Source: Robert Griffin III going pro

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Comments0
• Email
• Print

Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III is informing Baylor coach Art Briles Tuesday that he has decided to turn pro, according to a family source, and an announcement is imminent.

[+] Enlarge

Kelly Kline/Getty ImagesHeisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III is expected to be a top-10 pick in April's NFL draft.

The Heisman Trophy winner's next task is to choose an agent and he is in the process of finalizing his choice of representatives, which could come as early as Tuesday night.

A news conference is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET Wednesday at Baylor.

The deadline for underclassmen to formally petition for the NFL draft is Sunday.

Griffin is projected as a top-10 pick and several personnel officials believe he could go high as the first or second choice depending on his pre-draft workouts and evaluations.

Baylor this season matched a school record with 10 wins and won its last six games, including a record-breaking 67-56 victory over Washington in the Valero Alamo Bowl. Griffin threw for 4,293 yards with 37 touchdowns and only six interceptions, and his completion percentage of 72.39 percent was just shy of national leader Russell Wilson of Wisconsin (72.82). Griffin also ran for 699 yards and 10 more scores.

Griffin, who arrived at Baylor in January 2008 after graduating high school a semester early, got his undergraduate degree in political science in December 2010 and is working on a masters in communication.

Griffin, who played this season as a fourth-year junior, has another year of eligibility remaining at Baylor because he got a medical redshirt after he tore the ACL in his right knee in the third game of the 2009 season.

In 41 games for the Bears, he has completed 800 of 1,192 passes (67 percent) for 10,366 yards with 78 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. He has run for 2,254 yards and 33 TDs and set at least 46 school records.

During an interview with the AP last month, Griffin said he wouldn't be facing a decision on whether to stay for another season had he not gotten hurt two years ago.

"If I come back, people would be like why. If I leave, people at Baylor will be like why," Griffin said then. "So it's a tough decision."

But Griffin's draft stock rose dramatically this season, especially during the Bears' last six wins. Griffin and Stanford's Andrew Luck, the Heisman runner-up, are likely to be the first two quarterbacks selected.

Baylor swept their four November games, including overcoming its biggest fourth-quarter deficit ever with Griffin throwing three TDs before winning in overtime at Kansas. The Bears also beat Oklahoma for the first time, with Griffin throwing for 479 yards and four touchdowns, including the game-winner with 8 seconds left that came right after Oklahoma had overcome a two-TD deficit to tie the game in the final minute.

Chris Mortensen is ESPN's senior NFL analyst. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Comments0
• Email
• Print
• Subscribe

Chris Mortensen

NFL reporter

• Follow
• Archive

• ESPN Senior NFL Analyst
• Joined ESPN in 1991
• Has covered every Super Bowl since 1979