Clausen Draft Inflated?

[Jangler]

[Cyberjag]

Mel Kiper couldn't be less relevant to where Clausen was taken than I was.

Clausen was a certified blue-chip draft prospect. By every statistical measure that indicates future success in the pros save the wonderlic (where he was average), he excelled. The reason that the Panthers managed to get him wasn't due to his supposed attitude problems so much as it was circumstance.

No one who counts is going to talk, but Clausen probably graded out as a mid-first round pick on most draft boards. Had Bradford not been there he would have been much higher. If you look at who the teams that needed a QB were, and where they drafted, the reasons for his slide are much more apparent:

Washington - 4th

Seattle - 6th, 14th

Cleveland - 7th, 38th

Buffalo - 9th , 41st

Minnesota - 34th

His slide started because the hype said he was a top 10, but nobody in the top 10 believed it. And when The Golden Calf of Bristol was taken before him the Quinn comparisons probably didn't help. After Minnesota passed on him (probably for fear of pissing off Lord Favre), then it's no wonder that Cleveland took a pass at 38. Can you imagine the fan base had they taken another Notre Dame QB high? The real risk was Buffalo at 41, and they had more issues on the defense.

Carolina was trying all day to move up in the 2nd to get him. QB is not generally a BPA pick, particularly in the early rounds. You take a QB because you need one, and if you don't have a player that grades out near or ahead of where you pick, you pass.

This year, Clausen was a victim of circumstance, and the Panthers got lucky. Nothing Kiper or Mayock said before the draft changed any of that.