NFL Draft 2012: Luke Kuechly and College Studs Who Will Be NFL Duds

It would be nice if every single NFL draft prospect could enter the league and immediately achieve star status. Sadly, we don't live in a nice world, and the NFL is a tough business.

Some players just can't cut it. There's more than enough evidence to support the idea, and we're only going to get more as time goes by. Players have tried and failed, and players will continue to try and fail.

There are a handful of 2012 NFL draft prospects who unfortunately seem destined for failure. They achieved big things in the college ranks, but they don't have what it takes to survive in the NFL.

Here are five players that spring to mind.

Vontaze Burfict, ILB, Arizona State

If you go back and watch tape of Vontaze Burfict from 2010, you're going to see an absolutely dominant middle linebacker. He could make all the plays, and he could impact a game like few other players in the country could.

Burfict was not the same player in 2011. He had his moments, to be sure, but by and large it was a rocky year. 

Burfict's biggest problem this past season is that he appeared to be operating under the notion that he could get away with anything. He played like a loose cannon all season, ultimately forcing Dennis Erickson to banish him to the bench. It was at that precise moment that Burfict went from being a sure-fire first-rounder to being a prospect riddled with red flags.

If you ask Mike Mayock of the NFL Network (h/t Pro Football Talk), he'll tell you that Burfict needs a lot of work. Burfict has athleticism to spare, but his instincts aren't good. He's a better athlete than he is a football player.

Burfict probably will go in the first round, and I'll admit that he could blossom if he ends up in the right situation. But right now, there's way too many question marks surrounding him to assume Burfict has success in his future.

Quinton Coples, DL, North Carolina

Quinton Coples was a lock to be a top-five pick when the 2011 season began. All he had to do was duplicate the success he enjoyed during the 2010 season.

Coples didn't. And while you never want to put too much stock in a prospect's stats, Coples' sagging production in 2011 has given rise to a few concerns.

Coples still has all the assets that a top defensive lineman is supposed to have. He's big, he's strong, he's fast and he has the versatility to play anywhere on a 4-3 line. It's a copycat league, and the New York Giants have shown everyone what can be done with a D-line full of versatile players.

Coples' biggest shortcoming is his motor, which comes and goes. He's dominant when he wants to be, but he'll take plays off. He did that all season long at North Carolina, and he even did it at the Senior Bowl. His performance at the Senior Bowl was largely impressive, but not as impressive as it could have been.

It could be that Coples needs a certain incentive to play hard. Or it could be that he's just another D-line bust. Goodness knows there has been no shortage of those over the years.

My money is on Coples being a bust.

Luke Kuechly, ILB, Boston College

Luke Kuechly was a tackling machine at Boston College. He racked up seemingly millions of tackles throughout his career, including as astonishing 191 in 2011. For his efforts, he was presented with the Dick Butkus Award as the nation's top linebacker.

A lot of scouts are in love with Kuechly as a prospect, but he's not as great as his reputation suggests. 

Bleacher Report's Matt Miller will tell you all about that. In his scouting report, Miller notes that Kuechly was hardly a dominant force at Boston College. He has good instincts, but he got by mainly by letting plays come to him. He didn't show off the athleticism to go and make plays on his own.

Kuechly was able to get by just fine at the college level, but he'll have to show major improvement in the pros. He'll probably manage to stick around for a while, but he'll never live up to what is likely to be a high draft pick.

Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State

Kellen Moore ended his career at Boise State as one of the most productive quarterbacks in the history of college football.

Don't be surprised if you never hear from him again.

There are things Moore does well, of course. He's a very smart player and he reads and anticipates plays as well as any quarterback in the 2012 draft class. There's nothing to complain about with what Moore has upstairs.

The trouble is that Moore just doesn't have the physical tools to succeed in the NFL. He's too short by a couple inches, he's too skinny and his arm strength leaves a lot to be desired. His delivery is funky, too. Funky enough to the point where it has to be corrected.

Unlike the three players listed above, Moore has virtually no shot at going in the first round. He'll go in the later rounds, and he'll have to luck into a starting job in the NFL.

This is, of course, assuming Moore is even able to hold on to a roster spot.

Brandon Weeden, QB, Oklahoma State

There's been a lot of positive buzz surrounding Brandon Weeden's draft stock ever since the season ended. Scouts have liked what they've seen on tape, and Weeden had a very good week at the Senior Bowl back in January.

In a nutshell, what scouts are saying about Weeden is that he's accurate, smart and polished.

He should be. Weeden is the same age as Aaron Rodgers. The fact that he spent the last couple seasons dominating college kids should come as no real surprise. At his age, Weeden should have been playing in the NFL.

Given his rising star status, it's possible that Weeden will be an early third- or maybe even a second-round pick. No team is going to draft him as a starter, though. He'll have to either earn a starting job or luck into one, not unlike Moore.

If we ever see Weeden out on the field in the NFL, we're going to come away unimpressed. He's going to find that it's a lot harder to dominate guys who are the same age as him, as opposed to kids who are six to eight years younger than him.