ESPN 2013 NFL Draft preview...

[DaWolf]

Hopefully not a repost...

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/page/...now-2013-draft

If the draft were tomorrow, how many guys would be in play as a No. 1 pick?

Kiper: On my current Big Board, I see five that make sense, with the possibility of seven if we include a quarterback craze factoring in. The five guys I see with value in that range are :

• Jarvis Jones, a brilliant, relentless pass-rusher out of Georgia;

• Manti Te'o, the prototype middle linebacker out of Notre Dame (a very high standing for an interior linebacker, I admit);

• Star Lotulelei, the best defensive tackle in the class, who plays at Utah;

• Luke Joeckel, the best left tackle in the class, of Texas A&M; and

• Damontre Moore, also of Texas A&M, and a rival to Jones as the best current pass-rusher on my board.

The curveballs are the quarterbacks. If a team falls in love with a QB, we know the history. They go at No. 1 an awful lot.

How does the 2013 QB class stack up to the 2012 class?

McShay: It's early in the process and there's still a lot of tape that needs to be watched. A year ago at this time, I didn't think much of Ryan Tannehill. Come April 1, I really liked him as a top-10 pick.

There's no one right now who I'd sit at a table and fight for, but I still haven't done all the tape. Last year at this time, I mentioned that I liked Tannehill's potential more than I liked Matt Barkley's. And I still believe that's the truth. That's not to say Barkley's a horrible quarterback, and I think it's highly likely he's a first-round draft pick. I think the same of Geno Smith, and there are obvious weaknesses in their games right now.

For both of them, it comes down to finding the right fit and making a decision based on how high the potential is for what that team does. I think Barkley will only be successful in a West Coast offense where you can limit the amount of down-the-field throws, and his vertical accuracy isn't that good.

With Smith, I think he's still developing as a quarterback. He's a smart kid, he works unbelievably hard and he has all the intangibles you're looking for, but a little bit like Christian Ponder, he didn't always transfer that information on the field. Ponder would often lock in on his initial read, and I think there's a lot of the same questions about Smith.

This class better resembles the 2011 class than the 2012 class.

Which team is in line to make the biggest splash?

Kiper: Even before we know the draft order, two teams come to mind. Congrats, Missouri! Rams and Chiefs fans should plan to get to Radio City.

For the Rams, it's a matter of volume. Right now, they're the only team in line to have two first-round picks thanks to getting two future first-rounders in the deal that allowed the Redskins to grab RG3. Those picks would be at Nos. 13 and 15 overall if the draft were held tomorrow. That's major impact potential, and this for a team that already has a glut of young talent, particularly on defense.

Kansas City is also in line to deliver a huge splash. The Chiefs could draft No. 1 overall, and quarterback is a huge need. Right now, I don't have a QB rated among my top 20 overall players, but when that position is a major need, sometimes the value equation changes. That said, what if the Chiefs were to take Te'o with their first pick, and then target value at quarterback early in Round 2, landing them Smith, Barkley, Tyler Wilson, a talent like Mike Glennon or a high-ceiling project like Logan Thomas? It's so early that the QB evaluations will change a great deal (think of where RG3 was last year before the combine and workout process) and K.C. will have time to figure out the value at that early pick. But for splash, they're an early candidate.