The top quarterbacks on the draft board are hogging the spotlight as usual, but there are some mid-to-late prospects in the 2012 class who deserve attention. Teams are always looking for backups who can step in and shoulder the load should the quarterback(s) ahead of him go down, and Houston's T.J. Yates is a recent example.
The Texans obviously didn't have high expectations for Yates when they took him in the fifth round in 2011, but he ended up starting seven games after injuries to Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart. His numbers weren't great, but Yates helped the Texans win three of those games, and with the exception of the playoff loss to Baltimore he played well enough to put them in position to win the others.
Yates could one day even follow the path of 2012 Seattle Seahawks free-agent signing and Green Bay 2008 seventh-round pick Matt Flynn, who showed enough as Aaron Rodgers' backup to get the inside track to the Seahawks' starting job.
Here are five late-round 2012 quarterbacks who aren't expected to push for playing time early in their careers but could end up helping a team in a similar way at the next level.