Playing at one of the best universities in this country in terms of football tradition and program prestige, the starting quarterback job at University of Southern California brings many things to those who bear the title: Elite talents abound on both sides of the ball. Some of the best coaches in the country. Treatment as though you suit up for an NFL team. Heisman trophy consideration.

And nowadays, major question marks about your ability to play in the NFL.

Much was made about Manti Te’o’s forty yard dash time at the NFL Combine in late February. His 4.82 time made national headlines that added to the trendy public bashing of the Notre Dame linebacker.  But that forty time wasn’t all that surprising to evaluators who watched him on film. His lack of great range and burst was apparent based on his play this season.

Now, after improving his forty time by, according to ESPN’s Todd McShay, nearly a tenth of a second, Te’o’s 4.71 official time (also ran a 4.75) has got people talking about the rejuvenation in his draft stock.

So while his perceived “speed” based on his running the forty has changed, his struggles this year versus Stanford and Alabama haven’t. And, unfortunately for Te’o, his draft grade hasn’t changed either.

Last year, 6^th round running back Alfred Morris was nearly a contender for the rookie of the year award if it wasn’t for one of the best rookie quarterback crops in recent memory. Questions were abound about why the surprise starter and even more surprising playoff runner fell to round number 6.

The easy answer?. Morris didn’t test well, he lacked great speed and open field ability in college, and didn’t flash elite NFL upside. That’s the easy answer. But the harder question is this: How did a player with all of those concerns manage to start in the NFL in his first season? That answer stems from two main ideas about the “running back revolution” in the NFL. Running backs can be found late now, partially because of zone-blocking scheme prevalence in the NFL now and the fact that NFL running backs aren’t being run into the ground, leading more to have longevity in the NFL.

Eddie Lacy, among others, will still be running backs taken in first through third rounds that have NFL success. But here’s five zone blocking runners that could be draft day steals and trendy sleepers to start opening day for their future NFL team.

In one of the more important Pro Days of the week for NFL scouts to attend, the Florida State program held there’s, despite the rainy conditions.

With all 32 NFL teams in attendance, they were able to evaluate potential 1^st rounders EJ Manuel, Bjoern Werner, Tank Carradine, Xavier Rhodes, and Menelik Watson in their final workout before April’s Draft.

Every offseason, the NFL awards up to 32 compensatory draft picks to teams that have lost more free agents then they’ve signed in the previous year. More often than not, these picks are relatively inconsequential. Once all a team’s gains and losses are worked out, most picks end up being in the sixth or seventh round and won’t make too big of a difference in a team’s plans.

With this year’s draft class being so strong in the mid rounds, the few third and fourth round picks that were handed out will prove to be quite valuable, however. Who gained the most when the NFL announced this year’s compensatory draft picks on Monday?

All week long we've analyzed every big move in free agency. Each transaction has given us a peek into each team's plans for the upcoming Draft and beyond. 

But what's the big picture? What are some of the keys we can take away from the opening week of free agency?

In what is one of the most exciting and aggressive off-seasons in recent years, the receiver position has been the most intriguing to follow. Wes Welker departed from New England for Denver, the Vikings and Ravens traded away their best receivers away, and the Rams and Steelers lost their feature weapons to more aggressive teams.

But, for the Vikings, Ravens, Steelers, and Rams, waiting to replace their departed receivers until draft day may be the wise decision thanks to the depth of this 2013 wide receiver class.

Day two of free agency didn't have quite as many big money deals as Tuesday did, but there was no shortage of interesting signings.

All of these moves will have an impact how the Draft will eventually play out in April. What moves were most important?

The 2008 NFL Draft stands out from the rest of recent draft memory. With just one projected first round quarterback, viewed as a late first round value, and only a handful of “playmakers”, the draft was viewed as heavy on lineman early, both offensive and defensive.

If that sounds familiar at all, it’s becomes it’s remarkably similar to this 2013 draft class. Luke Joeckel may be this class’s Jake Long. Barkevious Mingo may be this class’s Vernon Gholston. And for comparison’s sake, Geno Smith hopes to be this class’s Matt Ryan.

Most didn’t view Matt Ryan as worthy of a top three pick, similar to the sentiments of many about Geno Smith. Despite the criticism, Ryan proved those evaluations wrong, nearly reaching the Super Bowl in his 5^th NFL season. Geno Smith has that same potential. But like Ryan, Smith still has a ways to go to prove those doubters wrong.

The Pro Day circuit is in full swing now in mid-March. On March 13^th alone, we have four major Pro Days in Alabama, Cincinnati, Oklahoma, and Michigan State, with more than 80 pro team representatives at the four combined.

While some of the top prospects, such as Eddie Lacey, Dee Milliner, Travis Kelce, or Lane Johnson didn’t participate in the testing, NFL teams flocked to these pro days to evaluate every possible player at these four schools, and may have found a few mid-to-late rounders that made their trips worthwhile.