Arizona State quarterback Brock Osweiler has announced that he will forego his senior season and enter the 2012 NFL draft.
Osweiler becomes the second quarterback to announce his intentions to leave school with a year of NCAA eligibility remaining, following Stanford’s Andrew Luck. Baylor’s Robert Griffin III is also expected to announce that he’s turning pro, while USC’s Matt Barkley and Oklahoma’s Landry Jones have announced that they will stay in school.
Unlike Luck, Griffin, Barkley and Jones, Osweiler is not viewed as a likely first-round pick.
The most noteworthy thing about Osweiler is his size: At 6-foot-8, he’ll tie Dan McGwire as the tallest quarterback in NFL history. McGwire was a major bust after the Seahawks took him in the first round of the 1991 NFL draft, so Osweiler will not want to invite that comparison.
Osweiler initially committed to play basketball at Gonzaga before changing his mind and deciding to focus on football. In 2011, his only season as the Sun Devils’ starter, Osweiler completed 326 of 516 passes for 4,036 yards, with 26 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.