elijah Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 At this point in the draft process, I think we've effectively narrowed our draft options down to seven quarterbacks. Between these seven quarterback's, there is very inconsistent opinions, but they have one thing in common, that they're the only seven quarterbacks with the potential to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. Names like Ryan Finley, Clayton Thorson and Will Grier will continue to pop up, but they'll have no real validation or serious consideration to be a first or second round pick. As of right now, I'd actually put my money on all three of them returning to college. Mason Rudolph - Oklahoma State Other than Baker Mayfield, the opinions on Mason Rudolph may be the most widely varied. I've seen grades as high as the top overall prospect, to as low as a third day prospect. It's unquestionable what makes Rudolph such an attractive prospect. He shows prototypical quarterback size, standing at 6'5" and weighing in around 230 pounds. While his arm strength presents a question mark, the velocity is there. Within 20 yards, Rudolph throws a tight spiral with the speed of a traveling freight train. Some scouts are concerned about his wavering consistency with accuracy, but for the most part he shows the ability to put the ball where it needs to be. Rudolph stands tall and shows comfort in the pocket and has composure through out the game. The question marks about his arm strength results in a poor deep ball that lacks accuracy. In a league where quarterback's are growing to be increasingly mobile, Rudolph lacks any sort of mobility. There's been an inconsistent stretch for Rudolph since the Baylor game, where he's appeared to be nursing a minor shoulder injury and is giving his critics more reason to critique. While extremely unlikely, if not impossible, I believe a playoff run for Rudolph and his Cowboys would bring much more national awareness and significant rise in his draft stock. Josh Rosen - UCLA As of right now, it seems that Josh Rosen is the consensus number one quarterback for almost every scout. It's undeniable that Rosen's ceiling is the highest among all of the quarterbacks. He repetitively shows flashes of greatness that makes him seem like a potentially elite quarterback. Some of the throws that Rosen makes are throws that will drop your jaw, throws that only a franchise quarterback could make. His throwing mechanics are exceptional. His release is a very quick and fluent motion and he gets the ball out at the top of it. He has great pocket awareness and the footwork and presence that we haven't seen with Tyrod Taylor. Setbacks come with Rosen's inconsistent decision making. At points in the season he's seemed to have the awareness of Tom Brady, just to be taken back by the types of poor, air-headed decisions that you would see in a Browns quarterback. I remember watching the Memphis game and seeing Rosen lead his team down the field on what would have been the game winning drive, just to throw an errant interception directly into the defenders hands. There's was no offensive target within atleast five yards of the defender. Lastly, Rosen has questionable arm strength. He lacks the zip on the ball that you see from a quarterback like Matt Stafford or Ben Roethlisberger. Lamar Jackson - Louisville The question of being a quarterback with athleticism or simply an athlete playing quarterback is going to haunt Lamar Jackson throughout the draft process. He's shown points of brilliance, but has also shown abysmal performances like the first half against Clemson which was shaping up to be one of the most important games to that point in the season. Jackson has the height that most athletic quarterback's lack, he stands at 6'3" giving him the ability to see over the line. He comes equipped with a very strong arm but pairs that with rather inconsistent accuracy. While he's shown the ability to pin point the ball, he's also thrown his fair share of wildly inaccurate balls. After his throwing mechanics, there's of course his unworldly running ability. He's not your typical mobile quarterback, but rather your Mike Vick type of quarterback who takes off like a running back and has the ability to run for 1,000 yards any year. He has repeatedly taken off very early in the play before allowing it to develop, but you have to wonder if that will continue to be the case if he's placed on a team with more talent around him. Josh Allen - Wyoming Josh Allen started the year as a possible first overall pick that under the radar due to his small school. Since then, he's done nothing but hurt his draft stock. He shows some of the essentials to be a franchise quarterback. Allen measures out to be 6'5" and has gifted arm strength with a quick and smooth throwing motion. He's shown the ability to climb the pocket and go through his reads while waiting for a play to open up, and he has the mobility that is starting to become a necessity for franchise quarterback's. However, Allen has shown his EJ Manuel-esque accuracy time and time again. He completely misses simple out routes and wide open passes that have to be made. He lacks the awareness that an NFL quarterback needs, as he continuously forces passes and attempts air-headed throws. Allen's footwork is jittery and he never seems to be set and comfortable in the pocket, he simply doesn't have the composure that he needs to be a starting NFL quarterback. Luke Falk - Washington State Luke Falk is the type of quarterback that goes unnoticed to the average NFL fan, gets drafted behind Tom Brady or Drew Brees, and five years from now starts to make a name for himself after developing behind a star. A nightmarish five interception game against an unranked California team helped to temper what was slowly becoming a growing bandwagon for Luke Falk and likely booted him out of any first round consideration. However, outside of this game, Falk has developed a pretty good set of tape throughout the season. The most intriguing part of Falk's game is his comfortable patience in the pocket, he's willing to go through his reads, climb the pocket and wait to find his open receiver. Falk has a tight spiral and great short to mid range accuracy, making him more than qualified to fill the game manager quarterback role. The similarities to Alex Smith are uncanny. However, with the game manager role comes a couple of setbacks. Falk is okay with settling for checkdowns rather than forcing the ball into tight windows. While he's willing to throw plenty of deep balls, poor arm strength hurts his accuracy down field. Sam Darnold - USC I haven't watched an exceptional amount of game tape on Darnold but came away wildly unimpressed and am confident that Darnold will be staying in school another year. After early season hype to be the number one quarterback taken, that hype is all but dead. Darnold plays as a gun slinging playmaker, and this results in a lot of negatives in his game. Time and time again you see Darnold holding the ball for too long due to indecisiveness and ultimately forcing a pass that was too risky and unnecessary. The mechanics of his throwing release are questionable and rather prolonged, however this seems like it can be corrected. When he feels pressure in the pocket he shows the ability to speed up his release and make it quicker. I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for