Personnel Points: Canfield's rise

A senior quarterback who has really grown on me this season is Oregon State's Sean Canfield. After undergoing offseason shoulder surgery in '08, he spent the majority of his junior year as a backup. With incumbent Lyle Moevao coming back from a shoulder injury of his own this offseason, Canfield seized the starting job and hasn't looked back. In a losing effort versus Oregon, he completed 24 of 36 passes for 306 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions. The first thing that gets your attention with the 6-foot-4, 217-pound lefty is his accuracy (has completed 70.0 percent of his passes this season). He has a very lively arm and a quick release, does a nice job of going through his progressions and manages the game well. Coming into the season, he carried a free-agent grade. As we fast forward to the present, I expect Canfield to hear his name called in the middle rounds of the draft.

To read Mel's thoughts on Jimmy Clausen, Jake Locker and Ndamukong Suh, you must be an ESPN Insider.

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Mel Kiper Jr.

Football analyst

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• ESPN NFL Draft analyst since 1984
• Contributes to SportsCenter and ESPN Radio
• Writes weekly for ESPN Insider