Cardinals HC Bruce Arians and GM Steve Keim are scheduled to hold a private workout Saturday at USC for QB Matt Barkley.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 4, 2013

The Cardinals acquired Carson Palmer for a 7th round pick, so there is at least one quarterback on the roster. However with Carson’s age they need a young heir apparent on the roster. Could that be Matt Barkley?

We’ll see.

Well, Barkley had his pro day and the initials reviews are in:

Matt Barkley/QB/USC pro-day: good not great…struggled w/accuracy further out to the flanks or downfield he passed the ball- still my #2 QB

— Tony Pauline (@TonyPauline) March 27, 2013

Matt Barkley finished 56 of 62 with two dropped passes in Pro Day workout #USCProDay

— USC_Trojans (@UscTrojansFO) March 27, 2013

We never forget.

Anyways, Peter King and Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio are both driving the Matt Barkley bandwagon pretty hard. He is what Florio published:

Peter King of SI.com points out, a “strong workout” could push Barkley into the top half of the first round.

Since no quarterback ever has anything other than a “strong workout” at Pro Day, look for Barkley to make his move past Smith.

Matt Barkley hasn’t thrown a football in public in months. Just a few weeks before the combine he said his shoulder was near 100%… only for him to skip out on the competition. Of course it makes more sense for him to throw in an environment built for his success, millions of dollars are on the line, but I guarantee that if I remember this sequence of events an NFL Scout surely does.

Was Barkley really not “near 100%” during the combine or did he just not want to compete? That’s a question teams will have to find out the answer to. As far as on the field goes Barkley would easily be a mid to late first rounder if the need for a passer was that desperate in this draft. With developmental guys like Tyler Wilson, EJ Manuel, and Tyler Bray in this draft is it really worth it for a team to pick Barkley in round one? Especially considering the questions over his arm strength and injury?

Barkley, who’s recovering from an injury has decided that he will not throw. That’s interesting considering that he said just a few weeks ago that he was “a couple days away” from coming back 100%.

USC QB Matt Barkley will NOT throw at this week’s combine. He might run, but will not throw until USC Pro Day on March 27. More at ESPN. Com

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 18, 2013

That’s why it isn’t surprising that after Geno announced that he would participate fully in the combine all of the other quarterbacks quickly announced the same.

Some people believe there is no starting quarterback in this draft so it will be interesting to see who has the best workout particularly in accuracy and footwork drills.  Smith and Nassib should shine… but will they?

You can watch the combine live in two weeks on NFL Network to find out!

I’ve been on the record thinking Nassib and Arkansas QB Tyler Wilson will be the most successful QB’s among the class, but for Lande to put him first on his big board will certainly drop some jaws. Nassib is currently projected as a second round pick, but seems to be moving up the board (use Lande’s board as proof).

Florida State DE Bjoern Werner was also given a top overall grade on Lande’s board, but Nassib was given the nod because of the importance of his position. I’m not a huge fan of Werners. I think he has all the skills to be a good DE, but I don’t see him as a perennial All-Pro. He tends to take plays off which should throw up some red flags for potential teams.

Nassib tends to be “jittery” in the pocket when defenders are in his face, but has improved his ability to read defenses every season at Syracuse. He has shown strong arm strength and propensity to make the big play when it’s needed. His accuracy is spotty at times, but his footwork has been night and day to when he was a freshman.

Buffalo Bills head coach Doug Marrone is widely credited for developing Nassib into an NFL-caliber QB. If Nassib drops past the 40th pick (the Bills second round), we’ll know his own head coach didn’t think he was a 2nd round worthy pick. Remember, players like Colin Kaepernick, Andy Dalton, and Russell Wilson all took their teams to the playoffs this season despite not being 1st-round picks.

After Nassib, Lande ranked Tyler Wilson, Matt Barkley, Mike Glennon, and Gino Smith. Gino Smith is expected to be the first QB taken off the board, but it’s a crap-shoot from there. The combine will show us a lot more once it comes. Don’t put too much stock in what teams are saying or what the combine shows. How they perform on tape will be the main factor for teams selecting their QB. It should be a fun weekend.

Follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisDommermuth

Barkley had an interview with Hannah Storm in which he cleared up some issues. His shoulder was sprained and did not require surgery to heal, and he is “a couple days away” from coming back 100%.

