Big mystery from Memphis
Lynch emerges as the wild card after top 2 QBs learn destination
An NFL draft that wasn’t supposed to revolve around quarterbacks suddenly started to when the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles completed blockbuster trades to obtain the top two picks in hopes of selecting prospective franchise passers at the outset of the first round.
The names of quarterbacks Jared Goff and Carson Wentz are expected to be called in the opening moments of the draft Thursday evening. But the guessing game continues when it comes to the quarterback many talent evaluators believe will come off the board third in this draft, Paxton Lynch of Memphis.
Lynch is the mystery man of this quarterback class, and pinpointing when he might be selected is proving difficult, making him the most intriguing prospect in Round 1.
“If you have any idea where he’s going,” a front office executive with one NFL team said recently, “let me know because I don’t. I’ve heard a pretty wide range of guesses.”
The list of quarterbackneedy teams will dwindle quickly Thursday, with the Rams widely expected to take Goff first and the Eagles thought to be likely to follow up by choosing Wentz second.
But that list will continue to include the San Francisco 49ers who hold the No. 7 pick, the Cleveland Browns at No. 8, the Buffalo Bills at No. 19, the New York Jets at No. 20 and the Denver Broncos at No. 31. Teams in need of QB
Each of those teams could be in play for Lynch, and each could be a candidate to trade up in the draft order to take him. There has been speculation linking the New Orleans Saints, who have the 12th choice, to Lynch as a successor to Drew Brees.
“San Francisco has got a need at [No.] 7 but I don’t think they’re going to pull the trigger on Paxton Lynch that early,” said NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock. “And then you start looking down the board … Buffalo at 19 and the Jets at 20 are the two logical ones.
“I’ve always connected the dots, and that’s about where he should go.”
But trades could disrupt that, especially if NFL teams are not as confident in other quarterback prospects such as Connor Cook of Michigan State and Christian Hackenberg of Penn State. Teams with productive but aging starters such as the San Diego Chargers, with Philip Rivers, and the Dallas Cowboys, with Tony Romo, also could be in the mix.
“Lynch is, to me, the most intriguing man in this draft because of his size and his athletic ability,” said former NFL coach Jon Gruden, now an ESPN analyst. “You don’t find guys that are 6-7, 245 that can run this fast. He’s got a 37-inch vertical jump. And he put Memphis on the map of college football. This man is winning a lot of games at Memphis, where football really was an afterthought. He’s a dual threat (with) over 280 career rushes, has a poor-man’s-Cam Newton style about him. You don’t realize how much they rely on him as a runner in this offense. I like the way he’s been coached.”
Lynch said at the NFL scouting combine he rarely threw the football in high school and had to find his identity and style as a passer after arriving in college. Self-made man
“When I first came in, I was just kind of a big, skinny, lanky guy,” Lynch said in February in Indianapolis at the combine. “So they didn’t really know what I could and couldn’t do. They just kind of started trying things out, moving me in the pocket and stuff like that. I’m confident in my abilities and what I can and can’t do.”
But he became a highly productive passer and runner while in college and helped Memphis to become a nationally prominent program. He opted to skip his final season of collegiate eligibility to enter the draft and he spent the pre-draft evaluation process conceding nothing to Goff and Wentz, saying he hoped to be viewed on equal footing with any quarterback in this class.
“I’ve always had selfconfidence,” he said. “Ever since I was a kid, I used to watch these guys on TV and I always dreamed one day I’d be there.”
Mayock said he thinks Lynch would be best served if he is eased into NFL playing time.
He does not view Lynch as a prospect ready to be an NFL starter as a rookie.
“Paxton Lynch is a guy that’s a year away from playing,” Mayock said. “But he’s 6-7 and he’s big and athletic.”
How much will that potential mean to teams that have immediate needs at the sport’s most important position?
The answer to that could be one of the key story lines Thursday.