The Others (players I didn't cover in my profiles) - QBs

[The Football Guru 210]

I decided this year I would add a bit more to the draft coverage. For each of the four fantasy positions, I will post a short write-up about the next handful or so of players that I didn't profile and put them in the order I would draft them, all things being equal. Obviously, I cannot account for such things as scheme fit and will only use off-field concerns as a tie-breaker, if only because I only know about what is being reported and don't have my own security team to provide all the intimate details we need to have in most cases. At the end of the four position groups, I'll post a pre-draft top 40-50 (probably Thursday afternoon), depending on how many I can actually get done.

 

1. Deshaun Watson

 

2. DeShone Kizer

 

High-end NFL Player Comp(s): Steve McNair

Low-end NFL Player Comp(s): Daunte Culpepper

 

Kizer will need time to adjust working under center, speeding up his internal clock and getting used to making full-field reads. He also had at least one interception in 15 of his 23 starts. With that said, he was a junior last season who lost his two best weapons (Will Fuller and C.J. Prosise) in the 2016 draft, so the aforementioned concerns should probably be weighted too harshly, especially on a team that dealt with some internal turmoil in 2016. There is no question he has the highest ceiling of any quarterback in this draft, but there is significant concern among some personnel people he is "a selfish player worried mostly about status and money" and "not committed to the game". The same thing was said about Cam Newton, so take it for what it's worth. While Kizer obviously has room to improve, most of what he lacks right now can be corrected through quality coaching. He is much more comfortable in the pocket than most quarterback prospects who can be considered dual threats and made more high-level NFL throws than any other top signal-caller available in this draft. At 6-4 and 230-plus pounds with plus-athleticism, Kizer is the type of prospect coaches love to get their hands on. If the aforementioned concern about Kizer being a prima donna turns out to be as unimportant as it did for Newton, Kizer could easily end up being the best QB prospect in this draft.

 

3. Mitchell Trubisky

 

4. Nathan Peterman

 

High-end NFL Player Comp(s): Trent Green

Low-end NFL Player Comp(s): AJ McCarron

 

Peterman has been billed by some as this class' Kirk Cousins in the sense he has the best chance among non-first round quarterbacks to emerge as a quality NFL starter. He isn't going to scare the defense as a runner, but he is the rare modern college quarterback who spent somewhat significant time under center and has worked in something resembling a NFL offense. Peterman lacks the physical talent of the quarterbacks likely to be selected ahead of him and isn't going to wow anyone with his arm strength, yet he completed nearly half of his throws of 25-plus yards because he possesses good timing and anticipation. If his 2016 Clemson tape is any indication of how he performs in the NFL, then he should settle in as a solid starter at some point fairly early in his NFL career.

 

 

5. Patrick Mahomes II

 

High-end NFL Player Comp(s): Brett Favre

Low-end NFL Player Comp(s): Kyle Boller

 

At some point, someone will be the first, but a quarterback from an "Air Raid" offense has yet to enjoy any amount of success in the NFL. It's easy to see why scouts drool over Mahomes, who has more arm strength than most college spread quarterbacks, the ability to throw into the tightest of windows and flashes the accuracy to occasionally drop a 30- to 40-yard throw into the bucket. The tradeoff is he misses way too many makeable throws and was fortunate to come away with only 10 interceptions in his final season given how often he put the ball up for grabs. The raw tools are there, but Mahomes is really a less athletic but stouter version of Johnny Manziel without the off-field concerns or a stronger-armed Ryan Fitzpatrick at the moment. Mahomes will bring top-level arm strength, improvisation and toughness to the table, but he is severely lacking at the moment in regards to ball security, footwork and pocket presence, making him a long-term project at a time in a league that rarely allows players to develop slowly. He has a ton of upside to be sure, but for what a team is going to need to invest in order to draft him, he is also the most likely quarterback to bust.

