2012 NFL Draft Predictions: Who Will Be Sitting in the Green Room the Longest?

Occupants of the Radio City Music Hall's green room in April, are often the cream of the crop when it comes to NFL prospects. The future pillars of America's favorite sport await the calling of their name by a thankful NFL franchise.

However, for some NFL hopefuls, the wait in the green room is all too long.

In 2005, Cal QB Aaron Rodgers was considered to be a candidate for the No. 1 overall selection where the 49ers would go on to take Utah QB Alex Smith. After not being called to duty at No. 1, Rodgers endured a draft day free-fall as he dropped all the way to No. 24 where the Green Bay Packers were selecting. The pictures of Rodgers, the long-standing prospect in the room, are infamous to draft fans.

As most know, Aaron Rodgers has turned out just fine as he's widely considered the top QB playing the game.

Just two years later, another highly sought-after college signal-caller demonstrated NFL draft free-basing. Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn had the makeup of a classic drop-back NFL passer. His experience in a pro-style offense place him in the conversation to be the No. 1 overall pick, and if not there he was surely to be the pick for the Detroit Lions at No. 2 or the Cleveland Browns at No. 3.

To the vast surprise of the NFL's fanbase, Quinn wasn't selected at No 1, No. 2, or No. 3. Actually, he dropped to No. 22 overall to the Cleveland Browns, who traded their 2007 second-round pick and the 2008 first-round pick to snag Quinn.

It seems every year one talented prospect's visit in the green room is far too extended. Who will be the player to reserve the green room from vacancy in 2012?

In my humble opinion, that player's name is Quinton Coples, a defensive end from UNC. Now, let me tell you why Coples isn't as highly regarded in the NFL as some might think.

From the standpoint of an NFL scout, Coples is everything someone would look for talent-wise. His hulking 6'6", 285-lb. frame is that one any NFL possible would envy. Coples has the movement skills of a premier defensive lineman—it's impossible to peg him as a 285-pounder.

It's easy to see this former Tar Heel being the type for football people to gawk over. With 17.5 sacks over the past two seasons, Coples has produced, but are those numbers indicative of a top-10 selection? Actually, for a pass-rusher looking to go in the top-10, 17.5 sacks over two years is average at best. Most guys taken that high are religiously posting double-digit sacks year to year.

In my research and film study, Coples shines best when against weak competition, posting his multiple-sack games in 2012 against James Madison and Duke.

Coples' production isn't a concern, but it forces him to attain the label of "project." Every draft prospect is in a sense a project, but we haven't seen the player Coples will have to be to warrant a top-10 selection yet. He's going to sell NFL teams that he can be more than he has been, and typically guys like that aren't selected as high as Coples is speculated to.

While every team may be open to drafting a pass-rusher, as it is one of the vertex positions of victory in the National Football League, 2012's top 10 isn't exactly littered with teams desperate to make a selection on the edge.

Coples is an amoeba-type prospect, and every scout is going to have a slightly different opinion. Is he maxed out as an anchor-type DE? Could be be more than a 7.5 sack-a-year guy? Will Coples' athletic ability really convert him into a dynamic player worth a top-10 pick?

These are the questions that could keep Coples' and his family anxiously waiting for that one echo in late April.