NFL Draft 2012: What Experts Are Reporting About Luck, RG3 and the Top Prospects

The 2012 NFL draft is extremely top heavy.

Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Justin Blackmon are three of the best offensive prospects to come around in years.

To this point the general consensus is that Luck is the next John Elway and there is no doubt he’ll be going to the Indianapolis Colts with the first pick.

Maybe that will change in the next month.

There hasn’t been much of a debate on who is the better QB between Luck and RGIII…but there should be.

ESPN NFL Matchup executive producer Greg Cosell, widely respected as a film evaluator, recently reviewed endless amounts of tape on the two and didn’t have the most glowing remarks for Luck:

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Luck had a tendency to lift his back foot off the ground before releasing the ball. That prevented him from driving through his throws and at times negatively impacted his velocity and accuracy.

Overall, Luck was not asked to make many tough throws at the intermediate and deeper levels. Luck was an economical player who was at his best as a timing and rhythm, short to intermediate passer.

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It’s rare to hear anything negative about Luck, but it’s certainly something to keep in mind moving forward. As for Griffin, Cosell had nothing but gushing commentary:

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Griffin threw an excellent deep ball, with trajectory, touch and accuracy.

He threw effectively out of what we call a ‘muddied” pocket.’ He did not need much functional space to deliver the ball with velocity and distance. Surprisingly, in my 5 game breakdown of Luck, he exhibited a tendency to move too quickly, to leave the pocket too early.”

The bottom line in my 5 game film evaluation: Griffin is a superior arm talent and natural passer than Luck.

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While the Luck-RGIII debate won’t be settled for years, there is no doubt who the best wide receiver prospect is. Blackmon is a special talent and the scouting report from walterfootball.com agrees:

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Justin Blackmon was the best wide receiver in college football in 2011.

Blackmon is a dangerous playmaker. He is a threat to score on any reception. Blackmon is extremely well built and is physical with defensive backs. He has the dual ability to be a possession receiver and a deep threat who stretches the field. He breaks tackles and gets yards after contact. 

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Blackmon would be a steal for the Cleveland Browns at No. 4. He is going to be the odds on favorite to win Rookie of the Year and is more than capable of registering 1,000 yards receiving right off the bat.

It’s an exciting time for the NFL with talents like Luck, RGIII and Blackmon all entering the league at the same time.

But just remember that Luck is not necessarily the second coming of Elway. There are parts of his game that need to be worked on and there will be some growing pains in his rookie season.

As for RGIII, the more you read about the guy the more you have to be extremely excited about his potential. He has every tool necessary to be one of the best QB’s in the league.

Only time will be able to truly settle the Luck-RGIII debate, but there is no doubt the two are going to be compared next to each other for their entire careers. 

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