 

 

6. Davis Webb

 

High-end NFL Player Comp(s): Mike Glennon

Low-end NFL Player Comp(s): Brock Osweiler

 

It takes watching about five throws to realize Webb has NFL arm talent and there is no question he has the arm strength to succeed. I also tend to put a fair amount of weight into how a prospect looks at the Senior Bowl practices (and to a lesser extent, the game) and he stood out there as well. But it is important to put the aforementioned praise into proper perspective, since four years of game tape in the "Air Raid" should tell more of a prospect's story than one week preparing for all-star game. And it doesn't take long before some Osweiler-like tendencies start coming out. That doesn't mean he is resigned to an Osweiler-like fate. However, it does mean he faces the same steep learning curve Mahomes does. He has a ways to go in terms of intermediate-to-deep accuracy, anticipation, footwork and making throws under pressure. Those are areas he is going to clean up, if only because he isn't athletic enough to extend plays or threaten defenses as a runner. He is more than likely going to be a long-term backup, but his work at the Senior Bowl and football IQ could allow his career to mimic Glennon's.

 

 

7. Joshua Dobbs

 

High-end NFL Player Comp(s): Dak Prescott

Low-end NFL Player Comp(s): E.J. Manuel

 

Dobbs has been described as a quarterback who will make a "stick" throw or two and the next one will make you wonder why he's even being considered a Day 2 or early Day 3 prospect. He made 35 starts in his college career and joined Prescott and Tim Tebow as the only SEC quarterbacks to throw for at least 15 touchdowns and run for 10 in 2016, and he led the Volunteers in rushing despite the fact they had a likely second-round pick at running back in Alvin Kamara. In short, he can and will hurt defenses as a runner. Dobbs is also highly intelligent, resilient and fares well when rushed (PFF gave him a 105.7 passer rating under pressure in 2016), so he does possess some important ingredients in regards being a potential starter in the NFL. His major concerns are his aforementioned accuracy and the consistency of his footwork/throwing motion, issues that sound more like cause-and-effect as opposed to two separate problems. He sported a remarkable 47.7-percent completion rate on throws of at least 21 yards in 2016 but countered that with nine interceptions on just 104 attempts beyond 10 yards. One possible explanation: he loses track of defenders on intermediate throws and relaxes a bit more on known 1-on-1 situations. He's more Prescott than Manuel in my opinion, but he has enough to improve upon that he should be expected to have the same kind of impact, at least not right away.

 

 

8. Brad Kaaya

 

High-end NFL Player Comp(s): Teddy Bridgewater

Low-end NFL Player Comp(s): Jason Campbell

 

Despite possessing a wealth of experience as a starting quarterback, Kaaya may be among the toughest players at his position to evaluate in this class; throughout his time as a Hurricane, Miami rarely had even an average offensive line. (When that happens with college quarterbacks, it becomes difficult to figure out what areas of his game really need to be polished versus which ones eventually became bad habits due to constant pressure and punishment. To that end, Pro Football Focus gave him a 113.0 passer rating from a clean pocket in 2016 versus a 59.2 mark when he was considered "under pressure".) As a prospect, he isn't unlike Peterman; both have a vast amount of experience in a pro-style offense, are solid short-range passers with nice touch on the deep ball and repeatedly made full-field reads. Also like Peterman, he isn't overly athletic and doesn't possess great arm strength. Where the two begin to separate a bit is Kaaya is a bit more mechanical and lacks the same accuracy on intermediate throws. Still, it's rare in today's college game to find a prospect who was basically raised to be a quarterback and allowed to grow in an offense which will resemble something he will see at the pro level. If he can improve his overall strength, intermediate accuracy and velocity even just a bit over the next year or two, he has a shot to be a decent low-end NFL starter down the road.

[Marshall 98]

Thanks for all of your hard work, Doug.

 

It is (and you are) appreciated.

[ralphster 274]

yeah what he said!

[Kopy 489]

I wouldn't mind Seattle taking a shot on Josh Dobbs. I really like Boykin as a backup, but he might just be alittle to immature to be reliable.

[The Football Guru 210]

Thanks Marshall and ralph,

 

I wouldn't mind Seattle taking a shot on Josh Dobbs. I really like Boykin as a backup, but he might just be alittle to immature to be reliable.

I think this would be a really good fit for him. For some reason, I've had a feeling Houston is looking at him or Kaaya. O'Brien wants smart QBs (preferably w/ experience) and these are two guys who qualify.