Big 12: Players whose NFL Draft stock is rising, falling

West Virginia QB Geno Smith, Baylor WR Terrance Williams and Texas S Kenny Vaccaro were three of the stars of the first weekend and all three seniors' draft stock could be on the rise.

By C.J. Moore

Sep 4, 2012 at 3:57 pm ET • 3 min read

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3 on the rise

QB Geno Smith, West Virginia: The Big 12 offensive player of the week was brilliant against Marshall. Smith had great pocket presence and was incredibly accurate, completing 32 of 36 passes for 323 yards and four touchdowns. "He managed the game as well as anybody I've ever been around," coach Dana Holgorsen said. Smith also threw well on the run (see video above) and had a great open-field juke on his 28-yard TD run. With more performances like Saturday's, the Mountaineers QB will shoot up draft boards this year.
WR Terrance Williams, Baylor: Baylor's top receiver entered the season as a projected second-round pick by CBSSports.com. If Williams keeps playing like he did in the opener against SMU -- 7 catches for 138 yards -- he could work his way into the first round. One other thing to keep an eye on this year is how former Baylor WR Kendall Wright plays with the Titans. A big rookie season for Wright could bode well for Williams.
S Kenny Vaccaro, Texas: The Longhorn safety made two big impact plays in interceptions against Wyoming: the first was his own interception (see video below) and the second came off a Vacarro blitz that forced Wyoming QB Brett Smith to rush his throw, which was picked off by Carrington Byndom. "Kenny Vaccaro is a great player, he's not a good player. He can do some really good things to help us," Mack Brown said.

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3 who are falling

WR Tracy Moore, Oklahoma State: Moore is the top returning receiver for the Cowboys and with that comes the expectation that he'll fall in line as the next great OSU receiver. Moore got off to a rough start to 2012 by drawing a one-game suspension for receiving a citation on Aug. 24 for suspicion of providing alcohol to a minor, his third run-in with the law in the last six months. Moore not only is hurting his stock in the eyes of NFL scouts, he could also lose playing time because the Cowboys are deep at receiver.
QB Landry Jones, Oklahoma: Jones' numbers against UTEP were underwhelming for a Heisman candidate and possibly one of the top QBs on the draft board. He completed 22 of 36 passes for 222 passing yards and two touchdowns. Jones is going to need to step his game up for the Sooners to be great this year and for him to work his way into the first round. In defense of Jones, much of the blame was placed elsewhere for his performance. "When you got guys open, the line broke down," Bob Stoops said. "When the line held, then we didn’t get open. It's just putting it all together."
QB Dayne Crist, Kansas: Crist was one of the top-rated quarterbacks coming out of high school when he signed with Charlie Weis to play at Notre Dame. After a couple up-and-down years at Notre Dame, he is finally getting his chance to play in Weis' pro-style offense at Kansas. Crist's debut was underwhelming, completing 17 of 36 passes for 169 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Crist showed a big arm and flashes of why he fits the mold as a pro-style QB, but he'll have to put up better production and improve his accuracy to get a chance at the next level. "Waiting a full calendar year to get back was something that’s been exciting," Crist said. "But at the end of the day, [I] tried to do too much."

For more up-to-the-minute news and analysis from Big 12 bloggers C.J. Moore and Patrick Southern, follow @CBSSportsBig12 on Twitter. You can also follow C.J. (@cjmoore4) and Patrick (@patricksouthern) as well.