NFL Draft 2012: Likeliest Landing Spots for Brandon Weeden

Arguably the most sought after quarterback that will be available after Round 1, Oklahoma State's Brandon Weeden, could land almost anywhere in Round 2 of the 2012 NFL draft.

According to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal, Nolan Nawrocki of Pro Football Weekly believes the Cleveland Browns are potentially one of the franchises looking at Weeden:

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“I do think Weeden is a guy they are targeting, and whether they select him with the 22nd or the 37th pick, I think he would definitely bring more size to that position,” Nawrocki said Wednesday during a conference call.

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Weeden is certainly not a bad idea for Cleveland, but the Browns need a lot more help at receiver, offensive line and defensively with their early-round selections. If Cleveland goes after a quarterback, don't anticipate anyone until Michigan State's Kirk Cousins in Round 3.

To that end, Weeden is certainly expecting to go during the second-round and here are his likeliest landing spots.

No. 39, St. Louis Rams (via WAS)

In Round 1 the Rams will end up with Justin Blackmon to spruce up the receiving corps. This in turn, will take pressure off running back Steven Jackson and St. Louis will field a more balanced offense. Brandon Weeden comes into St. Louie as the promising challenger to Sam Bradford.

Now yes, Bradford was the No. 1 overall selection in 2010 but he missed six games due to injury in 2011 and the Rams don't have that reliable No. 2 quarterback to count on. The addition of Blackmon will surely provide Bradford a weapon to target, however, the Rams must prepare for the worst-case scenario.

If Bradford significantly underachieves and/or doesn't get back to 100 percent, the Rams will need to consider a dependable backup. Weeden already has the chemistry built with Blackmon and he has better mobility than Bradford.

No. 43, Seattle Seahawks

The issue here is whether Tarvaris Jackson remains as the backup to Matt Flynn. Jackson is coming off his best season of 3,091 yards with 14 touchdowns to 13 picks, but he also fumbled eight times and finished with a 60.2 completion percentage.

Jackson undoubtedly proved he deserves a shot to start again in the pros, so the addition of Flynn will make him better. Nonetheless, he's still unproven and Flynn has his work cut out since he rarely saw the field in Green Bay.

Seattle doesn't need much help on either side of the ball and enhancing the quarterback competition with Weeden only helps the cause. Under the tutelage of Pete Carroll, Weeden will quickly develop and has a solid chance to play if Flynn slips up early on.

No. 57, Denver Broncos

This is the one place where Weeden has zero chance of starting for at least a few years. Still, the Broncos have Peyton Manning for Weeden to learn from and Denver does need a backup quarterback.

Here, Weeden gets acclimated even faster to the traditional pro-style offense and is backed by one of the league's better defenses. Despite being vulnerable against the pass and interior ground game in 2011, the Broncos will continue to apply quarterback pressure as they have upgraded the pass defense.

And although it would be surprising to see Weeden available toward the end of Round 2, most quarterbacks after Round 1 will enter as backups anyway. Therefore, Denver trading up isn't unrealistic so Weeden can develop under Manning and help keep the offense multidimensional for years to come.

Denver is a run-oriented team and maintaining that philosophy with a balanced offense is key to winning the AFC West: especially after the Manning era.

John Rozum on Twitter.