Early assumptions of whether Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen will enter the 2010 draft are that the junior will indeed enter; however, with recent news that Clausen’s parents have sold their house in South Bend, it’s become a very strong possibility that Clausen will enter the draft. When Jimmy first went to South Bend, his parents immediately bought a house a block from campus in order to be able to watch his games. Remember that the Clausen family is from California, so selling their house in Indiana almost assures us that they don’t plan on watching any Notre Dame games next year, and they wouldn’t need to watch the games if Clausen is in the NFL. When you also consider that Clausen was just “sucker punched” by a fan outside of a restaurant in South Bend this past weekend, it seems to be a near-lock that Clausen will be in the 2010 Draft.

- Tennessee safety Eric Berry may be another player who is a lock to declare for the 2010 draft. Berry has the talent to go as high as first overall, especially if Cleveland lands the first pick and opts not to take a quarterback.

- Iowa juniors Adrian Clayborn, Bryan Bulaga, and Amari Spievey all have decisions to make regarding their future. All three would be relatively high picks in the 2010 NFL Draft, with Bulaga being the top prospect from that bunch. Clayborn is personally one of my favorite players in college football, so I can assure you that he’d be ranked high on my board if he decided to declare.

- Syracuse wide receiver Mike Williams has officially declared for the 2010 NFL Draft. He’s one of the top wide receiver prospects in the draft, as of now, and could go as high as the second round if he runs well. His character, decision making, and maturity are all going to be question marks though, so he’s going to need to interview well with teams.

- Minnesota middle linebacker Lee Campbell is a sleeper for the 2010 draft and is a player to keep an eye on as the draft approaches. Campbell is an extremely instinctive linebacker who is as tough as nails and plays with a chip on his shoulder. He’s likely a mid-to-late round prospect.

- Ole Miss defensive tackle Jerrell Powe is junior who has drawn attention from NFL scouts for his great play this year. However, from the sounds of it, it appears Powe will head back to school for next season.

Updated 2010 NFL Draft order:

1. Cleveland

2. St. Louis

3. Tampa Bay

4. Detroit

5. Seattle

6. Washington

7. Buffalo

8. Oakland

9. Kansas City

10. Denver (from Chicago)

11. San Francisco

12. New York Jets

13. San Francisco (from Carolina)

14. Tennessee

15. Atlanta

16. Houston

17. Baltimore

18. Miami

19. Green Bay

20. Pittsburgh

Ole Miss defensive end Greg Hardy and Oklahoma defensive end Auston English have both been declared out for the season. Hardy is out for the year left wrist injury that he suffered earlier in the yeay, but was re-aggravated last week against Northern Arizona; the X-rays revealed a fracture, knocking him out for the rest of the year. Between Hardy’s injuries and his questionable character, his stock appears to be slowly in a decline, which is not good news as we draw closer to the offseason.

Oklahoma’s English is another player who has suffered from being injury-prone and will also have questions to answer this offseason about why he has struggled to say healthy over the course of his career. English suffered a season-ending ankle tendon injury which he will be undergoing surgery for on Tuesday. English isn’t anywhere near as high of a prospect as Hardy, however he still has a chance to be draft, but he’s going to need to be healthy do so.

- Despite being out for the season with a knee injury, Syracuse defensive tackle Arthur Jones has already accepted an invitation to the Senior Bowl and he will be able to play, which is good news. Jones could use a big performance in Mobile to try and raise his draft stock back into the first round.

- Georgia Tech defensive end Derrick Morgan is seriously considering entering the NFL Draft. One of the nation’s leaders in sacks and tackles for loss, Morgan has had an outstanding year and the junior could go in the first round if he decides to declare.

- Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen pushes himself as he remembers the fact that his older brother Casey Clausen went undrafted in the 2004 draft. One reason why Jimmy and his parents wanted him to go to Notre Dame was to learn from Weis, who they thought would give Jimmy the best opportunity to get to the NFL. As you can see in my updated mock draft, he’s clearly on his way right now.

- Illinois offensive guard Jon Asamoah, a former recruit of Northwestern, has extra motiviation this weekend when he goes up against the Wildcats.

- Here’s a great story of how the top offensive guard Mike Iupati ended up at Idaho.

