The NFL supplemental draft presents a very fascinating puzzle to solve. Teams submit the round pick they are willing to surrender in exchange for the rights to a player. The level of pick is an expression of both the team's scouting report on the player and their beliefs about what other teams would be willing to give up to secure the player's services.

Former Baylor wide receiver Josh Gordon has the kind of physical profile (6'4", 225 lbs) with reported sub-4.4 speed that usually gets a player selected in the first round. He hasn't played since 2010 after getting suspended and transferring to Utah last year, but unless the underlying reasons for the suspension are shockingly bad, someone is going to spend at least a third- or fourth-round pick on Gordon.

Which teams will be tempted by Gordon's rare package of physical gifts?

Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins have to top the list because they don't have a true No. 2 (or maybe even No. 2) receiver for their quarterback of the future, Ryan Tannehill. They also have an extra 2013 third-round pick as part of the Brandon Marshall trade. The relative risk/reward proposition presented by Gordon is an easy sell for a rebuilding team with an extra mid-round pick.

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Robert Griffin III's rising tide lifted the draft stock of Kendall Wright into the first round in April. Now, another one of his former receivers is looking to get drafted without the benefit of being part of Griffin's landmark 2011 campaign.

Former Baylor wide receiver Josh Gordon is entering the 2012 NFL Supplemental Draft, according to Adam Caplan of The Sideline View. Gordon was suspended indefinitely last July and left the Bears program for Utah a month later. Back in 2010, he was arrested after being in a car that contained marijuana, but the specific reasons for his suspension were never divulged by Baylor coach Art Briles.

Gordon could go as high as the second or third round in the supplemental draft, even though he didn't play in 2011 because of NCAA transfer rules. He is a big wide receiver at 6'4", 225 pounds, and he has elite speed, clocking in as low as the 4.3s in the the 40, according to Caplan.

Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said Gordon runs effortlessly and is a very smooth athlete with great hands upon his transfer last August, according to Dirk Facer of the Deseret News.

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It's never too early to start thinking ahead. The NFL season always has plenty of surprises in store for us, but generally the biggest holes on a team before the season end up being the biggest holes on a team after the season. This allows us to project the best intersections of top 2013 NFL Draft talent and the NFL franchises who need them.

The group of elite talents eligible for the 2013 draft is anchored by a potential bumper crop of franchise quarterbacks, but it has something to offer to the pros at every level of the offense and defense.

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of the top talents, but instead the ones who have the most ideal matches with specific NFL teams. 

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The Raiders rookie class was one of only two in the entire league to lack a first and second round pick, so getting early contributions from their draft picks isn't a given. It sounds like head coach Dennis Allen is expecting something out of fifth-round defensive end Jack Crawford, but is it out of necessity?

Paul Gutierrez of CSNBayArea reports that Crawford "did not stand out much" at OTAs and mini camp sessions open to the media, but according to Gutierrez, Allen still sees Crawford getting on the field:

Allen and Gutierrez both mentioned Crawford's 6'5" 274 lb. frame. In fact, that is the only thing that did stand out about Crawford in Gutierrez's eyes (although Gutierrez also grants that Crawford didn't get "taken to the woodshed" either). 

The funny thing is that Crawford is actually lighter than the players he will back up or rotate with at left defensive end. Lamarr Houston is 6'3" 305 and should dominate on run downs. Desmond Bryant is a 6'5" 290 converted defensive tackle. 

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Maybe the Saints are just taking their time because they have only five picks to take care of this season. Long after some teams have signed all of their picks, the Saints finally got around to signing the first pick of their 2012 class, who also happens to be the first pick they have signed.

The Saints announced that they signed third-round defensive tackle Akiem Hicks to a four-year contract today, according to Ryan Jones of the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Hicks was a surprising first pick for a team that had traded away their first-round pick and surrendered their second-round pick as part of the penalty for their bounty program. He was once an LSU recruit, but NCAA ruled he had received improper benefits, so Hicks played his college ball north of the border at the University of Regina.

While he does have NFL size at 6'5" 324 pounds, Hicks is very raw and probably won't contribute early in his career. His first two months with the team included being singled out as one of the three players interim head coach Joe Vitt was most excited about, according to Christie Walton of Fox 8 New Orleans. Vitt specifically lauded Hicks' movement skills, which are a bonus in such a massive frame and insight into why the team would take a project that early when they had no premium picks.

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When you think of role models for Justin Blackmon, Adam "Pacman" Jones and Terrell Owens aren't exactly the first names that come to mind. That's exactly why the NFL had them speak as cautionary examples at the annual rookie symposium.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are hoping Blackmon can learn from two of the highest profile problem children in recent league history so he can avoid any further incidents like the aggravated DUI he committed earlier this month.

Blackmon is at least trying to put on airs that he "gets it," and perhaps he actually does. Alex Marvez of Fox Sports reports that Blackmon tuned in when Jones and Owens were speaking, the wideout reportedly saying, “It’s powerful any time you have a player share something that happened bad for him they could have avoided.”

Blackmon also spoke about the DUI, calling it a "poor judgment choice" that he didn't want to downplay, although he also said he has he has "put it behind him" now that he has the support of his team and players. While it is important to have the support of his team, Blackmon also let down and endangered his community by driving at a level of intoxication that most people can't get to without getting sick or becoming unconscious.

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Some called it the "catch of the year." In one moment during an FCS quarterfinal against Sam Houston State, Montana State wide receiver Elvis Akpla put his name in the football pantheon with a play that you have to see to believe:

More than the wow factor, the catch demonstrated some pro-quality skills—body control and great hands among them—that might have put him on the radar of any teams that didn't know his name before the play. If the Philadelphia Eagles looked into Akpla because of the catch, they liked what they saw upon a closer look even more than the highlight reel.

Les Carpenter of Yahoo! Sports reports that the Philadelphia Eagles "seemed to fall in love with him when they scouted him." According to Carpenter, they fell for him hard enough that they were the only team that sent Akpla a letter saying they would love to sign him if he went undrafted.

Akpla did go undrafted and the Eagles did sign him. How did a player capable of such a spectacular play fall out of the draft? Akpla actually started out at Oregon on a track scholarship, but he didn't like the repetitiveness of the sport, according to Carpenter. He joined the scout team at Oregon and honed his game, but was ruled ineligible to play because of his track scholarship. Akpla moved on to Montana State when he didn't get a football scholarship at Oregon after quitting the track team to become eligible to play for the Ducks.

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Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is earning a reputation for giving players second chances, and the Seahawks may end getting a very good offensive line prospect because of it.

California University of Pennsylvania offensive lineman Rishaw Johnson didn't start his path to the NFL in Western Pennsylvania. He started four games for Ole Miss as a sophomore in 2009 before being suspended for the rest of the season. He then played at Jacksonville State, starting one game before being dismissed from the team. Finally, he landed at California (Pa.), the same school that took in current Seahawks fourth-string quarterback Josh Portis, who also went undrafted.

Johnson wasn't passed over for lack of talent. He has elite measurables (35.25" arms, 11" hands, 81" wingspan, 31.5" vertical), and he's a fluid athlete with a mean streak. Scott Wright of DraftCountdown.com said that Johnson was a top 100 player "on talent alone."

On things other than talent, Johnson carried a huge red flag. In addition to his problems staying on a team in college, he struggled when given an opportunity to play at the Senior Bowl and had a very poor combine workout. 

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