Does the name Colt McCoy ring a bell?
If it doesn't, I won't blame you. After all, the QB talk these days is centered around the other three. We seem to know where Sam Bradford will be drafted. Now the question is whether it's by the St. Louis Rams or the Cleveland Browns.
Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen is the likely next QB off the board, but is it to the Oakland Raiders at No. 8? How about the Buffalo Bills at No. 9? Or is it somewhere in Aaron Rodgers territory?
And Tim Tebow? He seems to be the most intriguing player in the draft based on the number of times you hear his name on a given day.
But McCoy is nowhere to be found. Save for Jon Gruden's QB Camp on ESPN, he is a relative no-show. Expect the same on Thursday night.
Sure, he has the mental makeup of a top QB. He has the college stats to back it up. Other than his injury in the National Championship Game, he's durable. But he is not a first round pick.
ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. has McCoy at No. 25 on his latest Big Board (as of April 14), which is surprising. Yes, he's got a good arm and good size (6-2, 210). Yes, those numbers are very impressive: He threw 61 touchdowns against 20 interceptions in his final two college seasons and had a completion percentage over 70.0% both years.
But there are a number of questions surrounding McCoy.
Is he fully recovered from the title game injury, and is his arm back to 100%? Does he have enough mobility to survive at the next level? After all, he was sacked 78 times over his final three seasons in Austin. Most importantly, do his stats belie his abilities, having played in a favorable system?
Make no mistake, he is a good QB, and has as good a shot as anyone in this draft class of succeeding as a signal-caller in the NFL. Still, he's a clear notch below Bradford and Clausen. Tebow has shown promise with his revamped throwing style, and his versatility trumps McCoy's.
So where does that leave Colt? He's clearly a day two pick, and probably mid to late second round. If the Pittsburgh Steelers are serious about trading Ben Roethlisberger, he could be taken at No. 52 overall (20th in the second round). Maybe the Arizona Cardinals (58th overall) or the Seattle Seahawks (60th overall) take him. These are all possibilities.
Just don't expect Thursday to be McCoy's night.
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Do you think that Vince Young's inefficiency as a pro QB has hurt the overall perception of QB's out of Mack Brown's system at Texas? I've always been pretty high on Colt and I still think he's talented enough to warrant a late first round pick. Although most teams picking late in the first are set at QB, so I could understand him falling into the early second.
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