Darnold to enter this draft, and if he does, I wouldn't exactly be hoping to see him in a Buffalo jersey. Baker Mayfield - Oklahoma I can't possibly see the current hype for Baker Mayfield holding up deep into the draft process, or any time after the Heisman award is announced for that matter. For a group of fans that has watched Tyrod Taylor for three years and has a 54 page thread dedicated to who his possible predecessor may be, I'm awestruck at the amount of support that I see Mayfield getting on this message board. There's no question that Mayfield has shown flashes of excellence. You have to show flashes of excellence en route to 3,600 yards, 31 touchdowns and a Heisman trophy. He's made extremely accurate throws with a tight spiral and shown the ability to extend plays with his feet. However, this comes with the same downfalls that we see in Tyrod Taylor. While opinions differ, I strongly believe the three most important aspects of a franchise quarterback are their size, arm strength and pocket awareness. Mayfield lacks all three. Perhaps the two biggest concerns are his inability to see over the line and his quick reaction to panic at ghost pressure. He has a terrible pocket awareness and tries to take off running to the outside of the pocket before he needs too. While Mayfield does have the ability to make big plays, they come in the same style as Taylor's big plays. They're either a very low risk play that turns into a big one, or they come due to his feet extending the play. At the point that we replace Taylor with Baker Mayfield, we may as well not replace Taylor at all. follow me on twitter, @the_big_board Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDIGGZ Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 Rosen will be the best of this bunch as long as he matures and stays out of his own way. his family is already wealthy so money isn't going to drive him. does he have the desire to be the best in the game? you need something to motivate you to be the first one in and last to leave. the talent is definitely there. most talented pocket passer i've seen in the past 5 yrs at least. he would do well to go to a team like NYG and sit and learn behind Eli for a season or two while he matures and learns now to be a pro 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Barbarian Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 Yeah, we know all these guys from the QB thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augie Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 6 hours ago, kdiggz said: Rosen will be the best of this bunch as long as he matures and stays out of his own way. his family is already wealthy so money isn't going to drive him. does he have the desire to be the best in the game? you need something to motivate you to be the first one in and last to leave. the talent is definitely there. most talented pocket passer i've seen in the past 5 yrs at least. he would do well to go to a team like NYG and sit and learn behind Eli for a season or two while he matures and learns now to be a pro He just looks like an NFL QB to me, but part of that may be the system. I think if I were a top 5 QB coming out of high school and had any aspirations regarding the NFL, I’d be looking at colleges with pro-style offenses to prepare me. That doesn’t happen much, so I guess I’m missing something... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDIGGZ Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 Just now, Augie said: He just looks like an NFL QB to me, but part of that may be the system. I think if I were a top 5 QB coming out of high school and had any aspirations regarding the NFL, I’d be looking at colleges with pro-style offenses to prepare me. That doesn’t happen much, so I guess I’m missing something... probably because in high school they don't run a pro style offense so they go to a college that runs a similar offense that they already know and have done well in. there's not a lot of QB's coming through the ranks that play the traditional drop-back style offense. most of them are in shotgun running spread offenses or some kind of misdirection with roll out type passes. pocket passing is a lost art and it's effecting NFL prospects Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijah Posted November 15, 2017 Author Share Posted November 15, 2017 2 hours ago, Buffalo Barbarian said: Yeah, we know all these guys from the QB thread my bad, I was unsure. I thought Josh Rosen or Sam Darnold may have been floating under the radar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Barbarian Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 On 11/15/2017 at 5:22 PM, elijah said: my bad, I was unsure. I thought Josh Rosen or Sam Darnold may have been floating under the radar Sorry but I had to laugh. Those two have been big around here since last season, but your new so it all good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4merper4mer Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 On November 15, 2017 at 5:22 PM, elijah said: my bad, I was unsure. I thought Josh Rosen or Sam Darnold may have been floating under the radar If "flying under the radar" means "sucking at college FB" then yup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijah Posted November 17, 2017 Author Share Posted November 17, 2017 5 hours ago, Buffalo Barbarian said: Sorry but I had to laugh. Those two have been big around here since last season, but your new so it all good. I used the two biggest names in the draft in that post for a reason. Everyone's known who those two are since last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweats Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 No love for Trace Mcsorley?............albeit, he ain't the best of the QB class, but i'd still take him over Allen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeF Posted November 18, 2017 Share Posted November 18, 2017 Kurt Benkert (UVA) is having a day so far against the Canes--he just dropped about a 25-30 yard dime over tight coverage on a RB 4th option receiver while on the move....wow.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luka Posted November 29, 2017 Share Posted November 29, 2017 (edited) Thorson is the sleeper of this draft. Strong arm, accurate, great mechanics and footwork. Love to see him first pick, round 2. Edited November 29, 2017 by Luka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaCrispy Posted December 1, 2017 Share Posted December 1, 2017 (edited) On 11/17/2017 at 1:48 PM, Sweats said: No love for Trace Mcsorley?............albeit, he ain't the best of the QB class, but i'd still take him over Allen. I would take a flyer on Allen in the 4th/5th round and allow Mcsorley to go undrafted. Edited December 1, 2017 by JaCrispy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/dev/null Posted December 2, 2017 Share Posted December 2, 2017 On 11/17/2017 at 1:48 PM, Sweats said: No love for Trace Mcsorley?............albeit, he ain't the best of the QB class, but i'd still take him over Allen. On 11/30/2017 at 9:22 PM, JaCrispy said: I would take a flyer on Allen in the 4th/5th round and allow Mcsorley to go undrafted. McSorely is also a Junior and probably going back for another season. Your opinions of him may change before the 2019 draft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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