After being demolished by the eventual AFC #1 seed Denver Broncos, the Kansas City Chiefs became a number one of their own. They will hold the first pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. It is widely noted that this is the second time in five years that the Chiefs have put up a 2-14 season record. But wait…there’s more!

The need for a change to a winning culture runs much deeper than the last five years. Since Dick Vermeil left Kansas City after the 2005 season, the Chiefs have had two seasons over .500 (2006, 2010). While they made the playoffs in both of those years, they had only one season with double digit wins (2010). They are 38-73 in that span, with the home fans able to witness 21 wins. As great as those fans are, it has to be hard to stay warm in Arrowhead in December knowing that your team is likely to lose.

With black Monday for NFL coaches upon us, we should know soon the fate of Romeo Crennel and GM Scott Pioli. Regardless of who is leading the show, the obvious first step to a winning culture is at the Quarterback position. Matt Cassel and Brady Quinn have not sold themselves as a part of the change. Not in the starting role anyway.

In our first 2013 NFL Mock Draft, we slotted West Virginia Quarterback Geno Smith to the Chiefs. While we know his abilities are beyond the scope of what was presented to the world in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl, watching Smith bumble around in the snow makes it easy to view him playing in December in Arrowhead.

2013 NFL Draft prospect, USC Quarterback Matt Barkley’s senior season has come to an end. Gary Klein of the LA Times tweeted that the USC Docs do not want Barkley to play in the upcoming bowl game against Georgia Tech.

Barkley also missed the final regular season game against Notre Dame. He will enter the NFL Draft without the benefit of two nationally televised games to change the perception that was left in his last month of play.

In his last four games, USC went 1-3 while Barkley 14-9 TD-INT ratio.

Source: LA Times’ Gary Klein via Twitter

With about a month to go in the NCAA football regular season, we are going to start our 2013 NFL Draft Weekly posts. These posts will bring some tidbits on some of the draft prospects that we will be keeping tabs on up until the late April selection show that is the NFL Draft. Starting with Texas A&M’s upset of Alabama…

Rob Rang at CBS Sports credits Offensive Tackles, Luke Joeckel and Jake Matthews, for the Texas A&M win over Alabama.

Ouch! This picture has Dee Milliner landing flat on his face as Malcome Kennedy scores the winning touchdown for Texas A&M.

USC Quarterback Matt Barkley has become the leading passer in Pac-12 history.

Notre Same Coach, Brian Kelly, talks up Manti Te’o's leadership:

“He’s the leader of our defense,” Kelly said. “We got frustrated at times (Saturday). Some of our kids got frustrated. They have to be able to keep their composure and they have a leader out there in Manti who is keeping the guys under control. When you need a big play he’s going to be around the football.”

Despite losing to Oklahoma State, West Virginia’s Geno Smith threw for 364 yards and a couple of TDs.

Georgia’s Alec Ogletree racked up ten tackles and a couple of sacks against Auburn.

South Carolina running back, Marcus Lattimore, provided fans with a video message. Sad story on the injury. Doctors are optimistic he will play again.

Purdue Defensive Tackle, Kawann Short, grabbed six tackles and a sack in a win over Iowa.

Tyler Wilson became Arkansas’ career leader in completions in their loss to South Carolina.

The top 2013 NFL Draft Prospect, Matt Barkley will lead the USC Trojans against Hawaii in front of a sellout crowd on opening weekend.

“I thrive on that atmosphere, when it’s just packed and all eyes are on you and you’ve got to perform,” he said.
Barkley said he remains calm regardless of crowd size.
“I don’t get hyped up as it is,” he said. “I get energized from it. I don’t get overly psyched.”

Many have Barkley at the top of their draft boards, but many of the teams that could possibly land at the top pick have used a high pick on a QB in the last two seasons.

Source: LA Times

There is little suspense and drama at the top of the 2012 NFL Draft. The first two picks (Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III) are locked in for the most part, and except for some late smoke screens, it appears that the number three pick is wrapped up too (Matt Kalil). The fun begins at number four where the Browns could go a number of directions. They can take a solid runner in Trent Richardson, a receiving threat in Justin Blackmon, or a corner in Morris Claiborne that they can pair with Joe Haden. There is even a chance that the annual late gaining QB is selected in Ryan Tannehill. Pick number four is where the fun begins, but there are plenty of picks that are up in the air. Let’s have a look around the web at some mock drafts and see what sticks out…

Looking at mock draft databases, it reinforces the though even more that the top few picks of the draft seemed wrapped up. Over at Sports Jabber’s Mockdraft Database, the last 44 mocks that have been updated read the same for the top three (Luck, Griffin III, Kalil).

Rob Rang at CBS Sports shuffles some picks up by giving the Browns Ryan Tannehill. This was a hot projection for a while, but has tapered off in recent weeks. It could still certainly happen. One thing for sure is that the Browns set themselves up nice with that trade with the Falcons last year that landed them another first rounder.

Many mock drafts follow suit on the next few picks with Richardson, Claiborne, and Blackmon coming off the board. This makes the Jaguars pick at #7 another turning point in the draft that can take it in a few different directions.At CNN/SI, Peter King throws a curve at the Jacksonville pick by projecting that they select Stephon Gilmore. Vinny Iver sees them going with Fletcher Cox to stuff up the middle of the defensive line. At NFL.com, Chad Reuter agrees with Gilmore, while the other mockers are looking at Melvin Ingram for the Jags.

Of the NFL.com mockers, Reuter has the most picks that don’t appear to be with the mainstream. For example, Michael Floyd to the Bills (we did that a few weeks ago), Chandler Jones to the Bengals at #17, Riley Reiff to the Jets, Nick Perry to the Chargers, and Andre Branch to the Lions.

Like Don Banks projects at CNN/SI, Coby Fleener could show up in San Francisco. This is suggesting more of a dual tight end threat rather than replacing Vernon Davis.

It’s Insider content, but Todd McShay does a rundown with a few different scenarios for each team. The Rams, Chiefs, Jets, Cowboys, Patriots (327), and Ravens all have five scenarios. Stuff could happen. Mel Kiper plays GM for each team for three rounds as well. If you don’t have Insider, go get it at Amazon with an ESPN The Magazine subscription.

Evan Silva at Rotoworld has the Rams passing on Justin Blackmon and going with Fletcher Cox. The Dolphins reap the benefits of Blackmon.

The NFL Draft Dog has the Cowboys going with David DeCastro and letting Mark Barron go to the Eagles.

The Giants always seem to be in a position where someone can fall to them. Scott Wright at Draftcountdown.com has Jonathan Martin doing it this year.

Our 2012 NFL Mock Draft will be updated to three rounds and the return of commentary this week as we had into the final stretch.

Keep up with the prospects leading up to 2013 with us too! Subscribe free by RSS or EMAIL. Find on Twitter @NFLDraftNet