Author: Shane Ford
With the Suck for Luck campaign over most Miami Dolphin fans have been talking about Landry Jones, Matt Barkley and Robert Griffin III. All three QB's are underclassmen and there is no certainty any will declare for the 2012 NFL Draft. Barkley took a step in that direction yesterday as reported by ESPN that he has submitted is paperwork to the NFL draft advisory board to determine where he may be drafted. While this is a step fans who like Barkley should not get too excited as this is a standard process for underclassmen who are interested in declaring for the draft early.
Barkley has had an outstanding senior season completing just under 70% of his passes throwing for 3500 yards and 38 TD's to 7 interceptions. Although they are not bowl eligible he has led his Trojans to a 10-2 record and ranked number 9 in the AP top 25 poll. Prior to the 2011 season Barkley was projected as a top 15 pick in next years draft. The way he has played this year and especially the last nine weeks of the season my guess is Barley has moved to a top ten pick and possibly a top five pick. It has been reported that after the dismantling of UCLA last weekend Lane Kiffin hugged Barkely on the field and told him to have fun in New York. Now that could mean at the Heisman awards, that Barkley could be invited to, or it could mean at the NFL draft.
Obviously most Dolphins fans would prefer the latter and would love to see Barkley in the aqua and white in South Florida. If the draft were held today Miami would have the 6th pick. There is good and bad that goes along with that the good is that probably only one team (Colts) might be looking at QB. The bad news is that only one team (Colts) might be looking at QB. The new CBA rules make it easier to trade the top picks in the draft and there are several teams searching for that franchise signal caller. If Miami wants Barkley and it has been rumored they have him rated higher than Luck they still may have to work to get him, especially if they win a game or two in the final month of the season. Of course if major changes happen in Miami as expected it really doesn't matter who they have rated higher it could all change. It's going to be an interesting couple of months coming up.
