Dec 29, 2012; Bronx, NY, USA; Syracuse Orange quarterback Ryan Nassib (12) drops back to pass during the first quarter against the West Virginia Mountaineers at the 2012 New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. Syracuse defeated West Virginia 38-14. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

In Todd McShay’s latest mock draft, he has projected the Buffalo Bills to take Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib–before top ranked QB Geno Smith.

This is certainly not the first time we’ve heard this suggested. A number of draft experts and analysts believe that Nassib is the top quarterback in a class that is as tough to figure out as any. Nassib has all the skills required to be a very solid NFL quarterback, and he has the benefit of his former college head coach Doug Marrone having a head coaching job with the quarterback-needy Buffalo Bills as he enters the draft.

Nassib to Buffalo probably makes more sense than any other move at QB in this draft, if only for the fact that Nassib has better connections to the head coach than any prospect in the draft.

So what will become of Geno Smith? Will he be in for a draft night fall? Could he fall out of the first round entirely? I don’t think so, personally. I think Smith will wind up being the first QB off the board, but I could be wrong about that. I envision the Bills trading down in the first round, and I think some team will move up to take Geno. Will it be Philadelphia? Arizona? Cleveland? The Jets?

It could be that the New York Jets, who now have two first round picks, could be looking to trade down in the first round and accumulate additional picks because they intend on using one to take Geno Smith. That wouldn’t surprise me at all. Or, they could just not trade down at all and see if he falls to them at 9 or 13.

There are a few teams reportedly trying to trade up in the first round, even all the way up to the top 10. It will cost them a bit, but in this year’s draft you might be able to trade up for less than you would have had to in most drafts because of the lack of impact players this year.

Ultimately, I feel like Nassib will be the 2nd or maybe even 3rd quarterback off the board. I think you will see he and Smith go in the first round, and you could also see teams move around the board to get Matt Barkley and E.J. Manuel. Even in a draft where the QB class is nothing close to what we had last year with Andrew Luck and RG3, there could still be three or four QBs taken in the first round. Or, there could just be one. Draft night is going to be a wild ride, that’s the only thing we know for certain.

Nov 10, 2012; Syracuse, NY, USA; Syracuse Orange quarterback Ryan Nassib (12) looks to throw a pass during the second half of a game against the Louisville Cardinals at the Carrier Dome. Syracuse won the game 45-26. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-US PRESSWIRE

Height:  6’2″

Weight:  227 pounds

Position Rank:

Drafted By:

40 Yard Dash:  5.06

Bench Press:  N/A

Vertical Jump:  N/A

Broad Jump:  N/A

Career Highlights (via Syracuse athletics site)

At SU: Four letters … 2012 National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete … 2012 BIG EAST Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year … 2010 and 2012 ESPN Academic All-District Team selection … Member of the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll every semester… 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 BIG EAST All-Academic Team selection … Fourth BIG EAST quarterback to pass for more than 9,000 yards.

Graduate Year (2012): Set SU single-season records for passing yards (3,749), touchdown passes (26), completions (284), passing yards per game (288.4), total offense (3,891) … 2012 Pro Football Weekly All-American … All-BIG EAST Second Team … 2013 Senior Bowl selection … His 288.4 yards per game ranked 17th in the nation and led the BIG EAST … Tied for the league lead with six 300-yard passing performances … Ranked 18th nationally and led the BIG EAST in total offense (312.3 yards/game) … Ranks second in SU history and third on the BIG EAST all-time list with 70 career touchdown passes … His 22.6 completions per game ranked 22nd nationally … 2012 National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete Award presented by Fidelity Investments … 2012 Capital One Academic All-District Team selection … Team co-captain.

Played in all13 games, started in all 13 games…Against Northwestern, earned BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week honors after setting Syracuse and BIG EAST records for completions (45), pass attempts (66) and passing yards (482) … Against USC, was 30-of-46 for 322 yards and two touchdowns, compiling 455 yards of total offense … Against Stony Brook, recorded his fourth career 300-yard passing game, going 22-of-35 for 335 yards and three touchdowns, accounting for 365 yards of total offense and earning a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll … At Minnesota, he completed 21-of- 31 passes for 228 yards and one touchdown pass, increasing his career touchdown total to 54 … Topped 600 with 21 completions against the Golden Gophers to put him at 615 on the SU all-time career completions list … Against Pittsburgh, was 19-of-30 for 185 yards, accounting for 199 yards of total offense … At Rutgers, threw for 356 yards and one touchdown … Against UConn, completed 14-of-20 passes for 251 and two touchdowns … At USF, was 27-for-40 for 328 yards and four touchdowns and set an SU record with his sixth 300-yard game of his career, earning the ECAC co-Offensive Player of the Week award and a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll … At Cincinnati, completed 23-of-47 passes for 286 yards and one touchdown, and scored a touchdown on a one-yard carry … Against Louisville, completed 15-of-23 passes for 246 yards and three touchdowns … At Missouri, completed 26-of-40 passes for 385 yards and two touchdowns and became Syracuse’s career passing yards leader (8,845) and earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll … At Temple, he completed 16-of-28 passes for 215 yards and one touchdowns, increasing his career passing yards total to 9,060 … Against West Virginia in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl, completed 11-of-23 passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns.

