With the top two picks in the 2012 NFL draft already decided by the Indianapolis Colts and Washington Redskins, attention turns to the Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns with the third and fourth overall picks. Right now, there’s no way Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III will be available at any of these high draft picks, but there will be plenty of other options with potential Pro Bowlers up for grabs.
Even as Luck and Griffin are dominating the conversation in terms of the best quarterbacks in the 2012 NFL draft, a gunslinger has begun to emerge as a potential high draft pick. That quarterback is none other than Texas A&M’s Ryan Tannehill.
During the last two weeks; Tannehill has really started to make a big impression on NFL scouts with the consensus that he could hold his own as a starting quarterback in this league. Although Tannehill could be the third-best quarterback, it’s still unclear which team is willing to take a chance on the rookie.
One team that might be willing to use a high draft pick on the potential starter is the Cleveland Browns. There’s been talk that the Browns could take Matt Kalil from USC and that they want McCoy to be the main man under center, but there’s a decent chance Cleveland will go with Tannehill to put pressure on McCoy or start over with another rookie. Like the Carolina Panthers. he did with Cam Newton last season.
Despite a promising start to the season last year, the Browns have cracked once again and need an influx of talent to compete in the highly competitive AFC North division with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals and defending division champion Baltimore. Ravens.
That being said, the Browns’ fourth overall pick in the upcoming draft will be crucial, to say the least. Even though the team still has Colt McCoy as its quarterback of the future, the team would almost certainly take either Luck or Griffin with the fourth pick if they fell that far. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen and it narrows the search for Cleveland.
An intriguing option for Brown would be USC tackle Matt Kalil. There has been talk that the Minnesota Vikings would take Kalil with the third overall pick, but if not, Brown might be interested.
