QB Board Complete
Kyler Murray QB Oklahoma
Top 3 prospect in this class, #1 pick overall. Kliff Kingsbury’s Obi-wan Kenobi. His only hope. Better than any QB on draft day for the last 2 years.
Will Grier QB West Virginia
The media is finally starting to move him up the boards and deservedly so. I have him sitting 12th on the big board in progress. Miami (at 13) is a perfect destination if they are bringing the NE system south.
Daniel Jones QB Duke
Chiming in right around the 20th pick. Alex Smith type QB who can win in this league. Won’t wow you but will win. More eager to let the deep ball fly early so if you give him plus OTs and WRs that resemble the Chargers you’ll be very happy with your selection.
Drew Lock QB Missouri
Currently sitting in the early 2nd round. Despite the fact that he looks to be throwing with his 2017 mechanics again, Lock struggles to throw on the move, struggles to move in the pocket, struggles with pressure and struggles with accuracy. He’s going to need some time to polish his game up and despite the big arm talent he looks like a game manager low-level starter in the best case scenario. Despite grading him low, I don’t see a lot of value in this pick.
Dwayne Haskins QB Ohio State
Not top 10 that’s for sure. Late 2nd round feels a lot more comfortable. Immobile QB, who throws poorly on the run, throws poorly off platform, misses a lot of throws on platform. Thrives vs zone, hates man w/pressure. He can be fooled easier than any QB in the top 5. He’s a system QB and no one seems to understand that. His mechanics took a step forward at his pro day but this is a leap of faith selection. The 2nd round placement is based on arm potential and willingness to learn. I would not draft him this high but someone else surely will.
Easton Stick QB North Dakota State
Early 3rd round pick. Arm isn’t stunning (a tick below NFL average) but everything else is polished and impressive. Zero negative traits and four big plus traits. Including a developing tight ball spin, off platform accuracy, pocket mobility magic and pure athleticism.
Clayton Thorson QB Northwestern
Late 4th round pick. It’s usually a task to find plays where a QB is forced to work off platform. Thorson lived off platform. This was not due to him being a wild gunslinger by choice. His OL was dreadful and he weathered the storm fairly well. His accuracy comes and goes on the deep ball but he has enough arm to drive the far boundary. He will force throws when nothing is open but Thorson was doing it on his own. Northwestern’s offense was Thorson. He is a mentally creative QB who finds his open man and keeps his eyes downfield when the play falls apart. However, he lacks creativity in his ball placement and throws. His pocket sense and mobility saved him and they will help him a great deal on the next level. Baptism by fire isn’t always the worst case scenario. It could have left him broken, but it didn’t. Likely an NFL quality backup QB but he could be helped by having NFL talent around him. There are flashes of hope and if his accuracy becomes more stable he could be a low end starter.
Gardner Minshew QB Washington State
Late 5th round pick. I hated Luke Falk’s pro prospects coming out of this air raid system. Minshew, I love and hate. I love how he whips through his progressions and continues working the routes when nothing comes open early. I love how he feels the pocket and slides (like Baker Mayfield) to a spot that will create the most time. I hate his mechanics from the shoulder down. He is throwing the ball wrong. His base is incredibly wide, he doesn’t step into his throw and the wide base doesn’t allow his hips to turn. He loses a lot of torque. He has a strong arm, but that’s all he uses and that needs to be fixed if he is going to throw with NFL velocity. That could turn out poorly, and if so this is a wasted pick. However, there are too many mental positives to completely dismiss Minshew. This is a leap of faith selection but he could surprise.
Taryn Christion QB South Dakota State
6th round pick. Go watch him. He popped up on the scene for posting huge numbers with Goedert and Wieneke in 2017. There’s more to him than that. Christion is an under the radar talent. (So under the radar that his name is misspelled on TheDraftNetwork) He has good size at 6’2 225 and posted big numbers at his pro day including a sub 4.5 40. He has a live arm and tight ball spin. His load is funky, as it jets straight up, but it helps him get on top of the ball and drive lasers. He can work the boundary and throws a pretty deep ball. He can throw off platform with solid accuracy. However, there are plenty of flaws. He plays frailer than the 225lb frame would make you expect. His accuracy is rough at times and he forces too many throws. He struggles to work over the middle because his throws are very flat. He can’t get the ball up over the LBs and down before the Ss. He struggles to get the ball over the DL and back down to short drag routes. Throws over the middle will hang WRs out to dry. It’s eerily similar to Tyrod Taylor. Baltimore was named as a team that paid him extra attention at his pro-day. No surprise there. Christion went 19/30 333 yards 3 TD and no ints vs #13 rated TCU in 2016. He fumbled twice and lost 1. 3 games later Baker Mayfield went 23/30 274 yards 2 TDs and no ints. Baker fumbled twice losing both. TCU went to a bowl game that year. There are a lot of tools to work with on this one.
