USC's Barkley, 3 other QBs picked in 4th round

NEW YORK (AP) ? For anyone waiting for the draft of the quarterbacks ? players included ? it came Saturday in the fourth round.

A shopping spree for signal callers opened the final day of the draft with Southern California's Matt Barkley taken by Philadelphia after a trade with Jacksonville.

Yes, it was three rounds later than Barkley hoped for. Same thing for Ryan Nassib of Syracuse, Landry Jones of Oklahoma and Tyler Wilson of Arkansas, the other quarterbacks chosen in Round 4.

"We're going to take the best value on the board," coach Chip Kelly said, adding the Eagles rated Barkley in the top 50. "There's a prime example. The best value on the board by far was Matt. He's an extremely mature young man, intelligent, articulate. He has that 'it' factor."

Perhaps. But he seemed to have a lot more of it last year. Barkley was projected as a first-round selection last year, but opted to return to school. He and the Trojans slumped, Barkley injured his shoulder, and his stock plummeted.

"I try not to get stressed about things I can't control," Barkley said when asked about his drop in the draft. "I'm just glad I know where my home is and I can't wait to hit the playbook."

He will join quarterbacks Michael Vick and Nick Foles in Philadelphia.

The New York Giants, hardly in need of a quarterback with Eli Manning in his prime, still dealt with Arizona to move up for Nassib.

Nassib, from the Philadelphia suburbs, took a call from Giants coach Tom Coughlin, but wasn't sure what Coughlin told him.

"To be honest with you, I blacked out. I didn't get everything," Nassib said. "What I did get from him was that first off I had to cut my ties with the Philadelphia Eagles and switch, which won't be a problem."

Oakland, which acquired Matt Flynn from Seattle in the offseason to be its starter, followed two picks later at No. 112 overall with Wilson. Three spots after that, Pittsburgh grabbed Jones, probably hoping to groom him behind Ben Roethlisberger.

A former quarterback, Denard Robinson of Michigan, is headed to Jacksonville, which had one of the league's worst offenses the last two years. Robinson will be switched to running back or receiver by the Jaguars; he set the NCAA record for career yards rushing (4,495) by a quarterback.

"A lot of people have put me at different positions," he said. "Now it's time to go to work."

South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore, who would have been a high pick if healthy but is coming off a second severe knee injury, went to the 49ers 131st overall. San Francisco can afford to "redshirt" Lattimore because it has a strong stable of runners, including Frank Gore, Kendall Hunter and LaMichael James.

"We really haven't even talked about that, so I don't have any clue," Lattimore said about possibly sitting out 2013 to heal completely. "My main goal right now is to go in there and work hard, go in there and learn the offense, and if I'm ready to play, I'm going to play, and if I'm not, I'm not."

Lattimore, who dislocated his left knee and tore three ligaments last season, said he spoke with Gore during his rehab.

"And now I'm with the 49ers, and it's just a great, great situation for me," Lattimore said.

Three kickers went in the fifth round: punters Jeff Locke of UCLA to Minnesota and Sam Martin of Appalachian State to Seattle, and placekicker Caleb Sturgis of Florida to Miami.

National champion Alabama, which had four players chosen previously ? three in the first round ? had four more go on the final day: linebacker Nico Johnson to Kansas City with the pick after Barkley was taken; guard Barrett Jones, who can play all offensive line positions, to the Rams; and DTs Jesse Williams to Seattle and Quinton Dial to San Francisco.

___

AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi and Sports Writers Tom Canavan and Mark Long contributed to this story.

___

Online: http://pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uscs-barkley-3-other-qbs-picked-4th-round-173608918.html

julianne hough brandy michael pineda charles taylor bruins boston bruins carl crawford