Now that the red and blue confetti is freshly plowed from Lucas Oil Stadium and Justin Tuck has concluded the one (and only) stanza of his New York Giant ensemble piece, We gotta ring!, we are off and running in the 2012 NFL offseason.
 
Long gone are the winters of federal court hearings and B-roll of padlocks on stadium fences and, with the Scouting Combine slated for the end of the month, all eyes turn towards free agency and the NFL Draft.
As any Monday morning GM will tell you, a successful Draft is all about getting value players in the late rounds to provide competitive spark to rosters without breaking the bank. Here is a positional breakdown of the top sleeper picks on the offensive side of the ball in the 2012 NFL Draft.
 
Back in 2002, Brandon Weeden “started spreading the news” when he was selected by the New York Yankees in the second round of the MLB Draft. After several years floating around the majors, Weeden went to Oklahoma State to be the man under center.
 
Weeden won’t be a second round pick in 2012. Chances are, he will have to wait until day three to hear his name called, but he did impress in Stillwater with 4,727 yards, 37 TDs and a 72.3% completion percentage – besting his previous season.
 
Weeden has prototypical size for his position (6’4’’, 218 pounds) and the ball leaps out of his hand quickly with a lot of zip. He even has enough mobility to extend plays, but he is not great about reading progressions and tends to stare down his initial receiver. Then again, when your initial receiver is Justin Blackmon, one sympathizes.
 
BEST MATCH: ARIZONA CARDINALS
To this point, the Kevin Kolb experiment is a bust in Glendale and John Skelton was merely the patchwork last season. Combined, the two have an average completion percentage of 56.3 and the two have recorded a total of 20 touchdown passes and 22 INTs.
 
Weeden may not be the man in Arizona instantly, but he can provide much-needed competition. Plus, Weeden is used to throwing to big-time receivers and playing alongside Larry Fitzgerald would make him feel right at home.
Just as, apparently, every state in the Union is “for lovers”, the SEC was good for primetime tailback play, with Michael Dyer, Trent Richardson, and Marcus Lattimore (when healthy).
Lost in the fray though is Vick Ballard who, in his career as a Bulldog, gained 2,157 yards on 379 carries with 29 touchdown rushes to boot. That’s a touchdown every 13.1 rushes, better than the aforementioned Richardson (14.4) and Dyer (28.3).
 
Measuring out at 5’11’’ and 220 pounds, Ballard is a powerful back with a low center-of-gravity, like the Ray Rices, LeSean McCoys, and MoJos of the world.
 
BEST MATCH: CAROLINA PANTHERS
Yes, it is Newton’s show to run in Carolina, but with the inconsistent, seasonal play of DeAngelo Williams and the upcoming contract year for Jonathan Stewart, Carolina could bring in Ballard to bolster their backfield. This also makes Stewart easier to move this season.
 
Cam racked up 4,051 yards through the air in 2011 and added production from Ballard may help Newton pay more dividends from the pocket.
 
   The Badger running game, headed by Montee Ball and James White, was nasty, racking up 2,636 yards on the ground with a 5.9 yards-per-carry average.
 
Of course, whenever any team at any level has that kind of success, it’s hard to overlook the offensive line and the fullback. Bradie Ewing paved the way for Ball and White against tough run defenses like Nebraska, Penn State, Michigan State, and Nebraska. Each of these defenses allowed less than 4.1 yards per rush in 2011, but that didn’t stop Wisconsin from stampeding them to the tune of 200 yards rushing or more in each game.
 
Ewing constantly pushed back defenders and won the battle at the point of attack. In the tape I’ve seen, I rarely (if ever) saw him get pushed backwards.
 
BEST MATCH: HOUSTON TEXANS
Long gone are the days of Vonta Leach and Arian Foster’s per-carry average has dipped from 4.9 in his rookie season to 4.4 in 2011. I don’t see the tight-end/fullback hybrid, James Casey as the long-term solution so it’s time for Houston to go all-in on Foster as their workhorse and give him a physical lead-blocker.
 
