WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Andrew Luck's 2012 NFL draft was filled with big-name QBs and teams hit the jackpot in later rounds
Cork Gaines  Â
- When it came to quarterbacks, the 2012 NFL draft was one of the most important in the NFL in recent years.
- Andrew Luck was taken first overall, and Washington paid a heavy price to move up and take Robert Griffin III.
- Some teams hit the jackpot in later rounds, including the Seahawks who grabbed Russell Wilson in the third.
- When it came to quarterbacks, the 2012 NFL draft was one of the most important in the NFL in recent years.
- Andrew Luck was taken first overall, and the Washington Redskins paid a heavy price to move up and take Robert Griffin III.
- While most of the QBs taken in early in the draft turned out to be disappointments, some teams hit the jackpot in later rounds., including the Seattle Seahawks, who grabbed Russell Wilson in the third round.
The Colts used the first pick of the draft on Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck.
Luck shocked the NFL world by announcing his retirement after the third preseason game before the 2019 season.
Facing another severe injury, Luck said he needed to separate himself from football to live the life he wanted to live. The Colts reached the playoffs four times in eight seasons and the AFC title game once.
Luck was lauded by some as the second-best QB prospect ever, behind John Elway, and early in his career, he appeared to be living up to the hype. He was a Pro Bowl QB in his first three seasons as he led the Colts to the playoffs each year. After he played only 22 games over three seasons and missed the entire 2017 season with a shoulder injury, he erased the doubts by returning to his Pro Bowl level in 2018. However, he shocked the NFL world when he suddenly retired during the 2019 preseason. He has since returned to Stanford to pursue a graduate degree in education.
The Redskins traded three first-round picks and a second-round selection to the Rams to move up four spots and draft Baylor QB Robert Griffin III. He was a Pro Bowler and Rookie of the Year his first season.
Things quickly fell apart for RG3 thanks to a series of injuries.
RG3 lost his job and was inactive the entire 2015 season. After a brief stint with the Browns, he was out of the league in 2017. He played seven seasons in the NFL, including his last three as a backup for the Ravens, and is now an analyst for ESPN.
The Dolphins took Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill with the eighth pick overall. He started the first 77 games of his career.
Tannehill only once helped the Dolphins reach the playoffs in seven seasons.
Tannehill started all but three games in his first five seasons with the Dolphins but missed the entire 2017 season with a knee injury and only reached the playoffs once. After the 2018 season, he was traded to the Titans, where he replaced Marcus Mariota as the starter after just two games. After the season, he re-signed with the Titans on a four-year, $118 million contract. He led the Titans to the playoffs in his first three seasons with the team.
The Browns selected Brandon Weeden out of Oklahoma State with the 22nd pick of the first round. The Browns received the pick from the Falcons in a 2011 draft-day trade that gave Atlanta Julio Jones with the sixth pick.
Weeden lost his job in his second year, and the Browns released him after just two seasons.
Weeden later started games with the Dallas Cowboys and spent the 2017 and 2018 seasons as a backup with the Tennessee Titans and Houston Texans. He and his wife now run the Brandon Weeden Foundation, which raises money for research and the care of children in need of cardiac care.
The Broncos took Brock Osweiler in the second round with the 57th pick to be the heir to Peyton Manning.
Osweiler played well when he subbed for Manning for seven games during the Broncos' 2015 Super Bowl run and turned that into a $72 million free-agent contract with the Texans.
Houston gave up on Osweiler after one season, trading a second-round pick to the Browns so that they would take his contract. After one season with the Dolphins, Osweiler was without a team to start the 2019 season and announced his retirement mid-season. He is now a college football analyst with ESPN.
The Seahawks took Russell Wilson out of Wisconsin in the third round with the 75th pick overall.
Wilson led the Seahawks to the playoffs 8 times in 10 years, including two Super Bowls, and a Super Bowl XLVIII win.
After the 2021 season, Russell Wilson was traded to the Denver Broncos, where he is yet to rediscover his winning ways.
The Philadelphia Eagles used the 88th pick in the third round to take Nick Foles out of Arizona. Before the draft, the Eagles traded down in the third round to acquire linebacker DeMeco Ryans from the Texans.
Foles was a part-time starter for the Eagles over three seasons.
The Eagles traded Foles to the Rams. After one season with St. Louis, he contemplated retirement before returning to the Eagles. He subbed for injured starter Carson Wentz in 2017 and led the Eagles to a Super Bowl win. After the 2018 season, he signed a 4-year, $88 million contract to become the starter for the Jaguars but lost the job to rookie Gardner Minshew. After two seasons with the Bears, he is now a backup with the Colts.
The Redskins took Kirk Cousins out of Michigan State in the fourth round with the 102nd pick overall. The pick was considered controversial as Washington had already taken RG3 in the first round.
Cousins took over as the full-time starter for the Redskins in 2015, leading them to a Wild Card berth.
Cousins became a free agent after the 2017 season after failing to reach a long-term deal with Washington. He signed a 3-year, $84 million contract with the Vikings, which, at the time, made him the highest-paid player in NFL history. He is now in his fifth season as the starter in Minnesota.
The Cardinals drafted San Diego State QB Ryan Lindley in the sixth round with the 185th pick overall.
He started four games as a rookie.
After brief stints with the Chargers, Colts, and Patriots, he played one season in the CFL with the Ottawa Redblacks. He is now coaching, and after two seasons as an assistant with the Browns, he is back at San Diego State as their quarterbacks coach.
B. J. Coleman (Packers, 243rd overall) and Chandler Harnish (Colts, 253rd overall) were drafted in the seventh round of the 2012 NFL draft out of Tennessee-Chatanooga and Northern Illinois, respectively. Neither player ever played in a regular-season NFL game.
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