NFL Draft 2012: Todd McShay and Draft Experts Who Simply Cannot Be Trusted

With the 2012 NFL draft not too far away, searching for information on prospects can be a daunting task, because it's hard to trust some of these so-called experts. 

ESPN is the front-runner because of their national exposure, and their top guys are Todd McShay and Mel Kiper Jr. Occasionally they get things right, but it's not too difficult to see why some prospects will be better than others. 

However, when those two miss, boy do they miss big-time. 

They aren't the only ones out there that appear to be way out in left field sometimes. We'll start with Mr. McShay, who is extremely lucky to have his current job, as well as Kiper for that matter, as both make mere guesses for a living.

When wrong, their employers don't give a hoot. 

Todd McShay

Looking at McShay's current big board, he's already off to a bad start by not having certain players rated high enough and other guys receiving way to much love.  

Quinton Coples of North Carolina at No. 5 while Robert Griffin III and Justin Blackmon are No. 9 and No. 10, respectively. Just what is he thinking? 

Well, he's not thinking, or perhaps he just hasn't watched college football this year. RGIII and Blackmon are studs, and both will excel at the next level as they've already shown how dominant they can be, especially this bowl season. 

Coples, on the other hand, is overrated, and his drop-off in production this season is more than enough proof as to why he shouldn't even be close to being a top-five prospect in the class of 2012. 

Plus, he has Ryan Tannehill at No. 27, which is major cause for concern. Tannehill has skills, but he does not belong anywhere near the top 30 of 2012 draft prospects. There are plenty of defenders and linemen that should be above Tannehill. 

Another area where McShay gave us further reasons not to trust him is this tweet before the 2011 NFL draft about how he feels on Blaine Gabbert and Cam Newton.

Gabbert proved this year that he shouldn't have been a top pick, and Newton delivered more than enough star power to show he's going to be a force in the NFL for a long time. 

It's hard to forget how much McShay was in love with JaMarcus Russell in the 2007 NFL draft, and his assessment after the draft was over should give you a good laugh. 

"Russell was the best pick for the Raiders at No. 1 overall. They won't regret finally addressing their need for a franchise quarterback," McShay stated.

Yeah, I'm sure they don't regret that at all. 

And lastly, McShay blew it big time in the 2009 draft with some of his comments about overrated and underrated players. 

First off, toward the end of the video, McShay says he isn't high on Matthew Stafford, but is on Knowshon Moreno and Mohamed Massaquoi.

Injuries have affected all three, but when healthy, Stafford has made McShay eat his words. Moreno, on the other hand, has never really looked like an every-down NFL back.

The Oakland Raiders did reach for Darrius Heyward-Bey, but having never had a legitimate quarterback, he struggled from the start.

With Carson Palmer, Heyward-Bey has looked much better and will continue to help the Raiders have success.

McShay hating on Freeman made him look bad when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB shined bright last season. This year has been a drop-off for him, but we've seen him succeed in the NFL, so with the right coach, Freeman and the Buccaneers can definitely pick things back up.

The so-called expert is way off in his analysis of prospects, and he is definitely a guy you can't trust when looking for draft knowledge.  

Wes Bunting 

Bunting works for National Football Post, and his thoughts on the draft are laughable at times. First, we begin with his top five running backs for the 2012 draft. 

For some reason, Bunting is extremely high on Doug Martin of Boise State. Don't get me wrong, the Broncos running back has had a great career and does possess talent. 

However, Bunting has him as his third-best running back, when in reality he may not even be top five. Chris Polk and David Wilson should be above Martin, and if a team is interested in a smaller running back, LaMichael James is their best bet.

If Bunting is including underclassmen, James and Wisconsin's Montee Ball are better picks than the 5'9" Martin. 

But the worst part of it is a recent tweet from Bunting comparing Martin to a Heisman Trophy winner. 

It's one thing to say Martin reminds you of Ingram, but the "so much" is way over the top. Martin's skills are far from first-round caliber. When comparing the two, Ingram is vastly superior. 

Bunting fails to remember the talent level both of these guys played against in college. 

Looking back at the 2011 NFL draft, Bunting made some awful opinions as to who should go where. He wrote a piece playing general manager for every team, which is essentially the same thing as a regular mock draft. 

In this two-part article, his picks were downright ludicrous. He's smart to say A.J. Green is his highest-rated player, but the Panthers were not going to have success with Jimmy Clausen. They needed Cam Newton, everyone knew that.

It's icing on the cake that Newton has shown why he deserved to be No. 1, which makes Bunting look like a fool for having him go No. 31. 

The first quarterback he chose when playing GM was Christian Ponder, and Blaine Gabbert was No. 2. 

His actual mock draft is different, as he is making picks keeping in mind what smarter people (actual general managers) will do during the draft. 

Needless to say, Bunting would make a terrible GM. In his two-round mock of 2011, he had Andy Dalton as the seventh QB selected, which is an indication he was never high on him to begin with. 

That was also a bad move, as Dalton led the Cincinnati Bengals to the playoffs in his rookie season, making Bunting look like a fool once again. 

These are just a few reasons why one shouldn't look to Bunting for NFL draft help. 

Mel Kiper 

Ah, Mel. You've got to be one of the luckiest guys in the world. He's been off for years, but still keeps his job at ESPN. 

It must be the hair. 

Just listen to Kiper fawn over JaMarcus Russell in the 2007 draft. 

Fell hook, line and sinker for the hype that was Russell. 

In his current big board, he lists Trent Richardson at No. 3, ahead of Morris Claiborne, RGIII and Blackmon. Yes, Richardson is an amazing back, but translating to the NFL, all three of those are better than him. 

Just another case of Kiper giving hyped players more love than they should get. 

Another time when Kiper was extremely wrong was on Jimmy Clausen, and even after the draft Kiper stuck true to his word. 

Honestly, Kiper would have been better off admitting he missed one here, but instead, he said this: Per Pro Football Talk: "I had him as the fourth-best player. That’s my rating. That’s my opinion, and I’ll stand by it. We’ll see what happens three years from now. "

Nothing will happen, because Clausen won't ever amount to anything in the NFL. Just watch Kiper on television, and it's easy why you shouldn't trust him very much.