Matt is focused on showing people why he is the top passer in the 2013 NFL draft but is not expected to throw at the combine.

It was initially reported that Barkley would not throw at the Combine, so we apologize for posting that false claim. Barkley is still recovering from a right shoulder sprain and USC reportedly moved their pro day back two weeks to give the quarterback more time to heal. “It seems to be the trend not to (throw at the combine), and I don’t feel that I have to,” Barkley said. “We’ll see when that time gets closer. It will be more of a game-day decision… I don’t feel I have to necessarily prove anything.”

Feb 1 – 5:36 PM

Source: ESPN

Could that be a mistake? Who knows, lots of guys tend to shy away from passing at the combine so it doesn’t matter at this point.

Luke Joeckel, Texas A&M, OT

Geno Smith, West Virginia, QB

Bjoern Werner, Florida State, DE

Manti Te’o, Notre Dame, LB

Matt Barkley, USC, QB

Sheldon Richardson, Missouri, DT

Tyler Eifert, Notre Dame, TE

Sharrif Floyd, Florida, DT

DeAndre Hopkins, Clemson, WR

Tyler Wilson, Arkansas, QB

Eric Reid, LSU, S

Margus Hunt, Southern Methodist, DE

Barrett Jones, Alabama, C/OG

Justin Hunter, Tennessee, WR

Eddie Lacy, Alabama, RB

Zac Dysert, Miami (Ohio), QB

Montee Ball, Wisconsin, RB

Blidi Wreh-Wilson, Connecticut, CB

Robert Alford, Southeastern Louisiana, CB

Aaron Dobson, Marshall, WR

Menelik Watson, FSU, OT

Robert Lester, Alabama, DB

Trevardo Williams, Connecticut, LB

Everett Dawkins, Florida State, DT

Nico Johnson, Alabama, LB

Kwame Geathers, Georgia, DT

Zach Line, Southern Methodist, FB

Vance McDonald, Rice, TE

J.C. Tretter, Cornell, OG

Tommy Bohanon, Wake Forest, FB

Gavin Escobar, San Diego State, TE

Albert Rosette, Nevada, LB

John Wetzel, Boston College, OT

Ty Powell, Harding, LB

Garrett Gilkey, Chadron State, OL

Devin Smith, Wisconsin, CB

Nick Williams, Samford, DT

Kendrick Payne, Cal, DT

Jamal Miles, Arizona State, WR

Chris Jones, Bowling Green, DT

Covaughn DeBoskie-Johnson, Cal, RB

Brandon Wegher, Iowa, RB

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Things kind of came to a head when he was injured in the UCLA game, and USC went on to lose to Notre Dame in his absence as well.

Everyone was expecting to see Matt make his triumphant return in USC’s bowl game, but apparently it’s a no-go for that shoulder:

In an announcement that seemed to be a foregone conclusion for at least a week, Kiffin confirmed Thursday that Barkley will not play in USC’s first postseason game since the quarterback’s freshman season. Barkley suffered the shoulder injury in the UCLA loss and missed the regular-season finale against Notre Dame because of it.

Kiffin said Barkley wanted to play, but doctors would not medically clear him to do so. “I’ll be here with my team to finish strong. Proud to be a Trojan!” Barkley wrote in a tweet posted to his Twitter account.

-PFT

Even with his college career coming to a unexpected end, the future is still bright for Barkley. He was thought of one of the best QB’s in the loaded 2012 draft class and is undoubtedly still among the best in the 2013 crop. Who knows, he may be a second round pick but it’s not the end of the world. Some guy named Favre was drafted in the second round and had plenty of post-win interviews with legendary reporters like Ms. Lesley Visser.

Do you think that Kiper is correct? Will NFL teams like Kansas City, Philly, Jacksonville, etc. ignore their needs at QB and let these guys slip to the second round. Is the market for Alex Smith and Mike Vick really going to be that hot?

I think that once the final standings shake out we’ll see some obvious trades. Someone will come to the top 10 in pursuit of Luke Joeckel or Manti Teo and allow one of the quarterback needy teams to drop down in round one and still get their guy. Who knows, that could be Glennon. Or it could be Tyler Bray, Tyler Wilson etc.

What do you think will happen? Is Kiper on to something?

Never forget he compared Jamarcus Russell to John Elway: