Next years crop is always better... It happens every year. In 2012, everyone was talking about Landry Jones, Logan Thomas, Matt Barkley, Tyler Wilson. In 2013, Teddy Bridgewater was a cant miss prospect, Aaron Murray, AJ McCarron, Zach Mettenberger were all looked at as solid prospects that could land in the first round. Last year, Winston was the hands down best prospect in the class, Petty, Hundley were both thought of highly. Now Im not saying you in particular, but each year the draft community everywhere is so interested in the class next year, specifically for QBs, and every year many of those QBs never live up to expectations
I just have a hard time looking to next year. If there's a QB who's available at the pick that has a shot at being an above average player, Id have a hard time passing
he Seahawks struck gold. No one knew what Wilson would be, and no team can count on striking gold at QB with any pick outside of the top half of the first round. In the past 10 years, Rodgers and Wilson are about the only QBs that have turned out to be good players that werent top 16 picks.
I cant really speak to Carr- its still too early IMO and I havent watched him
Now we're lowering the bar to above average player? That's all it will take for us to draft a QB in the top 6 and ignore guys with more talent?
You guys want to know a secret? This isn't Ancient Greece. Guys aren't going to do well in the NFL simply because it is their fate to do so. Quarterbacks develop or do not develop based upon the coaching they receive and how well they fit into a system. Colin Kaepernick was about as raw a prospect there could be, he didn't deserve to go in the first round because 90% of coaches would have gotten nothing out if him. Harbaugh fixed him. It's that simple.
It's more true with QBs than any other position because the mental side of the game is far more significant. We've seen guys crumble based upon that alone (it's why I short changed Derek Carr last year). That's why when you look at prospects, you want the guys who have the quickest road to get to respectability as a player. I see things comparing Mariota to Kaepernick and I think that's not good at all for Mariota. I see Jameis making consistent freshman mistakes and I think that's not good for Jameis.
Could those guys turn into good players? Of course. Physically there is nothing wrong with Jameis, he could be Big Ben. But unless you have a great offensive staff it won't happen. Guys don't just get better at the QB position, people make them better.
That brings us to coaching. Everything depends on the guys we bring in. Do I think that either it worth it in the top ten? No, but I'd feel a lot better if we bring in an offensive staff with a pedigree doing something with quarterbacks.
My hope would be that instead of rushing to get a QB, they spend a year developing and evaluating talent, and see what they have for 2016 so they aren't just tossing a young QB into a roster they don't yet understand.
Do people overhype the following year's class? Yeah, of course. They are projecting guys to hit a certain level of development. I can recall a conversation between E and I on here where I was praising Mariota's raw skill at the beginning of last season, and E basically said we'll see if he gets any better. He didn't. And he still hasn't.
Those guys in next year's class could bomb out, but I'll tell you that several of them have the potential, if they develop, to show everything they need to go top ten/five/whatever. We project, they try to reach the mark. I put Logan #1 back when he showed flashes as a sophomore. I knew Logan fell apart as a junior, so I didn't keep him as the top guy. I dropped him to the 2/3 round in my mind, figuring he could snap out of it. He didn't, so he dropped again. The problem comes in when people never adjust their evaluation because they just assume they were projected because they are can't miss.
As for Amari Cooper- I like him a lot, but Im not sure he's a top 4-5 talent. Id honestly rather trade back for Kevin White. If we end up reaching (or what appears like reaching in my eyes), Id rather reach for the most important position in all of sports. I havent watched any of the OTs so I cant really form much an opinion on them yet...
What's wrong with Amari? I see a lot of people say that he's overrated, yet rarely do they give a reason.
