Each April, football fans emerge from their winter hibernation to watch the annual spring rite of passage – the NFL Draft.  The weeks leading up to actual reality television at its finest features an abundance of draft “experts” cackling about which college players are rising, falling or a sleeper.  The two-day affair is then concluded with the likes of concrete-haired Mel Kiper, Jr. and the like assigning letter grades to how teams did.  Not a far cry from stock-touting “analysts” on CNBC.

Let’s do a more novel approach – giving these players kudos after they’ve actually played some games. Below is a look at how the QB draft class of 2009 and 2010 have excelled or busted thus far.

And BTW, the draft class of 2008 included Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco who are both in their third year as starters after leading their teams to playoff appearances their rookie seasons. These two set the trend for teams to throw rookie QBs like the guys below, into the mix straight out of their dorms as opposed to having them spend years holding clipboards on the sidelines.

2009

Matthew Stafford, 1^st overall pick, Lions: 3 total wins, now missing time due to injuries for the third time in his career.  The strong-armed former Georgia standout has shown signs of brilliance in his young career, but that hasn’t translated into wins.  He’s got two things working against him, though –he has a porous offensive line in front of him, and he plays for the Lions (‘nuff said).  Out with a shoulder injury for the second time this season, the jury is still out on him.  Here’s hoping that he pulls a Phil Simms and peaks later in his career once his team assembles a decent line to protect him.

Mark Sanchez, 5^th overall pick, Jets: 16 wins, including 2 playoff victories.  Sanchez entered the draft much to the chagrin of former USC head coach Pete Carroll (who then abruptly bolted for the Seahawks top job one year later – ever hear of glass houses, Pete?).  The Jets swung a draft-day deal to trade up and pick Sanchez, and the move has paid off dividends thus far.  True, he plays on a squad with a terrific o-line anchored by left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson and a ferocious defense, but “The Sanchize” has shown poise and is thus far the class of the 2009 crop.  The single ladies in the New York Tri-State area agree, too.

Josh Freeman, 17^th overall pick, Buccaneers: 8 wins (in 17 starts).  Freeman had some buzz before the draft after an impressive 2008 season at Kansas State, and some experts thought he might have the most upside.  After starting for just over the last half of a difficult 2009 season for the young Bucs, Freeman has been one of the key reasons for their surprising success in 2010.  Through eight games, he’s thrown for 1,722 yards and 10 TDs.  While Sanchez gets the media attention, Freeman might end up being the best of the bunch down the road.

2010

Sam Bradford, 1^st overall pick, Rams: 4 wins.  The top pick out of Oklahoma had his senior season cut short due to a shoulder injury, leading to questions about his durability and worthiness as a top pick.  Those questions have long been put to rest, thanks to a fine rookie season with the surprising Rams.  What’s even more impressive is that he’s doing it with a cast of journeymen wide receivers (Danny Amendola!?).  The future already looks bright for him, especially if the Rams can earn a title in the weak NFC West.

Tim Tebow – Surprise first-round pick has run in two for a score but is yet to throw a pass for the Denver Broncos. Doing his job bringing revenue to the team though with his jersey being the No. 1 seller in the NFL through the first half of the season.

Colt McCoy, 85^th overall pick, Browns: 2 wins (in 3 starts).  Bradford’s rival QB at Texas had a great college career, although it also ended prematurely via a shoulder injury in the BCS National Championship Game against Alabama.  That, combined with his height (6’1”) led to him falling to the 3^rd round in the draft.  McCoy was named the Browns starter after an 0-5 start, and he has now led the team to consecutive victories against the defending champion Saints and one of the AFC’s top teams, the Patriots.  Perhaps the comparisons to Drew Brees may be correct after all.

Jimmy Clausen, 48^th overall pick, Panthers: 0 wins (in 5 starts).  The much-ballyhooed Notre Dame recruit was considered to be a good “value” pick in the draft.  Unfortunately for him, he landed with one of the worst teams in the NFL this season – one that slashed its payroll and has a lame-duck coach, John Fox.  The jury is still out on Clausen, but at least he’ll learn how to come back from adversity and dust off his jersey often.

DISCLOSURE: Sports Climax does not purport to be an NFL draft or scouting service and this analysis is for entertainment purposes only.  Anyone else who claims to know how to predict the future after observing NCAA quarterbacks for less than a few seasons (Google Kiper/Clausen) is like a monkey throwing darts at a list of the S&P 500 claiming that they are an expert stock picker.

Used with permission of the author.

Chris Lardieri covers the Los Angeles Dodgers for Examiner.com and has written about Major League Baseball for Inside Edge, a scouting company that provides content to ESPN Insider and Yahoo Sports. He previously wrote for 1766, the Rutgers Alumni Magazine, and popular blog, ‘The Outer Loop’.  Be sure to follow Chris on Twitter for more MLB and sports observations.

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