NFL Draft talk with NFLMocks on judging against Andrew Luck and Alshon Jeffery

MtD has teamed up with NFLMocks.com on a site-to-site Q&A, and this week I sent a few questions over to lead editor Jesse Bartolis. (Here is last week's with me answering some questions.) My questions in bold, Jesse's answers in italics.

- It seems people always tend to find faults with Matt Barkley and Landry Jones. Do you think the other top QB prospects get judged unfairly against Andrew Luck of Stanford?

I would say. Yes,that's true every year. Players get judged in comparison to the other players who play at the same positions every year. I think sometimes it's to the benefit of players if the class is considered weaker, for instance this year the defensive linemen might get a little positive bump.

But it can also hurt really quality players when a position is as strong as this class may potentially be if the all of the draft elegible quarterbacks declare.

I think a large part of that has to do with The Newtork that Should Not be Named (Ok, ESPN) who needs often to create stories to draw in viewers. One easy way to do that is to compare players, or create controversy that isn't really there.

With that being said, I really like Matt Barkley as a prospect. He's poised in the pocket, goes through progressions quickly, and just makes plays. I like him a lot and think he's one of the better quarterback prospets in the last few drafts.

But I find plenty of faults with Landry Jones. Scouting is such an inexact science, but I just think Jones is worlds behind both Barkley and Luck in terms of his presence in the pocket- perhaps the biggest indicator to future success for a N.F.L. quarterback (in my opinion).

- Do you think the struggles of South Carolina's offense this season will have a negative impact on the draft stock of wide receiver Alshon Jeffery? How does Jeffery stack up against the top-tier receivers from the 2010 class?

That's a good question, I don't think so, but its definitely possible. Something I'm always mindful of is "how much does perception of a player play a part in where he is drafted?" I have to believe a negative perception of a player affects his draft stock even if general managers and professional scouts disagree with that negative perception.

Why? As fun as it is to play arm-chair G.M., General managers are held accountable for their decisions and if a general manager drafts a "riskier" prospect that could cost him his job the prospect doesn't pan out. It's easier to justify a firing, I think, when fans can point back and say, "everyone knew this guy was going to be a bust, how'd you make such a stupid mistake we all saw coming?"

I love Jefferey, but I don't think he's as good as either A.J. Green or Julio Jones. Jones is a freak athlete and both made tangible impacts on the field for the teams (how much better was Georgia with Green than without him, and look how good he is making Dalton look this year). Jeffery is not as great an athlete as Jones, and probably not Green either. But Jefferey is good in his own right, he's quick off the line, is a very big target, and is very aggressive. He can definitely be one of the few N.F.L. players who's open when he's not open.

What I do hope for Jeffery is that he is drafted into a good situation like both Green and Jones did because sometimes that can be more of an indicator of success than just being talented alone. And if Jefferey does slip because of his down production and potentially a slower than ideal 40 time some team is going to get a tremendous steal.

Any team looking for WR talent would love to have Green, Jones, or Jefferey.

- Although it's unlikely, lets say that somehow the Rams end up with the first pick in the draft. What should they do and why?

It's fun to play the "what if" game.

Ideally you'd love to say that the Rams should auction off Sam Bradford hope to land two ones (like the Bengals may have with Carson Palmer) draft Luck and have two 1st round picks to surround Luck with in the near future. Would a team (not the Raiders) be willing to give up two first round picks for Bradford though?

If not, they have to auction off Luck and get as much as three first round picks (I've seen that suggested by Breer? Maybe. Some "in the know" NFL Guy) or two firsts and two seconds. Who knows what Lucks value is? I think it could be in that range I was just describing.

With the extra picks they get by trading back they can perhaps add a player like LT Matt Kalil allowing them to move Roger Saffold to RT, and Jason Smith to guard, potentially improving three offensive line positions with one move.

Then they can improve the WR positions and defensive secondary and be ready to compete with Bradford next year in a still down N.F.C. West (yes the 49ers are playing well, but the Cardinals and Seahawks are a combined 3-11).

Anyway you look at it the Rams would be "Lucky" to have the first pick in the 2012 NFL draft.

Make sure to head over to NFLMocks.com for more with Jesse Bartolis and the NFLM staff.