West Spotlight: Who lived up to hype, who surprised at NFL Draft?

The 2018 NFL Draft has come and gone and the Pac-12 was well-represented in the event. Today, Rivals.com breaks down the league's latest contributions to the NFL with a look at the Pac-12 players that surprised us, the ones that became exactly what we expected and the ones that seem poised to outperform their respective draft slots.

MORE NFL DRAFT: Grades for each first-round pick | Prospects weigh in on who they would have picked at No. 1

Rosen was the top-rated quarterback and No. 2 overall prospect in the 2015 class and was the No. 10 pick in last week’s NFL Draft. The former Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco standout was phenomenal during his high school career, made unreal throws for a player his age and continued to look impressive during his time at UCLA. It was a loaded quarterback draft class and Rosen was the fourth one taken. He said it was a “mistake” and maybe he will prove with the Arizona Cardinals that he was right.

One of the only times I got a good evaluation of Darnold during his high school career was at a 7-on-7 tournament late in the summer before his senior season. He moved way up the rankings and became a mid-level four-star prospect. Darnold was excellent at that tournament. The San Clemente, Calif., star could have moved even higher but he was just average at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl that year and so we decided to be more conservative on his ranking. That was clearly a mistake as he went third in the draft to the New York Jets and will compete for immediate playing time.

Freeman was the eighth-best running back in the 2014 class and he was the eighth running back drafted last week. That’s nailing it. The Oregon running back was a jacked-up, big-bodied running back coming out of tiny Imperial, Calif., and so there were limited evaluations on him as well at the high school level. Still, watching him on tape, it was clear he had special abilities and he could have an impressive career in the NFL. During his time at Oregon, Freeman rushed for 5,621 yards and 60 touchdowns.

I remember seeing Miller at UCLA’s summer camp and just being amazed at how massive he was in person, which warranted a projected ranking of four stars. He was all of 6-foot-8 and 290 pounds in high school, but needed a lot of work to be special at the next level. That got done in Westwood and even though it’s a stretch to have taken him in the first round, Miller proved me wrong as the Oakland Raiders selected him as the second offensive tackle off the board.

He played eight-man football in high school. In Riggins, Idaho. He was a preferred walk-on at Boise State. And now he’s a first-round selection in the NFL Draft.

Of course, Vander Esch was a major surprise to basically everyone involved coming out of high school to have that level of success at Boise State and now to be picked by the Dallas Cowboys. He might have been picked even higher if not for some neck injury concerns. Vander Esch is a perfect example of a kid with no ranking and no offers flying under the radar and making something special happen on the college level.

Penny had an outstanding career at San Diego State and that was not a major surprise since he was a mid-level three-star in high school who put up impressive numbers and he was a two-way standout. Utah and Washington had been showing interest in his senior season but no Pac-12 schools decided to offer and it was an obvious mistake. Penny rushed for 3,643 and 38 touchdowns for the Aztecs and was a first-round pick by the Seattle Seahawks.

It could be considered a stretch - he was the second running back taken Penn State’s Saquon Barkley - but he proved a lot of people wrong, should have had a higher grade coming out of high school and ended up being a top pick in the NFL Draft.

Eight quarterbacks were selected before Washington State’s Falk, including ones from Richmond and Western Kentucky. Falk isn't getting the respect he deserves. Although the team that picked - the Tennessee Titans - have a franchise quarterback in Marcus Mariota, which is not an ideal situation for Falk in the short term, he’s going to have a successful NFL career.

Falk, who idolized Tom Brady growing up and then was picked No. 199 just like Brady, threw for 14,481 yards with 119 touchdowns and 39 interceptions during his time in Pullman. Yes, it’s a pass-friendly offense so big numbers are expected, but Falk is a talented player who could make it big in the league.

St. Brown has prototypical NFL size and he’s an athletic and talented receiver who got stuck in a run-first attack at Notre Dame, especially this past season. Still, the former four-star receiver led the Irish in receptions and receiving yards and I don’t think he’s getting the credit he deserves.

Twenty-four receivers were taken ahead of St. Brown and that’s just hard to believe. Green Bay took him in the sixth round and that’s a steal. St. Brown isn't going to dominate the NFL but he’s going to have a nice role in quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ offense and could be a nice option as a big target on the outside.

There are some athletic limitation to Bierria, especially on the NFL level, but there won’t be any player who’s going to work harder to make a roster and to contribute wherever he can. Ever since he was in high school at Harbor City (Calif.) Narbonne, there were questions about whether Bierria could be an elite Pac-12 player.

He was excellent at Washington, has great closing speed, is always around the ball and has a contagious aggressiveness to his game. Bierria can contribute in a lot of ways and Denver is getting a relentless player who’s always out to prove himself.