Many people had been predicting a Brady Quinn-like draft day tumble for Jimmy Clausen for weeks now. Turns out those people were wrong – his fall is worse. Clausen went from a sure fire top 10 pick months ago to completely out of the first round on Thursday night.
The popular projection for Clausen heading into Thursday night’s first round was the mid teens to early 20’s. Pick by pick went by the board though and Clausen never heard his name. Making matters even more frsutrating for the former Irish was the selection of Tim Tebow by the Denver Broncos with the 25th overall selection. Tebow, one of college football’s greatest players of all time, is labeled as more of a project due to his lengthy throwing motion and spread offense background.
Clausen, meanwhile, had the pedigree and background in a pro-style offense that was supposed to make him an lock for the first round. Only two quarterbacks were selected Thursday, however, and Clausen wasn’t one of them.
With a full night in between the first and second round for the first time ever, the St. Louis Rams, owners of the first pick of the second round are sure to field some calls tonight with team’s looking to move up to take Clausen as one heck of a value pick. Many scouts had Clausen rated as a top 10 talent in the draft which should make him very enticing for any quarterback needy teams as the phone lines burn up in War Rooms across the league late tonight into tomorrow.
Plenty of teams at the top of the second round are still in need of a quarterback and some teams that may not have planned on selecting a quarterback early could be changing their plans with Clausen and Texas’s Coly McCoy still available. Cleveland, Minnesota, Oakland, and Buffalo all pick within the first 10 selections in the second round and all could use a quarterback.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted late Thursday that Charlie Weis would be spending the night trying to convince the Chiefs to select Clausen if he is available when they select 5th tomorrow. While that tweet was more speculation than fact, it’s not out of the realm of possibility for the Chiefs to take a chance on Clausen at this point. Matt Cassell didn’t light the world on fire last year in his first season as a starter in Kansas City and Weis would have an easier time installing his offense with a quarterback familiar with his system like Clausen.
Other teams that could look to wait for Clausen or trade up for him include Carolina (16th pick in the 2nd) and Arizona (26th pick in the 2nd).
One of the first few teams drafting in the 2nd will likely end up with the steal of the draft in Clausen though. The Vikings make the most sense since Brett Favre, even if he comes back, can’t have a whole lot left in the tank and they have a roster that is built to be very competitive for the next several years with a solid QB, but they traded out of the first round when Clausen fell in their lap at 30th overall.
While his future NFL home is uncertain at this point, one thing is certain – he will have plenty of motivation to excel at the next level after falling as far as he has.
Clausen’s favorite wide receiver, Golden Tate, fell out of the first round as well although he wasn’t projected as a first rounder by most draft gurus. If Kansas City doesn’t select Clausen, I would be surprised if they didn’t select Tate.
It’s been a few weeks since the draft. NFL Mini camp has started. So how is Jimmy Clausen doing in Charlotte NC with the Panthers?
From the Charlotte Observer:
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/05/01/1410637/clausens-passion-play-panthers.html
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http://blogs.charlotte.com/panthers/2010/05/weighing-in-on-smith-clausen.html
If Clausen goes out and is an all pro who gives a shit where he was taken. I think we make to much of a big deal with how many players from your school are taken in the draft. Kelly is right, who give a shit about the draft, I want good college players who want to win a championship.
well… another thing to look at on this is that it wasnt like teams were passing him up to draft other players.. Bradford was gonna be the #1 pick (which if i’m the rams with a shotty o line and an injury prone qb… i’m scared right now) and tebow was a wild card that someone was gonna take a gamble on (and they did).. Clausen was the next chosen.. its just that it took longer than expected. As far as where he went.. I’d much prefer a situation like carolina over a team like the bills (and a top 10 selection). If he can succeed in carolina as a 2nd round pick, it sounds alot better than a 1st round struggling QB does.
Why does anyone care where Clausen ended up in the draft? He’s on a team. Look at the 1st round. 1 QB?
Who says QBs should go in round 1? I love all the comments about Clausen this or Clausen that. The kid has a chance to grow up and show everyone what he can do.
All nit picking about Clausen and all the Tebow love kind of makes me think Sports has been hijacked by women who watch soap operas, or the hens who sit around the morning table with Barbara Walters.
Non of it matters until they play the game.
I think the reason for Jimmy dropping in the draft is the perception that he is a “ME” type of guy. I think teams feel he is not a leader. He has the tools but can’t lead a team. I disagree. If he had a defense that could have stopped someone this year his record would have been better. He has nothing to do with the defense other than cheering them on. I think Jimmy’s draft resembles the draft that Drew Brees endured a couple of years ago. On a side note Tebow will be out of the NFL in two years. Remember the concusion he suffered this year. You don’t think he isn’t going to try and run over an NFL LB and get destroyed. LB’s in college are his size, LB’s in the pros are bigger, faster and stronger. He isn’t going to run one of them over. Bad pick by Denver. I hope Brady goes somehwere else because this seems to be another bad situation for him.