- As of now, Ohio State defensive lineman Cameron Heyward plans on staying in school for the 2010 season.

Syracuse defensive tackle Arthur Jones will miss the rest of the season with a torn MCL that will require surgery. Jones, a late-first to early-second round prospect, is my fourth-rated senior defensive tackle behind Ndamukong Suh, Terrence Cody, and Jared Odrick. With this injury, in addition to his pectoral muscle lifting weights back in February, and a hamstring injury that slowed him during this season, Jones will carry a tag of being labeled as injury-prone as we enter the offseason. It’s unknown as to whether the injury will force him out of offseason workouts.

- The NFL and the Players Union are reportedly in discussions about setting up a new rookie pay scale. The content of the wage scale is unknown, but it is thought that the top of the draft would be affected, the spot where most observers in the NFL feel there needs to be change. This news could lead to a decent amount of underclassmen deciding to come out early and enter the 2010 draft.

- Notre Dame junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen is reportedly not thinking about the NFL yet. Right. One of the biggest reasons why Clausen went to Notre Dame was to play under Charlie Weis, who he and his family thought would give him the best chance of being able to become a successful NFL quarterback. As of now, Clausen’s stock is very hot and he could end up going much higher (Top 5) than I personally think he deserves. As of now, the 2010 draft isn’t shaping up to have the elite quarterbacks of the last two years, at least in my opinion. Jake Locker is the only player that I feel is worthy of a Top 5 pick.

- Florida State junior quarterback Christian Ponder, who is out for the season with a shoulder injury, has decided that he will not leave for the NFL after this season. This injury may have been a blessing in disguise, as Ponder likely wouldn’t have gone that high in 2010, but could go far higher in 2011, which is lacking elite prospects at the quarterback position outside of Ryan Mallett.

- Updated draft order:

1. St. Louis

2. Kansas City

3. Cleveland

4. Detroit

5. Tampa Bay

6. Washington

7. Oakland

8. Tennessee

9. Seattle

10. San Francisco

11. Buffalo

12. Miami

13. San Francisco (from Carolina)

14. Jacksonville

15. Green Bay

In the past week there’s a been a good amount of NFL Draft news that has popped up, some good, some bad. Here’s the latest:

- Penn State defensive tackle Jared Odrick, my third-rated defensive tackle, is rising up draft boards and is now being talked about in the conversation for being a late-first round pick. As I’ve said in the past, I think that Odrick is a better prospect than Syracuse’ Arthur Jones. Odrick possesses a far greater burst off the ball and anticipates the snap count better than Jones does, two things that a successful defensive tackle must be able to do. Keep an eye on Odrick as we get closer to the draft.

- Syracuse wide receiver Mike Williams, my sleeper of the year at the beginning of the season, has quit the Orange football team. The reason for his departure is unknown and his future is also unknown. He could enter the 2010 draft, however, he has several question marks that have been raised after this. His maturity and committment to the game are two things that NFL teams are going to need to look into. Williams is a very talented player, but much like the former USC wide receiver Mike Williams, the former Orange receiver has a high bust percentage with the amount of off-field question marks he has. Williams may have gone from a second round pick to falling as far as the fourth or fifth round, if not further.

- Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder is reportedly considering leaving school for the NFL Draft. A junior, Ponder would likely be a mid-round pick. His intelligence is outstanding, however Ponder doesn’t have the greatest physical tools and would be a project at the NFL level. For his sake, I hope that he stays in school for his senior year where he’d be a more valuable prospect in the 2011 draft.

- Florida Atlantic quarterback Rusty Smith, a late-round prospect for the 2010 draft, will miss the remainder of the season after spraining his non-throwing shoulder. Surgery is a possibility for Smith, however he should be ready to go for the Combine in February either way.

- Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour will be participating in the East-West Shrine Game.

Updated NFL Draft order through Week 8 of the NFL season:

1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

2. St. Louis Rams

3. Cleveland Browns

4. Kansas City Chiefs

5. Tennessee Titans

6. Detroit Lions

7. Oakland Raiders

8. Seattle Seahawks

9. Washington Redskins

10. Buffalo Bills

11. Jacksonville Jaguars

12. San Francisco 49ers

13. Miami Dolphins

14. San Francisco 49ers (from Carolina)

15. New York Jets