Memphis QB Paxton Lynch declares for NFL Draft, could be top-5 pick

Memphis Tigers quarterback Paxton Lynch is declaring for the NFL Draft and could be the first signal-caller taken.

Paxton Lynch played his final college game with Memphis yesterday in the team’s bowl game and is leaving school early and entering his name in the 2016 NFL Draft, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Related Story: 30 Best College Football Quarterbacks of All-Time

The 6-7, 245-pound Lynch didn’t give NFL scouts a strong lasting impression in the Birmingham Bowl loss to the Auburn Tigers, completing 17 of 38 passes for 104 yards and an interception in the loss. However, his elite size and body of work from this season should have him in the conversation to be the first quarterback taken in April’s draft.

His chief competition to be the first signal-caller taken will be California Golden Bears junior Jared Goff.

He completed 66.7 percent of his passes for 3,778 yards with 28 touchdowns to only four interceptions. He was instrumental in leading Memphis to an upset win over the Ole Miss Rebels and building the program up to the point where they were ranked in the top 25 for the middle part of the year before faltering late in the year.

Lynch probably isn’t ready to start right away for the NFL team that drafts him, which could see him slide a few spots in the draft, but if he lands at a team that has a veteran that can start and let him sit and learn as a rookie he’ll be better off in the long run.

More saturday blitz: Picking Every Bowl Game Against The Spread

ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. had Lynch at No. 2 on his latest Big Board. The Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers make some various degrees of sense to take Lynch in the top five.

Cleveland may not be sold on Johnny Manziel and Dallas and San Diego need to start thinking life beyond Tony Romo and Philip Rivers.