2012 NFL Draft: Breaking Down the Best Attributes of the QB Class

The 2012 NFL draft class is going to be a very interesting one because of how much potential it has. One of the positions that has the most upside is quarterback, which has a lot of depth and talent that ranges from the great Andrew Luck of Stanford to the not-so-great, but still talented, Nick Foles. 

Both players have a lot to offer whatever team they end up on, but they are far from the only players that are bound for the NFL. There are many other quarterbacks in this deep class that have a lot of good qualities, and in this article, I will identify the best quarterback for several of the attributes that NFL personnel men look for.

Best Deep Ball: Robert Griffin III, Baylor 

The pick for the best deep ball goes to Robert Griffin III of Baylor even though there was competition from Oklahoma State's Brandon Weeden. Griffin's accuracy and ability to throw from various platforms is what gives him the nod here. He's made many exceptional deep throws, most notably his game-winning throw against the Oklahoma Sooners.

Best Footwork: Andrew Luck, Stanford

Stanford's Andrew Luck will pop up a lot in this rundown because he's the top overall QB prospect, and for right now, I tab him as having the best footwork in the draft class. 

Luck has done extensive work under center and executed three, five and seven step drop-backs that are commonly seen throughout the NFL and held in high regard when personnel men are evaluating prospects. Although he sometimes gets sloppy when he has too much time in the pocket, the Stanford product does a good job of rotating his hips and transferring his weight when looking to deliver the pass, which is why he's No. 1 in this category. 

Best Project: Brock Osweiler, Arizona State

Arizona State's Brock Osweiler has seen his stock rise after a quality pro day workout while throwing on air (amazing, right?), but despite this, he's very raw and needs a lot of work on his game. 

Osweiler's mechanics tend to differ on a snap-by-snap basis, and his decision-making also is questionable at times. However, he does have a lot of upside, as he's essentially starting from scratch as a quarterback, which will appeal to NFL teams.

Best Accuracy: Andrew Luck, Stanford

Luck once again makes the list, this time for being the most accurate quarterback in the class. He has displayed very good accuracy at all three levels of the field—short, intermediate and deep.

Coming from an offense that has West Coast Offense principles, he's had a lot of work on his short to intermediate accuracy, as there are a plethora of horizontal stretches in said scheme. He's also thrown a significant amount of deep shots off of play action and been very effective in that regard. Once he gets the finer points of his game down, I expect this aspect of his game to further improve.

Best On-the-Run Thrower: Russell Wilson, Wisconsin

This was a tough choice between Wisconsin's Russell Wilson and Ryan Tannehill of Texas A&M, but I chose the former because of he's an exceptional passer of the ball and is more fundamentally sound in this department than Tannehill. 

Wilson is a pocket passer that has good athleticism and can throw the ball from various platforms despite his height issues. He throws very well on the run, and it's arguably the best aspect of his game.

Best Pocket Presence: Ryan Tannehill, Texas A&M

While Texas A&M's Ryan Tannehill did not get my vote for best passer on the run, he does get it for pocket presence. Tannehill has the best pocket presence of all the quarterbacks in this class, as he has shown on numerous occasions that he can feel backside pressure and side-step frontside pressure that's applied from A and B gap-blitzing defenders.

Best Mobility: Robert Griffin III, Baylor

The added dimension of running the ball to a quarterback's game is a significant one in today's game, especially because defenses are then essentially forced to account for an extra defensive gap, thus causing more headache for defensive coordinators.

Defensive coordinators run into the issue of having enough players in coverage to defend offensive vertical threats while also accounting for the running game. Baylor's Robert Griffin III is a dangerous runner in the open field because of his track speed. His agility is not like that of Cam Newton's, but he's faster in a straight line. 

Most NFL Throws in College: Ryan Lindley, San Diego State

I've watched an abundance of San Diego State's Ryan Lindley's games over the course of the last two seasons, and he makes many jaw-dropping throws. Although at times I ask myself, "what was he thinking?," when Lindley throws the ball, he still finds a way to fit it into tight windows.

Lindley has a strong arm and is able to throw deep passes while also having the velocity to fire it into precise areas on the field.  

Most Likely to Check Down: Nick Foles, Arizona

While there have been some difficult choices to make among the higher rated quarterbacks in the previous quarterbacks, this was not one. Arizona's Nick Foles has a lot of talent to offer for teams, such as a strong arm, solid pocket presence and mobility, but he has a strong tendency to fly through his progressions and find his check-down.

Going through the reads quickly is something younger quarterbacks tend to do, but this is often the case with Foles when he's asked to make multiple reads opposed to the half-field, two-man grass reads that he's typically seen making.

Most Likely to Succeed: Andrew Luck, Stanford

The most likely to succeed came down to Russell Wilson of Wisconsin and Andrew Luck of Stanford, but because of Luck being a greater prospect overall, he is my choice. Both quarterbacks have great intangibles that will keep them around in the league for a long time and give them a great chance of succeeding.

Most Likely to be a Bust: Brock Osweiler, Arizona State

Admittedly, it's a bit unfair to say who could bust, as the quarterbacks have not even gone to a team yet, but if I had to pick one, it would be Arizona State's Brock Osweiler.

Osweiler, who beat out Michigan State's Kirk Cousins in this category, is a very raw player that has a long way to go in developing his game. Thus, he is naturally the most logical choice here. Cousins was an option too because of his overall lack of physical skills and poor pocket presence.  

Most Likely to Surprise: Chandler Harnish, Northern Illinois; G.J. Kinne, Tulsa; Jarett Lee, LSU

The last category culminated in a three-way tie for me with Chandler Harnish, G.J. Kinne—who was mentioned by National Football Post's Wes Bunting yesterday—and Jarrett Lee as prospects that are rated very low but could surprise.

Harnish and Kinne are very tough players that need a lot of work, but have great drive and could succeed in the right scheme with a patient coaching staff. Meanwhile, LSU's Jarrett Lee didn't finish his career on a high note when he and his team lost in the BCS National Championship game against the Alabama Crimson Tide, but he's mentally tough and has tools to work with. 

Overall

The 2012 quarterback draft class is going to be one of the most interesting to look back on in a few years because of how deep it is and how much it is lacking at the top, in my opinion. Aside from quarterbacks Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III, there are plenty of question marks on all prospects and their values have been skewed.

What is the true value of Ryan Tannehill? Is Russell Wilson underrated? Can Brock Osweiler develop into a quality starting quarterback? Will the game slow down for Arizona's Nick Foles?

All questions that will be answered. For now, though, all we can do is speculate.