1.12 New Orleans Chocolate City — RB Ronnie Hillman

In the real world: Hillman went pro after his redshirt sophomore season and was taken by the Denver Broncos in Round 3. Steve Muench (Scouts, Inc.) wrote on February 14: "Hillman is the kind of undersized (5-10, 192 pounds) back with durability concerns that teams normally shy away from. He carried the ball 311 times in 2011 and that kind of wear and tear will only increase concerns about him being nicked up. Hillman also had ball security issues. However, he is only 20 years old and played just two seasons at San Diego State, meaning he still has plenty of unrealized potential. Hillman is a slippery runner who could turn into a valuable third-down contributor if he can get stronger." Mel Kiper pointed out that Hillman produced like he did last year despite the fact that San Diego State no longer had Vincent Brown or DeMarco Sampson. Could he be another clone of Darren Sproles?

In the TUFF world: New Orleans made this pick to get both additional depth at running back, not to mention a potential starter (the Broncos' other RBs are Knowshon Moreno, who has been hurt in each of the last two years; and Willis McGahee, who turned 30 last October). As it is, their #2 RB (Fred Jackson) could be stuck in a timeshare.  But one caveat: Two years ago, Ken Mach mentioned that the reason he passed on Kevin Smith in 2008 was that "they burned him in college with all those carries" (referring to Smith's final year at Central Florida when he had a whopping 450 carries in 14 games). Smith has gotten nicked up every season in the pros, and he's about 20 pounds heavier than Hillman.

2.09 Tennessee Taz Devils — QB Brock Osweiler

	In the real world: The Denver Broncos took Osweiler with the 57th overall pick, most likely with the idea that he could be groomed to be Peyton Manning's long-term successor. In 2011, Osweiler became the first Arizona State quarterback to throw for more than 4,000 yards. He didn't play much prior to that, so inexperience (just 15 starts with ASU) could be a concern. Todd McShay says, “His mechanics are awful, he's falling off at the end of his throws, but the more I watch, the more I love him. He's a competitor, he does move well, he's accurate despite unusual mechanics and an unusual release. Greg Cosell of NFL Films did a podcast with Doug Farrar of Yahoo! Sports about several QB's, and in it, he said he was not high on Osweiler, citing a "tendency to push the ball... not enough big throws that transition to the NFL." "I've got issues with his ball placement, because ... he's throwing passes where his receivers are getting killed," says Cecil Lammey of footballguys.com in this podcast. "His whole body mechanics have to be re-mastered and re-worked."
	In the TUFF world: Consider the Taz Devils' top two QBs: Mark Sanchez has got Tim Tebow looking over his shoulder, and while Jake Locker should be the Titans' starting QB this year, he still has to compete with Matt Hasselbeck for that job. So adding Osweiler to hedge their bets on Sanchez and Locker makes sense. Or he could be a future "trade chip" (a division rival, the Denver Devils, own Peyton Manning).
	Whither Jimmy Clausen? Now that Ryan Tannehill, Brandon Weeden and Osweiler have all been selected here in this TUFF Draft, I just want to rant about NFL teams using high draft picks on these guys instead of giving Jimmy Clausen a second look. He's got more pro-style offense experience than Tannehill, he's obviously younger than Weeden, and he's far more mechanically sound than Osweiler. People seem to be judging him by a rough rookie season on a bad team, but why? He's not the first QB whose career got off to a bad start on a bad team: In addition to Troy Aikman and Peyton Manning, there's Jim Plunkett in the early 1970s with New England; that QB went on to win two Super Bowls with the Raiders. Or Steve Young's first two years with a horrible Tampa Bay Bucs team (1985-86); after learning under Joe Montana for four years, he went on the win a Super Bowl with the 49ers. Point being, they got second chances with other NFL teams; so should Clausen. Granted, I'm ranting because I'm the one who drafted him, but it bugs the hell out of me. Thanks for listening.