No Backs!

Next week, some team will likely draft a quarterback in the first round. It will be due more to a team's need than the quality of this quarterback draft class. Last year, quarterbacks went first and second in the draft. Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III would be drafted at the top of any draft. Ryan Tannehill was also drafted in the top-10. Brandon Weeden was taken before the first round was done. If teams knew then what they know now, Russell Wilson would have joined those four quartebacks in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft. This year's quarterback group leaves a whole lot to be desired when compared to the amazing class of 2012. If a quarterback gets a first round call next week, West Virginia's Geno Smith will likely be the one. Florida St's E.J. Manuel could be. Some team might fall for USC's Matt Barkley or Syracuse's Ryan Nassib. Some might like the 6'7" giant from North Carolina St., Mike Glennon. Who knows? It's a quarterback-driven game and some teams are so desperate to find that quarterback that they will force one into the first round. The great need for quarterbacks and the void found in this draft forced teams to find one through trades and free agency. Kansas City traded for Alex Smith. Arizona traded for Carson Palmer. Oakland traded for Matt Flynn. Bufflao added Kevin Kolb. Those moves eased the pressure for those teams of having to find a passer early in the draft. Some teams still will. I'm guessing that Geno Smith goes somewhere in the top half of the first. Another quarterback or two, Barkely and Manuel?, might be grabbed when a team, or two, at the top of the second trades back into the bottom of the first.

Most people have come to acknowledge that this draft is lacking at quarterback. Especially when we are still in the glow of last year's quarterbacks. It seems to be skipping the attention of many that we might go through the entire first round without hearing the name of a running back. That hasn't happened since 1963. Fifty years! Alabama's Eddie Lacy is at the top of most running back lists. Wisconsin's Montee Ball, UCLA's Jonathan Franklin, and North Carolina's Giovani Bernard follow closely. There's some talent there but each has enough questions to make the first round unlikely. Franklin impressed me at UCLA. As a Cal fan, he was a pain. As a football fan, he was a versatile back, dangerous back. He'll find a home in the NFL. The wildcard is South Carolina's Marcus Lattimore. He might have been a top-10 pick if not for a gruesome knee injury last season. When healthy, he's brilliant. I wouldn't be surprised if someone takes a chance on him in the second but a round or two later is more likely.

This draft really is lacking in offensive skill position players at the top of the draft. Even receiver is lacking at the top. A handful will be first round picks but probably none in the top-10. Maybe, none in the top half. For the first time that I can recall, linemen will dominate the stage early Thursday night. It's a strange draft. No backs. This is the year for the big guys.