Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Dearth of premier passers in draft had QB carousel spinning
A dearth of premier passers in the upcoming NFL draft meant the quarterback carousel spun faster than ever this spring.
Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan, Marcus Mariota, Carson Wentz, Teddy Bridgewater, Drew Lock and Deshaun Watson all changed teams in 2022.
Franchises still searching for a prized quarterback won’t find much star power in this year’s crop of college QBs, although there are potential upgrades in the likes of Liberty’s Malik Willis, Pitt’s Kenny Pickett, Mississippi’s Matt Corral, Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder and North Carolina’s Sam Howell.
None of them will rise to the very top of the draft as 16 quarterbacks have done this century, including Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow, Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield over the past four years.
This might even be the first draft since 2013 without a quarterback selected in the top 10.
NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah noted he was 32 minutes into a media conference call before he was even asked about this QB class.
“So that tells you it’s a little bit different draft,” he said. “None of the quarterbacks just completely blow you away.”
Every prospect has his problems. Pickett put up big numbers but has small hands. Willis’ upside is intriguing, but he’s inexperienced and imprecise.
One thing that does ooze from this QB class is defiance.
“Somebody’s always going to think you’re trash. That’s just the way the game goes,” Willis said. “I really don’t care too much about what he and she say.” Neither does Ridder. “We’re all overachievers and we all feel like there’s a chip on our shoulders just because they’re saying this draft class isn’t as good as others,” Ridder said. “But I think you’ll see a lot of success out of all of us in this league.”
Several general managers share
that view.
“I think it’s a quality class,” Steelers GM Kevin Colbert said. “There’s going to be starting NFL quarterbacks coming out of this class, for sure.”
Panthers GM Scott Fitterer said that while the consensus says this is a weak quarterback class, “we look at it a little bit differently. We think there’s some guys who can come in and help us.”