  Welcome to the boom-or-bust portion of the article. Before his season-ending ACL tear against Texas A&M in early November, the jury was in on Broyles. He was a definite first-round pick and still is one of the most productive receivers in recent college football history with 4,586 receiving yards and 45 TDs.
 
Prior to his injury, Broyles had ten touchdown grabs and was on pace for his 14.5 touchdown average during his sophomore and junior years. Broyles is smaller, but he just has an uncanny nose for the football, much like Wes Welker who led the NFL with 122 receptions (INSERT SUPER BOWL DROP QUIP HERE).
 
BEST MATCH: GREEN BAY PACKERS
Broyles would be welcome to almost any organization, but, for the Packers, he poses the least risk and the highest reward. If the Pack lose Donald Driver, they could pick their aerial assault right back up with the explosive Broyles. If Broyles doesn’t come back as the same player after his rehabilitation, the Packers still have insane depth at the position.
 
  David’s least favorite movie has to be White Men Can’t Jump. It goes against his entire M.O. as an athletic player with great hands.
 
BEST MATCH: MINNESOTA VIKINGS
  He may not have elite top-end speed, but Christian Ponder would benefit well from the game-breaking speed of Adrian Peterson as well as a reliable safety net at tight end. Visanthe Shiancoe is not that reliable safety net. Shiancoe has steadily declined from a monster 2009 season where he reeled in 11 touchdowns and 566 yards through the air. Last year, he posted a mediocre 409 yards receiving and 3 touchdowns.    Time for some fresh blood.
 
The key attributes to look for in a promising rookie tackle is experience and aggression at the line of scrimmage and Don Barclay has both of them in spades. Barclay was one of the most tenured members of the Mountaineer line, starting since his redshirt sophomore year. He has great upper-body strength and really gets after defensive linemen during both run and pass plays.
 
He was voted All-Big East First Team in 2011 for a reason.
 
BEST MATCH: SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
It appears former first rounder, Russell Okung isn’t working out and his understudy, Paul McQuistan didn’t do Tavaris Jackson or the Emerald City any favors. Last year, Jackson was sacked 42 times, good for second-highest in the league behind Alex Smith.
 
Whether the Seahawks stick with Jackson or move on, one thing is clear: quarterbacks are better when they’re standing up.
 
It took LSU 2,836 yards on the ground and 35 rushing touchdowns to get to the National Championship game, but luckily, Blackwell was there to oblige. Voted 2011 First-Team All-SEC by both coaches and the AP, Blackwell has an aggressive burst out of his stance and his always looking for the next block.

BEST MATCH: TENNESSEE TITANS
A lot of that CJ2K luster has worn off since Chris Johnson’s career year and, in 2011, the Titans shocked everyone by populating the basement of team rushing totals. Chris might be tired of getting bricks thrown through his window by jilted fantasy owners so there’s no better time to supplement him with several, hungry, young run-stuffers. Blackwell is a great find for them on day three.
Like I said, when it comes to linemen, it’s all about experience and aggression. Molk fits the bill in a big way starting 41 games in his career as a Wolverine and ending his tenure on a 25-game start streak.
 
The 2011 Rimington Trophy winner (Best OL in the country) took home 2011 First-Team All-Big-10 honors, but many scouts criticize him for being undersized, saying his only chance to thrive is in a zone-blocking scheme.
 
BEST MATCH: INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
What a coincidence! The Colts run a zone-blocking scheme up-front and their excellent, but aging center, Jeff Saturday seems more destined for the front office than the line of scrimmage these days.
 
This pick is one of the more obvious fits and it comes at a low-risk if Indy picks Molk up at the top of day three. At Michigan, Molk led an offensive line that allowed the Wolverines to rush for 2,217 yards behind tailback, Fitzgerald Toussaint and highlight factory, Denard Robinson. If anybody needs help in run blocking, it’s the abysmal Colt rushing attack (attack is too generous so we’ll call it a “run game”). Plus, additional big bodies to usher in the Luck era are just what the Pagano ordered.
 
Stay tuned this coming week for more sleeper picks on the defensive side of the 2012 NFL Draft.

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