I can’t say I was surprised to hear Lance “Landry” Jones announce his decision to return to Oklahoma for his senior season. He hasn’t exactly had a banner year this past season and had fallen down the QB rankings a bit due mostly to inconsistency. I think there was a good chance he would have still gone in the first round after Luck and RGIII were off the board. However, it’s his decision to return to school (just like it was Matt Barkley’s) and I’m not going to say that he made the wrong choice. But I do have my doubts. If he continues his slide into inconsistency next year he could fall out of the first round entirely given the other potential members of the 2013 quarterback class… Matt Barkley (for sure), Tyler Wilson (if he doesn’t go pro this year), Tyler Bray and Aaron Murray all figure to be a part of next year’s draft. Also, he was already losing red zone touches to Oklahoma’s Tebow (Blake Bell) and that trend looks destined to continue next season.
What does that mean for this year? In my opinion (and depending on Wilson’s decision) there are only two quarterbacks guaranteed to go in the first round, Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III. Nick Foles (Arizona) and Ryan Tannehill (Texas A&M) may slide into the first but they are far from locks and would be considered reaches. I still believe that Indianapolis will take Luck (the new GM, whomever he may be, will have the unenviable task of releasing Peyton). Which most likely means that either the St Louis Rams or Minnesota Vikings will be the recipient of a very nice trade as some team looks to jump over the Browns who would likely take Griffin fourth.
In the mean time… congratulations to Bob Stoops, you’ve got your senior QB back (again). And I’m sure there will be at least one more shocking return to school or out of the blue declaration in the next 10 days (underclassmen have until January 15th to declare for the NFL). Sometime after that I’ll talk about all the early entrants and shortly after that I’ll have my first mock out! Woot and stuff.