Senior Year (2011): One of 11 players to started all 12 games … Set the Syracuse single-season records for completions (259) and passing yards (2,685) and tied the mark for touchdown passes in one season (22) … He ranked fourth on the single-season completion percentage record list (.624) and second on the passing yards per game list (223.8) … His 2,724 yards of total offense ranks second and his 223.8 yards per game is sixth on the SU single-season record list … His 21.58 completions per game ranked 25th in NCAA statistics … His 223.8 passing yards per game ranked third in the BIG EAST and his 129.9 pass efficiency rating was fourth in the league … Averaged 227.0 yards of total offense per game, which ranked third in the conference.

Against Wake Forest, earned BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll recognition after completing 20-of-28 passes, including 8-of-8 in the fourth quarter and overtime, for 178 yards and three touchdowns in a come-from-behind overtime victory … Against Rhode Island, tied a school record for completions in a game with 29, finishing 29-for-37 for 318 yards and three touchdowns en route to BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll honors … At USC, earned BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll recognition with a 25-for-37, 230-yard, one touchdown performance … Against Toledo, completed 16-of-24 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns in an overtime victory and was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll … Against Rutgers, completed 15-of-32 passes for 169 yards … At Tulane, completed 19-of-34 passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for a touchdown … Against West Virginia, was 24-of-32 for 229 yards and four touchdowns, and rushed for a touchdown … At Louisville, finished 22-for-36 for 162 yards and one touchdown … At Connecticut, was 24-of-39 for 275 yards and two touchdowns … Against South Florida, completed 23-of-46 passes for 297 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 30 yards on 10 carries … Against Cincinnati, finished 19-for-38 for 203 yards and a touchdown … At Pittsburgh, was 23-of-32 for 225 yards and one touchdown.

Junior Year (2010): Ranked fourth in the BIG EAST with a passing average per game of 174.6 … Ranked fourth on SU’s passing yards in a season list … His 202 completions set the Syracuse single-season record, which he surpassed in 2011) … Threw at least one touchdown pass in 11 games … His touchdown to interception ratio was 19 to 8 … Tied for fourth on Syracuse’s single-season record list with 19 touchdown passes … At Akron, led Syracuse to its first season-opening victory since 2003, throwing for 229 yards and two touchdowns on 17-of-27 completions … At Washington, completed 17-of-35 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown, and ran for 39 yards and one touchdown on seven carries …His 28 yard rushing touchdown was the first of his career … Against Maine, set a school record with five touchdown passes … Had a career-high 260 receiving yards on a personal-best 19-of-28 completions …Against Colgate, completed 8-of-15 pass attempts for 169 yards and one touchdown … At South Florida, piloted a 98 yard scoring drive in the fourth quarter and a three-yard touchdown completion to Marcus Sales proved to be the game winner … Also, completed 12-of-22 passes for 129 yards against the Bulls … Against Pittsburgh, completed a career-high 25 passes, completing 25-of-46 for 231 yards and one touchdown…Also, rushed for 14 yards on four carries … At West Virginia, completed 5-of-15 passes for 63 yards and one touchdown … At Cincinnati, completed 16-of-26 attempts for 125 yards and threw two touchdown passes … Against Louisville, completed 19-of-32 pass attempts for 125 yards and threw two touchdown passes … At Rutgers, completed 16-of-31 passes for 214 yards and one touchdown, including engineering a 66-yard, 11-play game winning scoring drive in the fourth quarter … Against Connecticut, completed 20-of-36 passes for 171 yards … Against Boston College, completed 15-of-24 passes for 174 yards … Against Kansas State in the Pinstripe Bowl, completed 13-of-21 pass attempts for 239 yards and three touchdowns, including a career-long 52-yard completion, and had six carries for 16 yards.

Sophomore Year (2009): Played in 10 games … Against Minnesota and Northwestern, played a role in specific offensive packages … At Penn State, was 4-of-5 for 30 yards, including his first completion on his first career pass, a 19-yard connection with tight end Cody Catalina … Against West Virginia, entered midway through the game and completed 7-of-16 passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns and gained three yards on his first collegiate run … Against Akron, had four carries for 14 yards … Against Cincinnati, went 7-of-10 for 97 yards and had one rush for six yards … At Pittsburgh, completed 5-of-16 for 21 yards … At Louisville, was 2-of-5 for 21 yards and ran four yards on one carry … Against Rutgers, completed 4-of-6 for 69 yards and had five carries for 12 yards.

Freshman Year (2008): Did not play in any games.

Career Stats

Scouting Report/Player Notes

Nassib is one of the hottest quarterback prospects in this year’s crop of players. In fact, after his pro day performance, he has people thinking first round or bust at this point. Nassib has pretty average size for an NFL quarterback. He’s not really tall, but he’s definitely not too short either. Coming from the Big East, Nassib is one of the most decorated passers in Syracuse history, a school that produced one of the better quarterbacks in recent NFL history in Donovan McNabb. Nassib is not a mobile quarterback by any means, but he has a solid arm and competitive drive. The biggest concerns with Nassib are his ability to make plays down the field as well as his ability to perform when the pocket is collapsing. As previously stated, he’s not overly mobile and can be rushed into terrible decisions when the pocket breaks down. Over the last two seasons, he’s been extremely efficient with the football and while in a normal year he wouldn’t be a first round pick at all, he has a chance to be one of the first quarterbacks selected thanks to a really weak class of players overall.

Video Highlights (via YouTube)