This is the class of the (flawed) quarterback
DENVER — We’ve been hearing it for months: The 2018 NFL draft is all about the quarterback.
The quarterback conundrum is more like it.
“You can go around a room and probably get four or five different opinions on how they should be stacked.”
That’s a quote from John Elway, Denver Broncos general manager and headliner of the pre-eminent 1983 QB class that featured six firstround selections and produced three Hall of Famers.
There’s no consensus top QB this year like there was with Andrew Luck or Cam Newton a few years ago. Every one of this year’s “Big Four” — USC’s Sam Darnold , Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield , Wyoming’s Josh Allen and UCLA’s Josh Rosen — can find their names atop somebody’s mock draft this week and almost certainly first on somebody’s draft board Thursday night.
What this year’s quarterback crop lacks in clarity it makes up for in complexity.
Louisville’s Lamar Jackson, Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph, and Senior Bowl star Kyle Lauletta of Richmond are also hopeful they’ll hear Roger Goodell call their names early. Throw in Washington State’s Luke Falk, and maybe it’s one of these “Little Four” quarterbacks who might ultimately end up as the gem of this year’s draft.
Sort of like sixth-rounder Tom Brady in 2000 or thirdrounder Russell Wilson in 2012.
Should six quarterbacks go in the first round, as many suspect, it would tie the ’83 standard when Elway, Todd Blackledge, Jim Kelly, Tony Eason, Ken O’Brien and Dan Marino were selected.
If quarterbacks go 1-2-3, it would match 1999’s group in which Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb and Akili Smith were the first three players off the board a year before Brady went 199th.
There’s no clear-cut, surefire top pick quarterback in this year’s draft because all of the prime prospects have at least one key drawback.
So, all of those owners, GMs, scouts and coaches scratching their heads for months will soon be crossing their fingers if they bypass Saquon Barkley, Bradley Chubb, Quenton Nelson, Denzel Ward, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Derwin James and Tremaine Edmunds to dive into the deep quarterback class, which could make or break a franchise’s fortunes.
Every year, quarterbacks rise to the top of the draft, pushing value down the board to teams who already have theirs. Fifty-six quarterbacks have been drafted in the first round since 1996, the last draft featuring no firstround QBs.
“This quarterback draft, like every draft, drives the top end of this thing,” NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said.