"Pro" Class of '17 QB Evaluations

Tour2ma

Collect them all...

Here's one from Bleacher Report to kick things off. I've summarized their ranking.

For the full article, including Positives and Negatives on each prospect, go to:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2687975-nfl-draft-400-ranking-the-drafts-top-qbs

NFL Draft 400: Ranking the Draft's Top QB
Matt Miller - NFL Draft Lead Writer
April 3, 2017

Grade / Label
-- 9.00 -- : Elite—No. 1 pick
8.00-8.99: All-Pro—Rare Talent
7.50-7.99: Round 1—Pro Bowl Potential
7.00-7.49: Round 1—Top-15 Player Potential
6.50-6.99: Round 2—Rookie Impact/Future Starter
6.00-6.49: Round 3—Rookie Impact/Future Starter
5.80-5.99: Round 3-4—Future Starter
5.70-5.79: Round 4—Backup Caliber
5.60-5.69: Round 5—Backup Caliber
5.30-5.59: Round 6—Backup Caliber
5.10-5.25: Round 7—Backup Caliber
5.00-5.10: Priority Free Agent
4.50-4.99: Camp Player

The Rankings:
1. Mitchell Trubisky, North Carolina - FINAL GRADE: 7.15/9.00 (Round 1—Future Starter)
2. Deshaun Watson, Clemson -------- FINAL GRADE: 7.00/9.00 (Round 1—Future Starter)
3. Patrick Mahomes II, Texas Tech -- FINAL GRADE: 6.75/9.00 (Round 2—Future Starter)

4. DeShone Kizer, Notre Dame ------- FINAL GRADE: 6.75/9.00 (Round 2—Future Starter)
5. Davis Webb, California -------------- FINAL GRADE: 6.25/9.00 (Round 3—Future Starter)
6. Brad Kaaya, Miami (FL) ------------- FINAL GRADE: 6.25/9.00 (Round 3—Future Starter)

7. Nathan Peterman, Pitt --------------- FINAL GRADE: 6.25/9.00 (Round 3—Future Starter)
8. Joshua Dobbs, Tennessee --------- FINAL GRADE: 5.90/9.00 (Round 4—Backup Caliber)
9. Chad Kelly, Ole Miss ----------------- FINAL GRADE: 5.70/9.00 (Round 4—Starter Traits)

10. C.J. Beathard, Iowa ----------------- FINAL GRADE: 5.40/9.00 (Round 6—Backup Caliber)
11. Jerod Evans, Virginia Tech -------- FINAL GRADE: 5.40/9.00 (Round 7—Backup Caliber)
12. Cooper Rush, Central Michigan - FINAL GRADE: 5.40/9.00 (Round 7—Backup Caliber)

13. Alek Torgersen, Penn --------------- FINAL GRADE: 5.00/9.00 (Round 7—Backup Caliber)
14. Zach Terrell, Western Michigan -- FINAL GRADE: 4.99/9.00 (Undrafted Free Agent)

Mudfly

7 future starters?......HA!

Unprecedented optimism that will never ever happen.....

7 starters from the same draft?>.........Ahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...haha.....ha

Unsympathetic

Perhaps the tag should be "Future Akili Smith" rather than "future starter" ?

LondonBrown

Clearly I'm no expert but how Mahomes and Trubisky can be graded higher than Kizer is baffling to me. They both have severe flaws I can't see being rectified

jrb12711

@mudfly said:

7 future starters?......HA!

Unprecedented optimism that will never ever happen.....

7 starters from the same draft?>.........Ahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...haha.....ha

Yeah, although I wonder what they truly mean by "future starter". By technical definition if they mean will start a game one day, for example 8 QB's from the 2014 class were "future starters"

http://insider.espn.com/nfl/draft/positions/_/id/8/year/2014/quarterback

Mudfly

@jrb12711 said:

Yeah, although I wonder what they truly mean by "future starter". By technical definition if they mean will start a game one day, for example 8 QB's from the 2014 class were "future starters"

http://insider.espn.com/nfl/draft/positions/_/id/8/year/2014/quarterback

Well....that would not be my take......I suspect they mean actual starting QB.....not an emergency 1 game fill in guy....

and, by that standard, 2014 produced 3.....and 1 of them bites......so, make it 2.......

