<
        >

          Big 12 Blog

          Ranking the Big 12's best: No. 10

          • ESPN.com staff
          Jun 22, 2010, 02:45 PM

          Today is Day 16 of our countdown of the Big 12's 25 best players entering the 2010 season. The full results are locked in a vault in an undisclosed location, but we'll be revealing one player per day until we reach the top of the list.

          Remember, this isn't a list of the top-25 NFL prospects in the league. It's heavily weighted toward players' actual accomplishments in their college careers, as well as their likely impact on their teams in the 2010 season.

          No. 10: Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylor

          2009 numbers: Completed 45 of 69 passes for 481 yards. Threw four touchdowns and no interceptions. Ran for 77 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries. Missed final nine games of 2009 with a torn ACL.

          Most recent ranking: Griffin was ranked No. 5 in the past offseason's ranking of the conference's top 40 players.

          Making the case for Griffin: I would bet Griffin trends upward in the postseason list, but you can't ignore his play in the first three games of last season. Not exactly a record-setting pace. He didn't throw for more than 200 yards against Connecticut or Wake Forest, and his running was limited against both. Three of his passing touchdowns came against Northwestern State in a 68-13 win. Griffin earned every bit of his 2008 Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year award, but you also can never tell how a player will look when he returns to full speed from such a serious injury. That's especially true for Griffin, who relies so heavily on his athleticism. There's no doubt he's one of the conference's most accurate quarterbacks, at least on his mid-range throws. He's also perhaps the conference's most dynamic and athletic player -- much less quarterback (See: 2008 Big 12 title in 400m hurdles). Defenses will focus even more heavily on him, but if talent like Jay Finley and Kendall Wright can take some of that attention away, it could give way to the long-awaited sequel to his impossible-to-look-away freshman effort.

          The rest of the list: