2013 NFL Draft Picks: Big Names Who Will Be Expected to Make Week 1 Impact

NFL teams make every one of their selections with the express purpose of finding a future franchise star.

From their first pick to their very final selection, teams are looking for either diamonds in the rough who will surprise everyone or a big-name star who is supposed to ascend instantly. No pick ever gets punted—unless it's a punter, of course. 

The law of diminishing returns tells us it's impossible for each player to become starter-worthy. Draft picks become less and less likely to pan out by the round, with the justification for Mr. Irrelevant oftentimes being little more than "oh, what the hell." Teams hope they pan out, but at the very least they're acquiring a crash-test dummy to beat up on in practice. 

That's a fact all fans and teams understand when they make the pilgrimage to Radio City Music Hall. Some of the names they hear won't ever be heard from again, which is prevalent in all sports. 

But that law of diminishing returns makes it imperative that teams nail their first-round pick—especially those squads in desperate need of an instant impact. Who are those players with the most to prove heading into 2013? 

Here is a quick look at a few top players who will need to instantly impact in Week 1. 

Tavon Austin (WR, St. Louis Rams)

Arguably the fastest-rising prospect of the entire 2013 draft class, Austin's top 10 destiny was fulfilled when the Rams traded up from No. 16 to No. 8 in order to select the former West Virginia star. Austin's selection by St. Louis cemented the young receiver's journey from a borderline first-rounder all the way to emerging as arguably the most exciting player in the entire draft.

Listed at 5'8" and 174 pounds, Austin is the opposite of a typical player taken at No. 8. The first half of Round 1 is usually reserved for the physical marvels at wide receivers, those uber-quick elite athletes with plenty of size and All-Pro dreams—the Calvin Johnsons and A.J. Greens of the world. When smaller receivers have been taken this high in the past—looking at you, Ted Ginn—the results have been miserable.

The Rams are desperately hoping Austin can buck that trend. Teams obviously don't ship out second-round picks without believing they're landing a future stud. The pressure on Austin to perform will be palpable, if anything to prove that Lilliputians can indeed survive the NFL lifestyle.

If his pre-draft workouts and collegiate performance are any indication, Austin should do just fine with the expectations. A special teams marvel with lightning-quick speed, the Mountaineers receiver became a superstar under head coach Dana Holgorsen. Austin lined up primarily in the slot in base sets, making over 100 catches in each of his final two seasons in Morgantown, including a 114-1,289-12 stat line last season.

But where Holgorsen truly excelled was harnessing Austin's versatility—a feat Jeff Fisher will likely try to match. On any particular play, you could see Austin lined up in the slot, at flanker or in the backfield as a running back. In addition to his 114 catches last season, Austin carried the ball 72 times for 643 yards—an astounding average of 8.9 yards per carry.

Couple that with his special teams abilities, and the Rams are getting a player with a cabal of versatility—their own version of Percy Harvin. Assuming Fisher uses Austin in a similar way to Holgorsen—speeding up the pace of the offense, creating personnel mismatches by matching up Austin with a linebacker, etc.—a second-round pick was a pittance to give up. 

Whether someone of his stature can handle that workload on Sundays remains to be seen, though. 

Eric Fisher (OT, Kansas City Chiefs)

It goes without saying every year that the top overall pick is supposed to produce. Kansas City didn't pick Fisher for him to sit around and look pretty. The Chiefs made him the top overall pick to anchor their defense for the next decade-plus, beginning with their Week 1 matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Whether he plays the left tackle spot or that's inhabited by incumbent Branden Albert is irrelevant. Fisher will be expected to perform on the sole basis that Kansas City literally took him over every other player eligible in 2013. 

While that wouldn't normally be noteworthy in the least, the Chiefs' selection of Fisher was controversial. Prior to about 24-48 hours before Roger Goodell officially put them on the clock, Kansas City was expected to take Luke Joeckel. The Texas A&M offensive tackle, whose brilliance at left tackle helped spur Johnny Manziel's Heisman run, had been pegged at No. 1 for months. Just about any draft pundit you could find had Joeckel as his top tackle prospect on the board, if not their best player period.

Fisher wasn't even a top 10 lock when the draft process began. A stud at Central Michigan, there were major questions about his ability to handle elite competition. But a brilliant showing at the Senior Bowl put him into the top-10 conversation and his slow crescendo to the top overall pick only took off from there. 

An impressive performance at the combine followed, where Fisher measured in at 6'7" and 306 pounds while showing off top-notch athleticism. Having then worked his way into becoming the clear-cut No. 2 tackle for most people, it seemed Fisher had reached his peak.

Only he hadn't. The Chiefs seemingly fell more in love with him as the draft approached and took a gigantic risk selecting him over Joeckel. And while we won't be able to properly judge this decision until a couple years down the line, Kansas City will want to see Fisher in its starting lineup and thriving by the time it takes on Joeckel in Jacksonville Week 1. 

Jarvis Jones (OLB, Pittsburgh Steelers)

Reputations are everything when it comes to judging draft picks. Teams like the Patriots, Steelers and Packers tend to get a little more leeway when they make a selection that causes folks to scratch their heads, whereas perennial cellar-dwellers like the Browns and Raiders would not. It's not an entirely fair process—value is value, after all—but it remains the ugly truth of draft day.

So when Commissioner Goodell announced Pittsburgh would be taking Georgia outside linebacker Jarvis Jones, the consensus was "good pick." Jones was a collegiate star, dominating SEC pass offensive linemen on a weekly basis. His health questions aside, Jones' selection was a relatively low-risk proposition and he should develop into a very solid NFL starter down the line.

That perceptive thinking was at least rooted somewhat in our preconceived biases. The Steelers are rightfully viewed as a factory of outside linebackers, a never-ending stream of top-flight pass-rushers coming out of Dick LeBeau's assembly line.

What's being ignored is that the Steelers needed to make Jones their first-round pick because LeBeau's assembly line was starting to look a whole lot like Pontiac's. Over the past two seasons, Pittsburgh has devolved from being inside the top two in sacks from 2008-2010 to being right around league average.

Much of that has been due to the team's inability to develop young options. As James Harrison's body began breaking down and he became a shell of himself, particularly last season, the replacements were nowhere to be found. Jason Worilds showed inklings of promise and tied for third on the team with five sacks, but he often looked as raw as the day he was drafted.

Even if the downswing only meant going from elite to mediocre for Pittsburgh, the remainder of its defense cannot subsist without pressure coming from the edges. Drafting Jones after Harrison's departure is a sign the Steelers are aware things are no longer the same.

It'll just be interesting to see whether Jones can live up to his sure-contributor pedigree.