Mountain West Players Leaving Early for the NFL Draft
For the Mountain West Conference, the 2013 season is over and now teams will look ahead to the 2014 season. A few of their players are also keeping their eyes on the 2014 NFL Draft with some hoping to erase their weak bowl game experiences.
 
- Derek Carr
Fresno State quarterback Derek Carr is the crown jewel for the league to enter the draft. With at least the first 20 selections already set, the first pick will go to to the Houston Texans. As for the remaining order of the 12 teams in the playoffs, we won’t know until after the Lombardi Trophy is hoisted in February.
While we’ll have to wait until May to hear their first selection, the Texans are likely to select a quarterback as its starter Matt Schaub did not have a good 2013. Neither did any of his backups.
So who’s at the the top of its list? Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who just announced this week he’ll enter the draft, is going to be the guy according to CBS Sports’ mock draft and SI.com’s Peter King. This could be a good marriage with the team’s new offensive-minded head coach Bill O’Brien.
Behind Bridgwater is a crowded field with Carr, who some see as the second one to go behind him, as well as Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel and Central Florida’s Blake Bortels. Of course neither player has officially declared he’s going pro yet.
This week, Bortels received first and second-round evaluations.
For Carr, SB Nation has him going to the Jacksonville Jaguars for the third pick; however, CBS has Manziel with Carr going to the Minnesota Vikings for the eighth pick but they are a team without a head coach. Some trades could happen, especially by the quarterback deficient-Cleveland Browns to trade up and take a rookie quarterback.
While also a team without a coach, they could select Bortles as well as Carr and Manziel.
Besides the battle among quarterbacks, Carr’s wide receiver, Davante Adams, has decided after two years of college play he’s ready for the NFL. In just two seasons he’s had great numbers beginning with 2012’s 102 receptions for 1,312 yards and 10 touchdowns.
This year was even better with his 131 catches for 1,718 yards and 24 touchdowns. He is the size of many league receivers at 6’2″ and 212 pounds. He has long arms, making him appear even bigger and he’s a great athlete. Questions are lingering for his 40 time, with some saying he’s not any faster than a 4.48 but the player has said he’s “hand-timed” a 4.46, according to the Fresno Bee.
Should his wheels go that quickly, Fresno State could have two first-round draft picks but upon declaring for the draft, Adams had a third-round evaluation.
Davante Adams
The player recently said of his decision to leave school early with,”I felt that this was a good time for me to take the next step. I felt that I have done all that I can do and I felt like it was a good move to make going out on a good note because you never know returning and then maybe your stock can be dropped.”
For now, Adams sits as the No. 10 wide receiver and is projected to go in the second round, per CBS Sports.
Along with Fresno State having a showing in the 2014 draft, other Mountain West teams will be losing players. There’s Boise State’s defensive end Demarcus Lawrence, Colorado State’s running back Kapri Bibbs and Wyoming’s quarterback Brett Smith–all are leaving school early like Adams.
