Matt Barkley reshuffled NFL draft boards nationwide last year when the USC quarterback decided to return for his senior season.
We'll never know where he would have been selected in 2012, but Barkley -- sounding pretty sure of himself -- said Tuesday he "had confidence" he would have been the No. 2 overall draft pick, essentially bumping out Robert Griffin III as the second quarterback taken in April.
Jeremiah: Top college QBs on display
The Manning Passing Academy hosted 40 college QBs, including Matt Barkley. Daniel Jeremiah scouts the group. **More ...**
"I had confidence that I was going to go high," Barkley said on The Dan Patrick Show. "It wasn't really a question of that, as to why I came back."
NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah scouted Barkley at this weekend's Manning Passing Academy and was happily surprised by his improved arm strength. If that was one of the bigger questions surrounding the passer -- along with his height (he's just 6-foot-2, which is on the short side for a quarterback) -- Barkley put some of those concerns to bed.
Much like Andrew Luck at Stanford last year -- and unlike most college students every year -- Barkley will complete his college career with zero anxiety regarding the nation's job market. We'll never know if he would have won over the Washington Redskins as RG3 did. But Barkley is destined to go near the top of the 2013 draft and hangs out there as the college quarterback du jour.
