The 2012 NFL Combine has shaken up a lot of the prior mock drafts and evaluations of the top college football players that will be entering this year's NFL Draft. The unwavering evaluation, of course, is that Andrew Luck remains the No. 1 overall pick and will wind up with the Indianapolis Colts. Let's take a look at one of the other Stanford Cardinal players who worked alongside Luck for years.
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The first post-Combine mock draft has been released by Draft Tek. Chicago Bears analyst TGersey theorizes that Stanford offensive tackle Jonathan Martin could go to the Bears in the first round, as the No. 19 overall pick.
After a scintillating performance at the NFL Combine, M. Floyd has become a commodity that the top half of the draft can no longer allow to slide by, leaving the Bears without a legitimate WR to select. Substandard performances by M. Sanu and K. Wright have rendered their chances of becoming true #1 WRs questionable. Enter LT Jonathan Martin. At 6'5, 315, Martin is the kind of "road grader" teams look for to anchor the left side of the line. A consistent performer (2-time All-Pac12), Martin is the rare line prospect who excels as a blocker in both the passing and running games. He is quick out of his stance, and shows excellent balance and lateral movement to mirror defenders and maintain the pocket. Some may call this pick unnecessary, considering Tice's constant praising of J'Marcus Webb as the Bears' starter, but Chicago would be foolish to commit to a 7th round sieve like Webb with a talent like Martin on the board.
This pick seems a bit low, especially considering the strong showing that Perry put forth at the Combine. We will have to wait and see how all plays out.
For all news and information regarding the Stanford Cardinal, please visit Rule of Tree. For updates and perspective on the Chicago Bears, head on over to Windy City Gridiron. For complete coverage of the 2012 NFL Draft, check out Mocking the Draft.