Giants should be Baker takers
Former Big Blue scout: Mayfield is best QB pick
Let us get one thing straight right away: Marc Ross no longer has any say whatsoever with the Giants. He ran the NFL draft preparation for the Giants for more than a decade but was fired Dec. 31, one of the first moves made by new general manager Dave Gettleman.
All season, though, Ross scouted college players for the Giants as their vice president of player evaluation and, once the losses piled up, Ross was instructed by former general manager Jerry Reese to pay attention to the quarterback prospects. If he was still with the Giants and involved in the decision-making process, it sure sounds as if he would be endorsing Baker Mayfield as worthy of the No. 2 overall pick.
It also sounds like he would have advised the Giants to stay away from Josh Rosen and Josh Allen and take a look at Sam Darnold.
“Baker’s my favorite guy of these guys,’’ Ross said Thursday during a studio appearance on ESPN. “To me, he has it. When you look at the franchise-winning quarterbacks in the NFL, the things that Baker does, he’s a winner, he’s super-productive, he dominated at the highest level, not just in his conference, against Georgia and Ohio State with tons of NFL players on the defense. He has a great command, great poise and great feel.’’
The concerns with Mayfield, the Heisman Trophy winner from Oklahoma, are his size (he’s only 6-foot tall) and his temperament — see the crotch-grabbing antics for details.
“I think it’s been proven height is not a direct correlation with being a good NFL quarterback,’’ Ross said.
Rosen, a pure passer from UCLA, is considered the most NFL-ready quarterback in the draft but Ross did not sound impressed.
“I mean, this guy’s a perfect seven-on-seven quarterback,’’ Ross said. “Besides that, it gets messy in there and he takes a lot of sacks and he’s been injured both years. That’s a concern for a pocket passer who’s been injured. But if you just want a guy to get up there and throw it and sling it, he’s your guy. ’’
Allen might have the greatest upside and no one questions his arm strength. Ross wonders why Allen did not dominate while facing a suspect level of competition at Wyoming.
“When you see guys who were not accurate in college they may get a little bit better but not tremendously better,’’ Ross said. “He just doesn’t have those traits that would compensate for not having the accuracy and the lack of feel for the game. ’’
Darnold is not coming off an overly impressive season at USC and had 35 turnovers in two years as a starter. Still, Ross sounds intrigued.
“Sam coming into the year was anointed because of what he did in the bowl game the year before, and rightly so, that was one of the best performances you could see, against Penn State,’’ said Ross, who was with the Giants since 2007 and during his time working with Reese tended to favor athletic ability over proven production. “This year he had some troubles. He’s got playmaking ability like few do, he’s got excellent football character, but he does have the turnovers, both interceptions and fumbles, so he’s got to definitely work on that and that will be hard to overcome for him but he’s the type of guy who will do it.’’
The most physically gifted quarterback in the draft is Lamar Jackson of Louisville, and Ross sees a little bit of Michael Vick in Jackson.
“I love Lamar Jackson,’’ Ross said. “He’s gotten better and better each year. He does sit in the pocket, he can read defenses, he’s very poised, he can deliver on time, the offense they run there, he takes a lot of shots downfield, he’s not running some dink-anddunk system.’’