Nick Foles may not be as well known as other quarterbacks available for the 2012 NFL Draft because of poor play from the Arizona Wildcats, but he is a solid prospect shooting up draft boards. With the recent decisions from Matt Barkley and Landry Jones to stay in college for one more season, Foles is now projected as the third-best quarterback prospect behind Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III, according to Mel Kiper Jr.
He may have lost a little shine this season because of the way the Wildcats performed as a team, but Foles is a really solid developmental prospect. He's a big kid, at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, is accurate, moves and throws well to both his right and his left, and has solid mechanics. Questions for Foles start with decision-making, but I think he may have tried to force his throws too often as the team struggled, and the numbers tell some of that story. But you can draft Foles in the late first or early second round and develop him.
Luck will likely to go No. 1 to the Colts and Griffin will go somewhere in the top-5, leaving Foles as the best option for teams looking to find their next quarterback. With so many franchises transitioning their offense, it would not be surprising one bit to see Foles go even higher than some draft experts are predicting. It is imperative that Foles put on a show at both the Senior Bowl and at the NFL Combine.
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