AJ McCarron says NFL teams are telling him he's a 1st-round pick

First, they took shots at Michael Sam's NFL future. Then, they started questioning Jadeveon Clowney's commitment. But this time, anonymous NFL executives have gone too far. They told former Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron that he could be drafted as high as the 16th pick.

The Axe hair products spokesperson and possible reality show star dished to Paul Finebaum about the pre-draft process during a Monday publicity tour through the various ESPN properties. That's when he revealed what NFL folks had been telling him.

"They felt like I could go anywhere from 16-35. I believe that, too. At the same time, I don't have my hopes set on anything. Whatever happens, happens. It's a blessing for me to even be in this situation."

He added that "pretty much everyone" from the teams he's spoken with so far -- the Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, St. Louis Rams and others -- told him that he's a first-round pick.

McCarron also reminded Finebaum and his listeners not to believe anything they hear about the draft process and to caution them about what teams are saying about players.

"It's not like the GMs are calling these guys and telling them, 'Hey, we're going to draft this guy at this number so go ahead and put that out there.' One thing I've learned about this whole process, it's nothing but a big secret.

"A lot of times teams will bring in a guy just to bluff another team and make it seem like toward the media that they like this guy and really they have no interest at all in drafting him."

Ok, so GMs are bluffing and the whole process is a big secret EXCEPT for when they tell McCarron that he's a first-round pick likely to be drafted anywhere from the 16th to the 35th pick. Do you follow? I'm not sure I do. And that's fine. A.J. McCarron is a man of many contradictions, like at the Combine when he refused to compare himself to any established NFL signal caller right before comparing himself to Tom Brady.

Why are you such a complicated man, AJ?

Most draft experts put McCarron in the later rounds of the draft. He was not included in Mel Kiper's latest mock draft, and NFL.com analyst Daniel Jeremiah left him off his list of the top 50 players. He's 12th on Mocking the Draft's quarterback rankings.

Whatever his draft status, McCarron says he's not paying attention, duh.

It's good thing he's waving off all the pre-draft hype. Some teams might see believing anonymous NFL execs as a major red flag.