Teo thats a good point on winning games.. but if not for clausen’s 4th quarter heroics, we would have been closer to 2-10 this past season. not 6-6 (2 games were blowouts.. the rest were close). he gave us the CHANCE of being closer to 10-2 with a horrendous defense. How many times did he have a late 4th quarter, go ahead, touchdown this past season? How many times did he actually lose the game for us in the 4th quarter.. The only one that comes to mind for me where a pass didnt connect was the USC game. Where Kamara fell down. So that was on both guys (and no one can tell me that rudolph didnt catch that ball a couple plays before).
I’m not intelligent enough to know whether a guy is gonna be a hit or a bust in the NFL, but based on what he did in college, I dont see how you can knock him too much. He did nothing but get waylayed in his first 2 seasons, but I never remember him complaining about lack of protection or the fact that he was the opposing teams punching bag. In his junior year, he finally had some decent protection and look at the numbers. And while the rushing offense was more efficient this past season, it was anything but explosive. It was on him and the receiving corp to step up and win the games.
I think he needed another year.
Good points on keeping us in games. We had a strong offense and were able to compete with most on our schedule and Clausen was at least a good part of the reason for this.
Like you I have no idea how one can project whether a good college QB should become a good pro QB. It’s virtually impossible.
Farve had an up-and-down time at Southern Mississippi (going 10-2 as a soph and 8-4 as a senior, but 5-6 as a junior). Brees had some good years at Purdue and some other years where they didn’t look so great.
It’s very difficult to predict and the position itself is so high-profile that a lot of teams, I suspect, are reluctant to use a first pick on a 21-year-old QB. Certainly, Clausen had a great junior season from a statistics perspective. But, he didn’t win games. And, we were in a lot of close games that we didn’t win.
My sense is that another season would have been a good move for him. It certainly didn’t hurt Bradford. Of course, hindsight is always 20/20
If Clausen had stayed in South Bend another year and had dominated college football, he would have been a top ten pick. But, I think the best point Shazamrock makes is this: when teams spend millions on a quarterback, they feel compelled to start that quarterback. And, Clausen may do a lot of the mechanicals well but let’s face it: he doesn’t win games. And, that is a pretty big necessity. So, the teams that needed a quarterback went with guys who have won already and the teams that could have used a quarterback went with guys in the trenches. I don’t blame them.
Perhaps this experience will motivate Clausen.
Clausen led them back in the 4th quarter, what 7 times last year? I think he can thank the defense for his W-L record the past two seasons. Had the Irish been able to go 10-2 or 11-1, he’d have probably won the Heisman. Justin’s got a good point that he had no running game to help the passing game either.
I have no clue why he’s dropped this far, but hopefully he’ll land with the Vikings. Cleveland and Buffalo are where QBs go to die.
What does the Broncos drafting Tebow mean for Quinn?
Clausen “led” the team back because they were always falling behind. He has dropped because he is seen as a rich kid with an attitude that never won 1 big game in his less than fabled career…
There are two sides to every coin.
Some years back the Raiders selected JaMarkus Russell as the first QB taken in that draft. They paid him a barrel of money. With that,they felt pressured to make him an instant starter, and one who would carry the team on his back. We have all seen how that worked out.
It’s worth mentioning that JC is still just a College junior. Hopefully now he will go to a established organization with good coaching, good blocking and good skill players. He will be afforded some time to mature, learn, and adjust to the NFL game. There will be much less pressure.(much like Tom Brady) Once he finds the field he’ll have a good chance to succeed, and then the money will follow.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see him succeeding in the NFL a few years from now. Of course I also can’t help but wonder what he would have done with a year under Brian Kelly.
He would have been “The Man” in college football. He probably would have broken all of Brady’s records and possibly lead the Irish to their best record in years.
He was advised that his stock would never be as high as it was this year. He was given the wrong advice. Jimmy’s biggest problem was his W/L record. I know he was not to blame and probably kept ND from having a worse record, but how else can you explain Tebow being drafted before Clausen?
I know hindsight is 20/20, but I think Jimmy passed up a chance to be a ND legend and a possible Heismen winner.
I hope he goes to Minnesota so he doesn’t have to go thru what Brady went thru.
Tebow being drafted before Clausen has more to do with marketability than skill. Broncos are hoping they can turn a media sensation into a semi-proficient QB in the NFL.
The Broncos is an organization that is going straight down the tubes. They lose their two franchise offensive threats with Cutler and Marshall, now they draft Tim Tebow??? I guess they think their defense can get them into the playoffs.
SI,
Remember, the Broncos are the same organization that wasted a draft pick on Maurice Clarett!
Perhaps they learned a lesson about Character and leadership.
Can Tim Tebow play the QB position in the NFL? I think that questions should overshadow him being a great leader.
looks like Colt McCoy will be the one teams are trading up for not Clausen. Clausen won’t drop past #49 though. the 9ers have said they will take him, maybe, if he falls to them. Truly embarrassing moment for ND football tonight. Can’t wait for Brian Kelly to finally turn this thing around!!!