The 2012 NFL draft holds little intrigue, at least as far as the first pick goes. It's almost unanimous that the Indianapolis Colts will draft Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck.
After that, it's anybody's guess.
Based on 243 mock drafts, 47 percent of them have the St. Louis Rams selecting offensive tackle Matt Kalil. If St. Louis selects Kalil, the Vikings will have a huge decision to make—trade down a few spots in the draft or select the best player available.
I suggest the latter. That means drafting quarterback Robert Griffin III and creating a potential quarterback controversy.
The move is not unprecedented. The Carolina Panthers made such a selection when they drafted Auburn quarterback Cam Newton following the year they drafted Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen.
The two situations are eerily similar.
Draft a quarterback a year too soon.
The Panthers drafted Clausen in the second round of the draft in 2010. He would go 1-9 as a starter that season.
The Vikings, almost forced into taking a quarterback with the 12th pick in 2011, selected Christian Ponder. While Ponder was rated the fourth-best quarterback in the 2011 draft, he was also projected as a potential second-round pick.
As a rookie, he would lead the Vikings to a 2-8 record.
Assessing the best player available the following year.
As a junior at Auburn, Newton would complete 185 of 280 passes for 2,854 yards with 30 touchdowns and seven interceptions—a 182.0 collegiate passer rating. He added another 20 rushing touchdowns to finish the season with 50.
The Panthers made him the top selection in the draft.
If the first two picks in the 2012 NFL draft go as predicted, then the Vikings should select Griffin.
Last season, the junior from Baylor completed 291-of-402 passes for 4,292 yards with 37 touchdowns and only six interceptions—a 189.5 passer rating. Griffin added 10 rushing touchdowns for a total of 47 touchdowns.
Based on the comparison of their junior seasons, Griffin looks to be a better passing quarterback than Newton, who made the adjustment to the NFL and passed for 4,051 yards with 21 touchdowns in his rookie season and finished with an 84.5 NFL passer rating.
To make such a move would mean that the Vikings might have to admit they made a mistake drafting Ponder.
Hopefully, with the promotion of Rick Spielman to general manager, his first of many great decisions will be to select Griffin with the third pick in the draft, acquiring the best player available in the draft and the Vikings' franchise quarterback.
Sergio Romo Brian Wilson Eli Whiteside Mike Fontenot Brett Pill Pat Burrell
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