Mayock: Three quarterbacks could go in top 10 picks

Mike Mayock of the NFL Network, among the most respected draft analysts in the business, thinks it’s entirely possible that three quarterbacks -- Stanford’s Andrew Luck, Baylor’s Robert Griffin III, and Texas A&M’s Ryan Tannehill -- will be among the first 10 players selected in April’s draft.

Said Mayock: “I don’t know what the right value is today, but I’ll tell you this: If you look at last year’s draft and [Christian] Pondergoes at 12 and [Jake] Lockergoes at 8, what I would tell you is that I would be stunned if these two kids [Luck and Griffin] didn’t go 1 and 2, and then I think Tannehill, even though he can’t work out, as long as he takes care through the process, shows people he can throw, what an athlete he is, Tannehill might go in the top 10.

“Everybody’s kind of thinking which team can go get Griffin, in my head I’m already slotting them a little bit 1-2 and wondering where Tannehill might end up because of how high Ponder and Locker went a year ago.”

Perhaps the most widely held scenario is that after the Colts draft Luck with the first pick, Cleveland will trade into the No. 2 spot -- now held by St. Louis -- and take Griffin. The Browns have the fourth and 22nd pick in the first round.

Tannehill, a converted wide receiver, had just 19 starts at quarterback. Still, Mayock and others have been very impressed with how he’s looked.

“I can see all the attributes of a Locker in Tannehill,” Mayock said. “He’s a big, strong kid that can push the ball down the field. He’s athletic. I like everything about him except for the fact that on tape, I think he stares his receivers down and waits for them to come up before he rips it. That’s typical of a young quarterback without a lot of starts.

“He’s going to take a little bit of time. It’s going to take a year or so. Nineteen starts is not a lot of starts for a college quarterback.”