Teams get to see QB hopefuls at combine
This year’s deep class of quarterbacks features as many as a half dozen first-round NFL prospects full of hope, hype and hazard.
There’s Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield and questions about the Heisman winner’s size and stature. A lot of teams would love UCLA’s Josh Rosen for his skills and strength but wonder if he’s a good fit in the locker room and their organization.
Wyoming’s Josh Allen has enviable size but faces questions about his regression last season. USC’s Sam Darnold has to answer queries about his ball security and why he’s not throwing at the NFL combine this weekend like the other prospects. Louisville’s Lamar Jackson , the 2016 Heisman winner, needs to prove he’s a better pro prospect throwing the ball than catching it. And teams wonder if Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph can transition to the pro offense after operating exclusively out of the shotgun.
Will these guys be the next Carson Wentz, who ignited the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl run in just his second season before getting hurt and rooting on Nick Foles from the sideline?
Or will they be the next Paxton Lynch, the 2016 first-round flop whose inability to grasp the complexities of the pro game has Broncos GM John Elway once again searching for answers at quarterback?
Elway has found it difficult to land a franchise quarterback from the college ranks like he did in free agency with Peyton Manning six years ago.
Last year, the Broncos cycled through his draft picks Brock Osweiler, Trevor Siemian and Lynch during the team’s worst season in decades.
“Believe me, I’m not done swinging and missing,” said Elway, who owns the fifth pick in this year’s draft. “Misses don’t bother me. We just have to figure out a way to get it right.”
Elway could go after a veteran again in free agency such as Kirk Cousins. But the Broncos staff coached Mayfield and Allen at the Senior Bowl and this week and they
plan to bring in several of the other top prospects for visits leading up to the draft on April 26.
“There is a possibility of some really good quarterbacks coming out of this draft,” Elway said.
Maybe not like his own class in 1983, which produced three Hall of Famers in himself, Dan Marino and Jim Kelly, but this year’s crop of quarterbacks is filled with intrigue and promise. And plenty of questions. Among them: TALL ORDER Is Mayfield too short? He measured in just over 6 feet tall with a hand size of 9¼ inches, under the standard targets of 6-2 and 9½ inches.
Elway, for one, isn’t concerned, about Mayfield’s measurements.
“I think that (stigma) has been broken,” Elway said. “You’ve got Drew Brees — they’ve proven that you can do it. He’s obviously very much a competitor. He’s had a great college career and won the Heisman Trophy. He’s proved he can play.”
Nor is Elway turned off by Mayfield’s crossing the line at times.
He was arrested last year and charged with disorderly conduct, public intoxication and resisting arrest. After the Kansas Jayhawks wouldn’t shake his hand, he was caught on camera grabbing his crotch and swearing at the Kansas sideline.