Is Sam Bradford the Best QB in the 2010 NFL Draft?

For weeks it has been reported that the St. Louis Rams will draft quarterback Sam Bradford with the number one NFL draft pick. The St. Louis Rams are in desperate need of a franchise quarterback, but is Sam Bradford the answer? Is Sam Bradford even the best quarterback in the 2010 NFL Draft?

The NFL 2010 Draft quarterbacks have been talked about for the last two years. Even going into draft day last year, blogs and analysts began speculating about the first quarterback to be drafted in 2010. Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, and Jimmy Clausen have all been rumored at one time or another to be the prized quarterback of the 2010 Draft. Yet as we close in on draft day, Sam Bradford is the consensus top pick. It is in my opinion that Sam Bradford is not #1 draft pick quality, nor is he even the best quarterback in the draft.

Looking at the top NCAA quarterback prospects, here is how I rank the top quarterbacks of the 2010 NFL Draft.

1 - Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame. Before you go ballistic and bombard me with hate mail, keep in mind that I hate Notre Dame. It pains me to say it, but I love his upside much more than the other usual suspects. Unfortunately Jimmy Clausen has two things working against him that will prevent the St. Louis Rams from making the right pick.

For one thing, he is paying for the sins of Brady Quinn. Brady Quinn came out of Notre Dame with a ton of hype in 2008. Quinn's struggles will have teams questioning Charlie Weiss' ability to get his quarterbacks NFL ready. While I think Quinn and Clausen are two completely different quarterbacks, Clausen will carry the burden of Quinn.

Two, the thing you read over and over again with Clausen is upside. Most analysts don't expect Clausen to be ready to step in on day one and lead an NFL team. Clausen will need at least one season backing up a veteran. That is a problem at number one. Nobody wants to commit number one money to a project. The best is yet to come with Clausen and that is killing him from being the overall first quarterback taken in the draft.

I loved Clausen this year. I think of all of the top quarterbacks in the draft, he improved much more from 2008 to 2009. Notre Dame lost because of their poor defense, not Clausen. Clausen was very clutch in his time at Notre Dame and that is an intangible that can't be measured at a combine. I think Clausen's winning ways carry over into the NFL.

Read more about it on CamelClutchBlog.com.