3.13 Carolina Convicts - QB Ryan Nassib

In the real world: Nassib was yet another quarterback of whom you could say, "Once upon a time, he was projected to go early in the NFL Draft to a team that needed a new QB." Then reality struck. Nassib went to Round 4 of the NFL Draft, where he was selected by the New York Giants, a team that already had a two-time Super Bowl-winning QB on its roster, Eli Manning. Wait a minute... that could be a blessing in disguise. While a few quarterbacks have been able to become great ones without the need for a veteran mentor (John Elway, Troy Aikman, Peyton Manning), I could name two who got off to bad starts playing on bad teams, then fared a lot better once they wound up working under a Super Bowl-winning veteran, then went on to win Super Bowls themselves (Jim Plunkett, Steve Young). Analysts are split on Nassib. This article will give you some details on who thinks what, and why. What they are more likely to agree on is that the Giants got at least a good value for the pick, maybe a great one. You have to figure that sooner or later, he'll pass David Carr, the Giants' current backup QB.

In the TUFF world: This is a great pick for the Cons, whose starting QB, Michael Vick, turns 33 in June; and whose backup, Josh Freeman, is on the hot seat. They took Matt Barkley earlier in this draft to handcuff to Vick, but Nassib is arguably a better QB than Barkley, and by that virtue, also improves the team's QB depth.