @ San Jose Sharks (Versus)
Sun, 2 PM: Washington Capitals @ New York Rangers*if necessary (NBC)
Sun, TBD: New Jersey Devils @ Carolina Hurricanes (Versus)

MLB
Sat, 4:10PM: New York Yankees @ Boston Red Sox (Fox)
Sun., 12 PM: Philadelphia Phillies @ Florida Marlins (TBS)
Sun., 8 PM: New York Yankees @ Boston Red Sox (ESPN)