By Harry King

LITTLE ROCK — Winds from the north-northwest? We know better. The whoosh that blew across the state on Friday afternoon was a collective sigh of relief from thousands of Arkansas football fans.

Ryan Mallett is staying put and all is right with the Razorbacks. Dreams of a BCS game in 2010 live.

For the moment, revel in his decision, note the return of Greg Childs, Joe Adams, and other receivers, and forget deficiencies on defense, questions about the offensive line, and the expected improvement by Auburn, Mississippi State, and Georgia. Those are parts of the equation to be considered after the giddy wears off.

Mallett’s decision is a wise one, a one-year investment in college football that could be worth $40 million or so. The upcoming NFL draft is very deep in nonquarterback talent and many teams may wait until the second or third round to draft quarterbacks.

Recently, ESPN analyst Todd McShay tossed out the names of five quarterbacks, including Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow, and Jimmy Clausen, and said he thought Bradford would be the only one drafted in the first round. I can’t imagine a team picking Mallett, who has started 13 games at Arkansas and three at Michigan, ahead of Texas’ four-year starter McCoy and others.

A quarterback picked in the first round gets millions guaranteed, but the cash dries up quickly in the later rounds. For instance, Pat White, the first quarterback taken in the second round last year, signed a four-year deal for $4.5 million and Stephen McGee, the first pick in the fourth round, received $2.8 million for four years.

That’s a bunch of boodle for a working man, but nothing compared to what Mallett might get in the 2011 draft.

His arm is unquestioned, but there is more to playing quarterback  in the NFL than zinging a no-arc 30-yarder down the middle or launching a 60-yarder that falls from the sky over the shoulder of an in-stride receiver. He can do that.

“ … let’s face it, working another year under (Bobby) Petrino with receivers who are only going to get better, he has a chance to separate himself from every quarterback in this country,” ESPN’s Chris Mortensen said in an e-mail a little more than a month ago.

At that point, it made sense for Mallett to stay.

Extenuating circumstances led to some waffling by many, including Mortensen and yours truly. For one thing, quarterback Jake Locker said in mid-December that he would return for his senior season at Washington. Now, Locker and Mallett figure to be the top quarterbacks available next year. For another, hints of a work stoppage in 2011 have surfaced.

Also around was the theory that a confident Mallett would take what he could get this year and count on impressing to the point that his second contract would be worth big bucks. Sometimes, those second contracts never materialize. First-round picks get a bunch of guaranteed money.

A closing argument from Mortensen, who said the NFL people he talked with were concerned about Mallett’s consistency. “There are some very good football people in the NFL … who believe a quarterback needs three years of starting at the collegiate level before you can safely invest a first- or even second-round draft pick,” he said.

For Mallett, 13 more games will suffice.

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Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com.