Tour2ma

Yeah... seems like there should be a middle designation along the lines of "Potential Starter". A lot of kids have become starters that I can't imagine anyone predicted... e.g., Siemian, Yates, Hoyer...

Got curious and googled BR's results for 2016: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2625323-nfl-draft-400-ranking-the-top-quarterbacks-for-2015
Spoiler Alert: They also saw 7 "Future Starters" last year...

Not going to capsulize this old edition, but here are a few highlights:

13. Kess - 5.70/9.00 (Round 5—Backup Caliber)
10. Kevin Hogan - 5.70/9.00 (Round 5—Backup Caliber) PRO COMPARISON: Brian Hoyer
9. Jacoby Brissett - 5.70/9.00 (Round 5—Backup Caliber)
5. Dak Prescott - 6.10/9.00 (Round 3—Future Starter)

Mudfly

Right.....you'd think "backup caliber" is the designation for the guy who has an occasional start....

Tim Couch Pulls Out

@mudfly said:

7 future starters?......HA!

Unprecedented optimism that will never ever happen.....

7 starters from the same draft?>.........Ahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...haha.....ha

It's not outside the realm of reason...we could have 5 of them start for us in any given year.

Mudfly

Heck....ftm, Shashi might draft 5 of them in one year too......

jrb12711

@mudfly said:

Well....that would not be my take......I suspect they mean actual starting QB.....not an emergency 1 game fill in guy....

and, by that standard, 2014 produced 3.....and 1 of them bites......so, make it 2.......

Yeah I definitely agree, it was just something I was thinking about. These things sometimes sneak that type of crap into evaluations as a "hey, we weren't wrong!"

Mudfly

@jrb12711 said:

Yeah I definitely agree, it was just something I was thinking about. These things sometimes sneak that type of crap into evaluations as a "hey, we weren't wrong!"

Right.....and I honestly dont think they are saying that all will be starting QB's......more like they are saying all have some attributes and we just dont know which "1" will rise.....

Mr. Make-Believe

@londonbrown said:
Clearly I'm no expert but how Mahomes and Trubisky can be graded higher than Kizer is baffling to me. They both have severe flaws I can't see being rectified

And Kizer doesn't?

I agree that Mahomes is a shitshow, but I like Trubisky WAY more than Kizer.

Tour2ma

@mr.-make-believe said:

And Kizer doesn't?

I agree that Mahomes is a shitshow, but I like Trubisky WAY more than Kizer.

And just to make the discussion complete...

Gun to my head at 12? I take Watson...

LondonBrown

49mph velocity on the gun not concern you Tour?

I see little upgrade in Watson over Kessler. Kizer could be a star Watson doesn't have that ceiling

Tour2ma

@londonbrown said:
49mph velocity on the gun not concern you Tour?

No, because I don't see "49" on tape... if you look at Watson's arm whip when he cuts loose, there is a lot of snap there.

Tour2ma

lol... From reddit's Browns sub...

http://i.imgur.com/yjW3i6P.gifv

Mr. Make-Believe

@tour2ma said:

No, because I don't see "49" on tape... if you look at Watson's arm whip when he cuts loose, there is a lot of snap there.

I agree with this to a point. It is that 49MPH however that keeps from putting him ahead of Trubisky, personally.

hoorta

@londonbrown said:
Clearly I'm no expert but how Mahomes and Trubisky can be graded higher than Kizer is baffling to me. They both have severe flaws I can't see being rectified

@mr.-make-believe said:

And Kizer doesn't?

I agree that Mahomes is a shitshow, but I like Trubisky WAY more than Kizer.

I agree, of the four, (Trubisky, Watson, Mahomes, Kizer) MHO is Kizer will be the last qb taken. Heck Webb might even go before Deshone. Accuracy and slow release are things near impossible to fix.

Tim Couch Pulls Out

That velocity reading is meh. It's not a science, nor is it official, nor does it really show anything.

If it was indicative of actual arm strength, Colt McCoy would have a stronger arm than Flacco and Austin Davis would have a stronger arm than Cam Newton.