If Mel Kiper Jr. is on the money, then Jimmy Clausen should be rolling in it come April.
According to ESPN’s lead NFL Draft analyst, who released his first mock first round on Wednesday, the former Notre Dame quarterback will be selected by the Buffalo Bills with the ninth overall selection.
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Clausen could be a top 10 draft pick according to analyst Mel Kiper.
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Clausen’s favorite target the last two years, wideout Golden Tate, is also in Kiper’s first round, going 29th overall to the New York Jets.
A seemingly polarizing figure, Clausen has seen his draft status become one of the most heated debate topics among analysts. Some – including Scott Wright of NFLDraftCountdown.com – believe Clausen might actually have an outside chance to be the first overall selection. Others believe he could suffer through the same long green-room wait that Brady Quinn endured in 2007 – or worse.
Kiper doesn’t buy either extreme. He has Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford, his top quarterback in the draft, going fourth to the Washington Redskins. From that point, he says, anything is possible for Clausen, beginning with the Seattle Seahawks and new head coach Pete Carroll at No. 6.
“If Bradford does go [at] four and Clausen is able to throw in April coming off that toe surgery,” Kiper said on a Thursday SportsCenter broadcast, “I think Seattle, certainly, or Buffalo, it would be very hard for those teams to pass on a Jimmy Clausen – particularly Pete Carroll, who knows Jimmy very well [and] coached against him.”
Seattle’s greater need is on the other side of the ball, which is why Kiper has the Seahawks choosing Georgia Tech defensive end Derrick Morgan with the sixth pick – but Carroll will also have the 14th pick at his disposal, which is a big reason why Kiper doesn’t see Clausen falling past the top half of the first round.
“It’s happened before,” he said. “It happened with Aaron Rodgers. It happened with Brady Quinn. So I won’t say it cannot happen, but right now I’d be surprised.”
At this point, it doesn’t even look like Carroll would have a chance to pick Clausen at No. 14.
“[The Buffalo Bills] need a quarterback,” Kiper said when probed about Clausen’s draft position. “I think people are warming up to Jimmy Clausen. They realized when they do their research and their due diligence that this kid is a guy that was highly regarded by his teammates, voted captain. Jon Tenuta, former [Notre Dame] defensive coordinator, raves about this kid, defensive players rave about him. So I think he’s going to be a guy moving up as we move through the process.”
2010 NFL Draft Order
1. Rams
2. Lions
3. Buccaneers
4. Redskins
5. Chiefs
6. Seahawks
7. Browns
8. Raiders
9. Bills
10. Broncos or Jaguars*
11. Broncos or Jaguars*
12. Dolphins
13. 49ers
14. Seahawks
15. Giants
16. 49ers or Titans*
17. 49ers or Titans*
18. Steelers
19. Falcons or Texans*
20. Falcons or Texans*
21. Bengals
22. Patriots
23. Packers
24. Eagles
25. Ravens
26. Cardinals
27. Cowboys
28. Chargers
* – Coin flips will decide which NFL teams pick 10th, 16th and 19th
Note: The order of selections 29 through 32 will be determined after the playoffs.
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