Jarrett Stidham QB Auburn
6th round pick. Just looks like an NFL backup QB. When plays are clean he looks solid. When push comes to shove he fails to impress. The only trait of his that is a big negative is his pocket awareness. He took a lot of hits this year and it was in part his fault. He feels the pocket like Prescott (poorly) but lacks the plus mobility to flee. His positives are very underwhelming. I wouldn’t bother using a pick on him but if you want to have a cheap Matt Moore, go ahead.
Tyree Jackson QB Buffalo
7th round pick. There are a lot of people falling in love with his arm but watching his mechanics is painful. I keep having Jamarcus Russell flashbacks. Jackson has better mobility but he is far from the runner you want him to be. Accuracy is very MISS and hit. His wind up can get very long. The people dreaming on him can dream but there is a lot to fix here. If your system revolves around the RPO he makes sense as a cheap flier backup.
Brett Rypien QB Boise State
7th round pick. I love watching Rypien play football. There is an incredible degree of polish to his game and he knows how to be a QB. I truly like him as a player. Yet, he isn’t a pro-prospect. His arm is awful and while there are numbers out there that place him as one of the hardest throwers in this draft that is a lie. He cannot drive the ball down field for the life of him. He can’t even throw it to the far boundary. His mechanics are correct, he just lacks the strength. His hand size is small, and while I usually don’t care about such aspects of a player, it shows up on tape as a problem. He is heady, and makes good decisions but that makes you an OC, not a QB. People who grade him high are not seeing his lack of raw talent. I’d blow a pick on him if you have a Clydesdale you are trying to groom. He’d be a great buddy QB (your show pony’s pet goat) to give your QBs coach a moments rest.
Jordan Ta’amu QB Ole Miss
7th round pick. Ta’amu has the arm but that’s pretty much it. He’s a mobile athlete but his feet are heavy and slow in the pocket. He has bad pocket awareness and takes too many hits. Having 3 NFL WRs to work with made his life easy, and he didn’t help them shine. The arm is plus, the deep ball is on and off but the rest isn’t anything to be excited about. He lacks the traits of a starter in the NFL and I’d prefer other options as a backup. His arm will get him drafted.
Brad Mayes QB Lehigh
Priority-UDFA. Another under the radar FCS prospect. Lehigh isn’t a SDSU NDSU level program. It’s frankly bad football. However, Mayes has an effortlessly strong arm and I’d love to see him in the preseason. He has good mobility, and was a highly awarded HS player who got passed over due to being a shade too short. He deserves a shot. There is a great interview about the person you are getting over at: https://www.underdogdynasty.com/2019/3/7/18254745/player-profile-brad-mayes-qb-lehigh-nfl-draft-2019-fcs-regional-combine
Trace McSorley QB Penn State
UDFA camp body. There are a lot of warts to his game but his time at Penn State deserves to be rewarded with a place in someone’s camp. The problem is that the accuracy is unacceptable and his arm is only modest. He’s a gritty gamer and will entertain with the 3rd stringers. I like him as a player and he reminds me of Taysom Hill, despite being a poor-man’s version.
Ryan Finley QB North Carolina State
I would not waste my time with Ryan Finley. I simply cannot believe people are giving him the lofty projections that they are. Versus Clemson this year he threw 6 ints if Clemson didn’t drop a few. He also missed Harmon for 3 huge chunk plays. Harmon is flat out good. Meyers isn’t a great athlete but he’s a heck of a college WR. Finley wasted them. He has 3 sets of mechanics and they are ok, bad and terrible. He does not have an NFL arm and there is nothing wrong with his mechanics other than they do not work. I’ve read positive reviews of his accuracy and anticipation and I cannot find examples of those positives on film. Who did Finley’s agent blow? If he throws an out in the NFL it’s as good as calling a pick 6. His pocket mobility is plus but he throws worse on the move and has made some decisions that are a special level of ghastly. He might be a great student of the game but he’ll get chewed up and spit out at the pro level. This is another Nathan Peterman disaster.
Justice Hansen QB Arkansas State
Bipolar. He is 33% phenomenal and 67% awful. At the same time. If you want to see a wild mustang flailing at the Sunbelt conference give him a look. His highlights are breath-taking at times. His full game film is bafflingly high and low. I don’t see a way to fix it or reign it in. If he plays in the preseason, or XFL, or anywhere, it’s must watch football. He was recruited by Oklahoma and red-shirted along with Baker Mayfield, then left when it was clear he wasn’t the guy. I’ll pull up the preseason game on my streaming account if he gets a shot to play.
No other prospect has popped up on my radar as being worthy of NFL discussion.