Most 2013 NFL Mock Draft coverage is, here in May of 2012, more noise than signal, but it's clear that the draftnik community as a whole has settled on Matt Barkley, USC's quarterback and a possible Top 5 pick if he'd declared last season, as the consensus No. 1 overall pick for now, even if we don't know who will do the No. 1 overall picking yet. (Who, after all, would have guessed the Indianapolis Colts and the St. Louis Rams as the prime competitors for that role in 2012?)
One thing, though, seems equally clear: Matt Barkley isn't Andrew Luck, and his place atop draft boards isn't nearly so immutable. If there's no Luck or Robert Griffin III anchoring this draft, it's equally true that Barkley's just one of a number of quarterbacks who could, with a great college season or the decline of a particular NFL team into the draft's top two or three picks, leap to the top spot in NFL Mock Drafts everywhere by, say, November. Mocking The Draft thinks Logan Thomas and Tyler Wilson might give him a run for the top spot on draft boards by the time it's feasible to really begin making them up.
More NFL Mock Draft coverage handpicked from SB Nation St. Louis:
- When it comes down to it, mock drafts are just a way to confirm your worst fears about your favorite team.
- Of course, if you're diligent enough you can find people who think Matt Barkley is better than Andrew Luck.
- As well as people who think quarterbacks are just products of a well-drafted offensive line, anyway.