NFL Draft 2010: Jimmy Clausen and the Nine Biggest Draft Day Free Falls

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There have been a few draft prospects that have taken big falls in the draft in recent years, but none have fallen quite as far as Jimmy Clausen.

Draft projections are just that, projections. Like a general preparing for combat, the first thing to go out the window once the shooting starts is the battle plan.

However, Clausen went from being a potential first overall pick to now being out of the first round completely.

Read on to see who he shares company with.

Brian Brohm

Brian Brohm decided to not enter the 2007 NFL Draft and play his senior season at Louisville.

However, that meant he entered the very deep 2008 quarterback class and went from a lock in the first round in 2007 to the second round in 2008, being drafted by Green Bay with the 56th overall pick.

He's now one of the quarterbacks on the Buffalo Bills roster.

Matt Leinart

Matt Leinart didn't have the fall others have had on this list, but he was projected to go third overall to the Tennessee Titans.

The Titans took Vince Young, and it was seven more picks before the Arizona Cardinals decided to take a chance on the USC quarterback.

The Cardinals are regretting that pick now because Kurt Warner ended up being the quarterback of the future for the team until his retirement this past January.

Leinart finally will get his chance to start, that is unless the team decides to go in a different direction.

Drew Brees

Drew Brees, like Colt McCoy, was considered too small to go in the first round.

That didn't stop Brees from winning a Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints after having his shoulder surgically repaired.

Brees was taken No. 32, which was the second round in 2001.

It's scenarios like this that Colt McCoy should be keeping in mind as the second round opens today.

Warren Sapp

Warren Sapp was the Ndamukong Suh of his draft class, 1995, and therefore anything lower than the No. 5 pick was considered a freefall.

A report that Sapp failed a several drug tests, never substantiated, resulted in Sapp being drafted No. 12.

Just think of the outrage if Suh had lasted that long.

Thurman Thomas

Thurman Thomas tore his ACL in college, and that's a death knell for anyone wanting to get drafted in the first round of the NFL draft.

Thomas wasn't picked until the middle of the second round, which didn't stop him from rushing for more than 16,000 yards on his way to a Hall of Fame career.

Aaron Rodgers

As if following in Brett Favre's footsteps wasn't hard enough, Aaron Rodgers had to deal with the indignity of a draft freefall.

Rodgers was projected in some mocks to be the first overall pick, but he had to wait until No. 24 to hear his name called.

The San Francisco 49ers took Alex Smith over Rodgers, and the complete lack of a quarterback need throughout the rest of the first round resulted in a 23-spot fall.