none of those guys panned out. Look at all the 1st round picks of big 12 QBs. In a conference that throws the ball all over the field none of those guys become above average long term starters.
Yeah I mean, if your standard for "panned out" is better than Bradford and Tannehill and RGIII who are/were long term starters who have played a lot of games and had a lot of great moments in the league, then you're really narrowing down your scope here. if you look at which QB's have "panned out" by this definition in the past 30 years or so, you're not going to find a correlation to any school or conference. And I did say in my previous post that the exception is when there are systematic reasons that certain positions in certain systems need to be filled by guys who are fundamentally not a good fit for the NFL (see Georgia Tech, Navy, etc. QBs)
There are a lot of non-traditional/non-pro style offenses in the Big 12. And the offenses that are closer to pro style aren't exactly recruiting your prototype NFL guy that those scouts love. Texas and OU have sent a few guys (McCoy, Young, Landry Jones, Bradford, etc) but they're not GREAT players. It's about the players themselves, not the Big 12. Maybe there are lots of bad defenses and lots of points and passing yards, but it's rarely accomplished by guys that make you say "oh he's definitely going to the league". It's usually guys that you're like "yeah he throws it around a lot but he doesn't have the arm talent to succeed in the league". Of course there are a few that give you hope. If Bradford weren't such a "safe" QB afraid to take risks, maybe he'd be a star right now. He has the ability, maybe not the mentality. I think Mason Rudolph has a real chance. Maybe Mayfield? Put guys better suited for the NFL in the Big 12, and you'll get more Big 12 QBs in the NFL.