With the pool of talent this year in the Big 12, it’s no secret a bunch of these guys will eventually play on Sundays in the NFL. If you’re an NFL scout with a high draft pick, you have a plethora of choices from the conference. So who’s the best NFL prospect in the Big 12? And how many first rounders will be taken in the April 2009 draft? Sports Illustrated’s Tony Pauline recently ranked the top 45 players in the nation, with respect to their NFL draft stocks. Not a bad showing for the Big 12, which had 10 players in the top 45. They were:5. Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech 7. Brian Orakpo, DE-OLB, Texas 8. William Moore, S, Missouri 11. Jeremy Maclin, WR, Missouri 14. Jermaine Gresham, TE, Oklahoma 16. Brandon Pettigrew, TE, Oklahoma State 19. Jason Smith, OT, Baylor 38. Russell Okung, OT, Oklahoma State 40. DeMarcus Granger, DT, Oklahoma 45. Auston English, DE, OklahomaFor reference, the top four choices overall were: 1. Rey Maualuga, LB, USC 2. Andre Smith, OT, Alabama 3. Malcolm Jenkins, CB, Ohio State 4. Taylor Mays, S, USCThoughts? For everyone following poor NFL teams, study that list for future hope.A few more aspects of this mock draft I’d like to analyze. First, conference representation. Here’s how many players from each conference showed up in the top 45:1. SEC: 16 2. Big 12: 10 3. Pac-10: 6 T4. ACC: 5 T4: Big Ten: 5 6. Big East: 3 No mid majors.Make what you will of that. Also, I have no problem with tight ends Gresham or Pettigrew, but what about Missouri senior Chase Coffman? I know the NFL Draft isn’t all about numbers, but if you combine the receptions of Gresham and Pettigrew this season, you’d still be 15 short of Coffman’s 63 receptions. Something to consider. Plus, Coffman’s 6-foot-6 frame is what the NFL drools over. I doubt he’ll drop far on draft boards.Next, bad news for NFL teams searching for a quarterback in next year’s draft: Only two signal callers made the list: Georgia’s Matthew Stafford at No. 24 and USC’s Mark Sanchez at No. 36.All the national pub for the Big 12’s quarterbacks and no one on the list? Interesting. Let’s take a look at some of their situations:Colt McCoy, Texas: He’s a junior, but why not declare for the draft? With this weak quarterback class, might as well. Combine his accuracy and quickness, and at 6-3, 210 pounds, he’ll get a shot.Josh Freeman, Kansas State: Same situation for the junior. Honestly, why not? K-State coach Ron Prince has endorsed Freeman in the past, saying he’s a legitimate top 5 to 10 draft pick. I won’t go that far, but with this weak QB class and the fact he’s 6-6 and 250, how far could Freeman possibly slip?Sam Bradford, Oklahoma: He’s only a sophomore, but at 6-4 he’ll play in the NFL someday. He’ll likely return to Norman, though, especially if the Sooners don’t play in the BCS Championship game this year.Graham Harrell, Texas Tech: It continues to be a mystery to me why coach Mike Leach’s record breakers (Kliff Kingsbury, B.J. Symons, Sonnie Cumbie, Cody Hodges) don’t make it in the NFL. At 6-3, could Harrell make it? He’s a senior, playing on a top-10 team, breaking all sorts of records against legitimate competition. It’s not like he’s Hawaii’s Colt Brennan, breaking records against cupcake central. He deserves a shot.Not much NFL talk surrounding Missouri senior Chase Daniel, Nebraska senior Joe Ganz, Kansas junior Todd Reesing or Oklahoma State junior Zac Robinson.I’ll end the blog asking you guys for predictions from the two big games this weekend: 1. Texas (-4) at Texas Tech 2. Kansas State (+10.5) at KansasThoughts? I’ve already predicted Texas 42, Texas Tech 40, so I’ll stick with that. For the second big game, I’ll go Kansas 40, Kansas State 24.That’s all for now, friends. As always, discuss._By the way, if you’re not following this blog on Twitter, the question you should be asking is why not?_