Three-point stance: NFL busts, ACC dilemma, Irish plan

Today’s edition talks about recent NFL busts, the ACC hoops dilemma and Notre Dame’s national recruiting.

Last week I spoke about Johnny Manziel’s status as one of the all-time NFL busts after the Cleveland Browns released him after two seasons, but I was sure to point out he wasn’t close to being the biggest bust ever. In fact, we could be looking at a candidate right now in former Rivals.com No. 1 Jadeveon Clowney, who was taken first overall by the Houston Texans in 2014. In fact, since 2012, there have been many first-rounders that have already busted out in addition to Manziel, which shows you how inexact a science NFL scouting can be.

Remember this the next time you’re upset about Rivals missing on a high school prospect -– the NFL scouts get to see most of these guys play against top talent numerous times and still whiff. It’s one thing to miss on a high school kid who played average to below-average competition and faced a small handful of college-level prospects at summer camps in his career, but it’s another thing to whiff on a player who played a Power Five schedule for three years or more against other NFL first-rounders. This isn’t a knock at NFL scouts, it’s a general assessment that ranking prospects at any level is a crapshoot and guys like Clowney, who had amazing film his first two years at South Carolina and then mailed it in his junior year, can make anyone look bad.

Here are some of the biggest busts since 2012 and how I saw them as NFL prospects:

Drafted: No. 1 in 2014

Clowney was the best prospect I ever scouted out of high school with Adrian Peterson a close second and I’ll admit I saw him as a home run pick at No. 1. Yes, he did a sleep walking routine through his junior season, but I simply thought the challenge of college football passed him by and he was ready for the next chapter while being stuck due to the three-year NFL draft rule. But that lack of desire and motor we saw his junior year was a big sign that was missed.

Drafted: No. 3 in 2013

I didn’t see it with Jordan, a former skinny four-star tight end prospect out of high school, at least not as a top five guy. No one could have seen the trouble that has derailed his career, at least not to this extent, but I also felt he was a reach because he just wasn’t a physical player at Oregon.

Drafted: No. 2 in 2012

RG3, a four-star high school prospect, was cleary a dynamic talent in college, but I never saw the elite arm strength or natural downfield vision to be selected so high. As with everyone else, I questioned how his frame would hold up if he tried to run around in the NFL, but the other intangibles weren’t there for me either.

Drafted: No. 3 in 2012

I liked this pick, and not because Richardson was a former five-star. I thought Richardson was a future stud and had zero idea he had this little left in the tank. His rookie year showed some promise and then it all fell apart, but I felt he would be special.

Drafted: No. 5, 2012

Blackmon, a former three-star, was a prolific receiver in college, had great hands and could separate. I liked him coming out of college, but he showed none of those skills in the NFL.

Drafted: No. 6 in 2012

As a Cowboys fan, I hated this pick. Claiborne, a three-star athlete out of high school, had good size and amazing ball skills, but his technique was horrendous and I saw big problems ahead because of it.

Drafted: No. 7 in 2014

This pick puzzled me greatly as Cooper was one of the highest-drafted guards in recent NFL history. The former three-star out of high school was short and a one-trick pony and now the Patriots will need to turn him into a player.

Drafted: No. 9 in 2014

The former five-star was always an elite athlete with good size and speed, but I never saw the instincts to be a top 10 pick at corner. I thought he’d end up having a successful career as a safety in the pros, but time is running out.

Hit me up on Twitter @rivalsmike to let me know who you think I missed.

The ACC is having a historic NCAA tournament with six of the Sweet Sixteen hailing from the conference and while this helps the hoops reputation of the conference greatly, it hurts football recruiting.

Some may disagree, but I’ve always said that UNC and Duke and to a lesser extent Syracuse have all had trouble luring top recruits partly because they are considered “basketball" schools, a term hated by each program’s diehard fans. Virginia, with its success in hoops the last few years, coupled with awful football, is in danger of heading in that direction while Notre Dame (not an ACC team in football anyhow) and Miami won’t be affected.

The unprecedented NCAA tourney success by the ACC this year perpetuates the myth, or in this case, the fact.

With quarterback Avery Davis in the 2017 class now for Notre Dame, that makes two prospects from Texas so far and this bodes well for Brian Kelly and company after landing 10 prospects from the Southeast last recruiting cycle. The move to scheduling more ACC teams as their agreement with the conference as a full-time member in other sports is paying off in SEC and ACC country. If the Irish can couple that with a recruiting presence in Texas and their continued spot-recruiting success in California, then they will really establish the national recruiting approach needed to win it all. Kelly and the Irish are on my short list of teams not from Tuscaloosa that could win a national title in the next four or five years. If I remember, I will name those teams soon.