There's always a highly-touted quarterback that slips farther in the draft than people think he will; Aaron Rodgers, Brady Quinn, Drew Brees are a few examples.
This year, Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen was that quarterback. Projected as a possible first-overall pick at some times during the offseason, Clausen's worth -- for whatever reason -- took a bit of a hit and allowed the Carolina Panthers to select him with the 48th overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.
"Normally, that's what you dream of, when the best player on the board is sitting there and he's a quarterback," said Panthers general manager Marty Hurney. "That's a pretty good situation to have. We just thought the value was too good to pass up."
It's thought that Clausen's stock dropped because of his personality, often described as arrogant and immature. Typically, those aren't traits that the great quarterbacks have.
But what would expect from a guy who all his life has been told that he's the next big thing; that he's the "quarterback of a generation" as Sports Illustrated wrote in 2005?
"I think I'm a great leader and teammate," Clausen said in an interview Friday night. "If you ask all the guys on the team, they love hanging out with me. They love being around me and my family."
Hurney was quick to defend his new quarterback as well.
"We spoke to a lot of people up there, and everyone up there speaks very highly of him. The people that have been around him, they will tell you that they don't think some of those things are fair," Hurney said. "We didn't have those concerns."
The fan base seemed to be polarized Friday night. Some, like the majority of the people at the Panthers' official draft party for sponsors and suite holders, were excited. Other fans, posting on internet message boards and sites like facebook and twitter questioned the need of drafting a quarterback with the 48th pick when the need at wide receiver was very great.
They seem to forget that the need at quarterback was great, too. Newly minted starter Matt Moore played well down the stretch last season, but beyond him was undrafted, practice squad QB Hunter Cantwell.
Clausen at least brings big-time experience from a big-time school -- and he's not shy about telling the world what he thinks of himself.
"I'm so excited to be a part of the Panthers organization," Clausen said.
"I just want to tell you you just made the best pick in the draft and I'm going to make you guys proud."
Panther fans hope so, Jimmy.
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