2012 NFL Draft: Latest News and Notes on Draft's Falling Stars

As the 2012 NFL draft draws near, news and speculation abounds on the rising and falling stock of some of collegiate standouts preparing to ply their trade in the NFL. Unfortunately for some of the players, the news hasn't been good. Here, we take a look at the latest on college football's slipping stars and where their draft-day slide might finally end.

In the weeks leading up to the NFL combine, Stanford tackle Jonathan Martin was considered by many to be the second-best prospect at his position in this year's draft class. The 6'6", 312-pound second-team All-American was thought by some to be a top 10 pick. However, Martin didn't perform especially well at February's scouting combine or Stanford's pro day.

After recently viewing extensive film of Martin in action in Palo Alto, Nolan Nawrocki, senior editor of Pro Football Weekly, told the Detroit News that he doesn't believe Martin merits anywhere near a first-round grade:

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"I don't think he has left tackle feet or right tackle power," he said. "I look at him as a fourth-round-type project, but he's getting looks in the second round and possible late in the first. He will be considerably over-drafted."

Nawrocki believes Martin would need at least one "redshirt" year in the NFL and would have to commit to a strength program.

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Given Martin's pedigree as the blindside protector for Andrew Luck at Stanford, it's highly unlikely that Martin will drop from the draft's first round. But more and more pundits are becoming convinced that teams may be getting a "project type" or right tackle as opposed to the stud left tackle they were seeking.

The 2012 draft stock of North Carolina defensive end Quinton Coples has been all over the place for much of the past few months. Some scouts have lauded his tantalizing 6'6", 281-pound frame and athletic ability, while others bemoan a sketchy work ethic after a lackluster senior season in Chapel Hill.

Draft analyst Mike Mayock of the NFL Network seems to be torn between the two schools of thought himself, because while Mayock has Coples as his highest-rated defensive end prospect, he also reported he would want no part of drafting Coples:

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Mayock said on NFL Network's "Path to the Draft" on Wednesday, "If I'm a general manager I'm not taking him in the first round, and I might not take him in the second round."

"To me, the bust potential is high, and the earlier you take him the more risk there is inherent in that," Mayock said. "So, for me, Quinton Coples is not even a draftable player."

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Coples' odds of being drafted in the top 10 appear to have taken a sizable hit leading up to the 2012 draft. But that may actually be a good thing for both Coples and his new NFL team. As Mayock's colleague Bucky Brooks recently told USA Today, if Coples were to fall to the Chicago Bears at No. 19, as has been mocked a fair amount recently, that could present an ideal scenario for all involved.

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Brooks says the best scenario for Coples would be dropping to the Bears at No. 19. “I think he’d be perfect for Chicago, because he’d get the opportunity to play opposite Julius Peppers, which would give him a bunch of isolated matchups,” Brooks said.

“He would also play under Lovie Smith and, more importantly, (defensive coordinator) Rod Marinelli. He’s been known to get great performances out of guys because he’s a high-motor, revved-up coach who demands it out of people."

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Speaking of sizable hits, no player's draft stock has been torpedoed to the extent of headcase linebacker Vontaze Burfict of Arizona State, who has seen his draft stock plummet at a rate that has exceeded the speed he'd have generated falling from outer space.

Once considered a possible first-round pick, Burfict has conducted a textbook seminar on how to screw up your professional football career before it even starts, combining horrific interviews with workouts at both the combine at ASU's pro day. As Derek Harper of CBS Sports recently reported, the fact that Burfict has yet to visit a single NFL team raises the very real possibility that not only has he free-fallen from the first round, but he may go undrafted altogether.

"Vontaze Burfict's stock continues to plummet, as agent Charles Price told TheDaily.com that his client doesn't have any private meetings scheduled with teams heading into next week's draft.

It continues a rocky pre-draft circuit for Burfict, who was a semifinalist for the Butkus Award and once considered a potential first-round pick. He is now projected as a fifth- or sixth-round pick by NFLDraftScout.com, and with mounting concerns coupled with the decreased value placed on inside linebackers, Burfict might fall out of the draft completely.

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Burfict possessed the ability to take over games at times during his tenure at Arizona State, but his apparently compulsive need to sabotage his own future may well have cost him any real chance at fulfilling a dream that hundreds of other collegiate athletes would give anything to pursue—and that's as sad as it is frustrating.

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