2012 NFL Mock Draft: Who Will Take Home Mr. Irrelevant Honors?

The last round of the NFL draft is where many talented but misunderstood, undervalued and unappreciated prospects wind up being selected.

They have a long road ahead of them to actually make an NFL team, but many do and some go on to find great success.

Let’s take a look at the latest seventh-round mock and definitely make sure you check out the last pick to find out who Mr. Irrelevant is this year—it’s going to surprise you.

Seventh-Round Mock Draft

1 (208). Indianapolis Colts: Rishaw Johnson, G, California (PA)

This kid has great size at 6’3”, 313 pounds and can move his feet well for a human being who is that big. He was dismissed from Ole Miss after playing a solid three years with the team and had an excellent senior season at California. Rishaw has definitely got the ability to come off the board with the first pick in the seventh round or even earlier.

2 (209). St. Louis Rams: Dwight Jones, WR, North California

3 (210). Minnesota Vikings: Deangelo Peterson, TE, LSU

4 (211). Minnesota Vikings (from Cleveland): B. J. Cunningham, WR, Michigan State

This young man is MSU’s all-time leader in receptions and receiving yards. He’s also seventh and ninth in those categories in Big Ten history. Simply put, Cunningham is reliable, runs crisp routes and has great hands. He could be gone much earlier if a team really desires his talents (and they should).

5 (212). Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Shawn Loiseau, ILB, Merrimack

6 (213). Washington Redskins: Cyrus Gray, RB, Texas A&M

7 (214). Indianapolis Colts (from Jacksonville, via New York Jets): Brandon Marshall, LB, Nevada

8 (215). Miami Dolphins: Jacquies Smith, G, Missouri

9 (216). Carolina Panthers: Terrance Ganaway, RB, Baylor

When talking about the Baylor offense, everyone has no problem bringing up Robert Griffin III and Kendall Wright, but the RB definitely contributed to their success. Ganaway had perhaps the quietest 1,547 yards and 21 touchdowns in college football in 2011. The kid has potential.

10 (217). Washington Redskins (from Buffalo): Kheeston Randall, DT, Texas

11 (218). Kansas City Chiefs: Desmond Wynn, G, Rutgers

12 (219). Detroit Lions (from Seattle): Aaron Henry, S, Wisconsin

13 (220). Chicago Bears: Vaughn Meatoga, DT, Hawaii

14 (221). Arizona Cardinals: Derek Dimke, PK, Illinois

The Fighting Illini kicker is a top-five prospect at his position. He hit 39-of-46 of his field goals and all 89 extra-point attempts during his three-year tenure as a starter in Champagne. He’s extremely accurate and can hit from distance as well, knocking down 2-of-3 attempts beyond 50 yards.

15 (222). Dallas Cowboys: Tyler Nielsen, OLB, Iowa

16 (223). Minnesota Vikings (from Philadelphia, via New England): Greg Childs, WR, Arkansas

17 (224). Green Bay Packers (from New York Jets): Najee Goode, ILB, West Virginia

18 (225). Seattle Seahawks (from Oakland): Brandon Lindsey, OLB, Pittsburgh

19 (226). San Diego Chargers: Cliff Harris, CB, Oregon

Harris was once a first-round prospect. Then he was suspended for the first game of the 2011 football season for driving nearly 120 mph on the highway. And then he was pulled over again in Oregon for driving without a license, failing to wear a seat belt and not having proper insurance. With that, he was suspended for the season and his stock plummeted. He’s an extremely intriguing prospect, but his character issues could be his downfall.

20 (227). Tennessee Titans: Scott Solomon, DE, Rice

21 (228). Jacksonville Jaguars (from Cincinnati): Markus Kuhn, DT, NC State

22 (229). Philadelphia Eagles (from Atlanta): Bradley Sowell, OT, Mississippi

23 (230). Detroit Lions: Ronald Leary, G, Memphis

24 (231). Pittsburgh Steelers: William Vlachos, C, Alabama

25 (232). Seattle Seahawks (from Denver, via New York Jets): Duke Ihenacho, S, San Jose State

26 (233). Tampa Bay Buccaneers (from Houston): Marcel Jones, OT, Nebraska

27 (234). New Orleans Saints: Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State

Moore’s winning percentage and numbers as a passer are absolutely outstanding. He finished his career with the Broncos with 142 TDs, 28 INTs, 14,667 yards and a 169.0 passer rating as a four-year starter. It’s crazy to think his height and small-school pedigree will hold him back until the seventh round, but it’s extremely likely.

28 (235). Green Bay Packers: Davin Meggett, RB, Maryland

29 (236). Baltimore Ravens: Deangelo Tyson, DE, Georgia

30 (237). San Francisco 49ers: Tony Dye, S, UCLA

31 (238). Kansas City Chiefs (from New England): Emil Igwenagu, FB, Massachusetts

32 (239). New York Giants: Matt Conrath, DE, Virginia

33 (240). Pittsburgh Steelers (compensatory selection): George Bryan, TE, NC State

34 (241). Green Bay Packers (compensatory selection): Bradie Ewing, FB, Wisconsin

35 (242). New York Jets (compensatory selection): Kevin Koger, TE, Michigan

36 (243). Green Bay Packers (compensatory selection): Jonas Gray, RB, Notre Dame

The senior RB was going nuts until he tore his ACL against the Boston College Eagles in November. He finished his season with 791 yards and 12 TDs and he would have definitely had a few more of those had he been able to stay on the field. Teams are understandably leery about taking a man with injury concerns, but Gray could develop into a serviceable back.

37 (244). New York Jets (compensatory selection): Donnie Fletcher, CB, Boston College

38 (245). Cleveland Browns (compensatory selection): Jordan White, WR, Western Michigan

39 (246). Pittsburgh Steelers (compensatory selection): Drew Butler, P, Georgia

40 (247). Cleveland Browns (compensatory selection): Caleb McSurdy, ILB, Montana

41 (248). Pittsburgh Steelers (compensatory selection): Jack Crawford, DE, Penn State

Crawford is understandably nervous about his pro prospects. "I'm just going to try to go about my normal routine," Crawford said in a phone interview Tuesday. "If I sit there and watch the draft, the anticipation is just going to make things worse. Hopefully, I'll get a phone call from a team telling me they drafted me and I'll get the opportunity to prove myself at the next level."

It’s likely that this talented pass rusher is off the board before the seventh round, but this is his absolute floor.

42 (249). Atlanta Falcons (compensatory selection): Evan Rodriguez, TE, Temple

43 (250). San Diego Chargers (compensatory selection): Antoine McClain, G, Clemson

44 (251). Buffalo Bills (compensatory selection): Coryell Judie, CB, Texas A&M

45 (252). St. Louis Rams (compensatory selection): Tim Fugger, OLB, Vanderbilt

46 (253). Indianapolis Colts (compensatory selection): Vontaze Burfict, ILB, Arizona State

Before the combine, Burfict was a consensus first-round prospect. Then he bombed his workouts, interviews and even failed a drug test. He’s the perfect “Mr. Irrelevant” for the 2012 draft—because he is anything but.

Everyone has been trying to figure out this kid since that fateful February collapse and wants to know if he’s nothing but a bad character or a misunderstood athlete who could eventually contribute a lot to their team.

Indianapolis would be wise to take the chance that Burfict can eventually make something of his talents and use the last pick in the 2012 NFL draft to select him.