Barkley finally drafted in fourth round along with three other QBs

The 2012 NFL draft was not a pleasant one for four quarterbacks. In the fourth round, four quarterbacks were selected and all four had thought they would be drafted much higher than they were.

The biggest name of the bunch was Matt Barkley of USC. The Philadelphia Eagles negotiated with the Jacksonville Jaguars to trade up and grab Barkley to start the fourth round. Barkley was chosen at No.98 overall when at the start of the season last fall he was considered a top round pick.

The other three quarterbacks expected to be chosen in higher rounds, but not drafted until the fourth round were Syracuse’s Ryan Nassib, Oklahoma’s Landry Jones and Arkansas’ Tyler Wilson.

Chip Kelly, the former head coach at Oregon and now the Eagle’s head coach, said his team had Barkley as a top 50 pick and feels he was lucky to pick up such a talented quarterback. Kelly says Barkley is extremely mature for his age, intelligent and very articulate.

Barkley seemed to have higher prospects last season. Barkley however opted to stay in school, but he and his fellow Trojans slumped, he was injured and he and the football world watched as his stock plummeted.

Barkley now will join the likes of Nick Foles and Michael Vick with the Eagles. Based on the wage scale for NFL rookies, the spot where Barkley was drafted dictates his contract will $2.5 million for four years and a signing bonus of $500,000, which is a long way away from $10 million and up for the top 10 picks over recent years in the draft.

Nassib was grabbed by the New York Giants even though Eli Manning is currently enjoying his best years over center. The Oakland Raiders traded this off season for Matt Flynn with Seattle to be their starter, but still took Wilson at No. 112. Jones was then taken at No. 115 by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

This year’s draft was not kind to quarterbacks in general. Only three were chosen over the first three rounds, with one being chosen in each round. Buffalo took EJ Manuel from Florida State in the first round, Geno Smith from West Virginia went in the second round to the Jets and Mike Glennon of North Carolina State was taken in the third round by Tampa Bay.

Just 11 quarterbacks in all were selected in the draft, the same as was selected last year. However, in 2012 four of the 11 drafted were taken during the first round and this year just one.

Jacksonville drafted Denard Robinson a quarterback out of Michigan. The Jaguars offense was anemic last season and they plan to switch Robinson to the running back position or to wide receiver. He set a record in the NCAA for most career rushing yards by a quarterback at 4,495 with the Wolverines.