The NFL is a quarterback-driven league.
Without an elite quarterback, a team’s chances of winning championships are slim. But, according to ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski , the NFL teams looking for a franchise quarterback in the 2017 draft might be out of luck, since he feels that none of the 2017 QB prospects are worthy of a first-round draft pick.
“I wouldn’t take one of these guys in the first round,” said Jaworski, a former NFL QB. “If I was a general manager, none of these players right now look to be the guy that could solve my problem.”
Considering that about half the league’s teams continue to search for a top-shelf QB, “Jaws” Jaworski’s comments surely are not what they want to hear.
The consensus top quarterbacks in the 2017 draft are North Carolina’s Mitchell Trubisky, Clemson’s Deshaun Watson, Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes, and Notre Dame’s Deshone Kizer. None of the prospects provide a guarantee of success on the next level, and they all enter the draft with major questions marks.
Trubisky only started for one year at North Carolina. Coaches and scouts wonder why he couldn’t supplant Marquise Williams, who didn’t get drafted or signed as an undrafted free agent last year.
“The question is why wasn’t all that talent starting for the last three years?” Arizona coach Bruce Arians asked. “That’s always bugging me.”
Watson won a lot of games at Clemson, including the national championship game last season. But, concerns have arisen about his field vision.
“Watson stares at his first target — and continues to stare — while two others are open,” said NFL Network analyst David Carr, a long-time NFL QB. “Whether that’s because of the scheme Clemson ran or because he’s not able to do better, Watson is locked in on one guy.”
You can’t win in the NFL as a one-read quarterback.
Mahomes has a rocket arm, but there’s much more to the position than that.
“Pat Mahomes is a pure gunslinger,” said NFL Network draft guru Mike Mayock. “He makes a lot of mistakes, technique breaks down, throws interceptions.”
“I don’t know how you can play winning football with a gunslinger that doesn’t have regard for ball security,” said NFL Network’s Bucky Brooks, a former NFL scout and player.
As referenced by Breitbart Sports, Kizer recently stated that he provides a combination of Tom Brady’s brain and Cam Newton’s body. Not a lot of coaches and scouts seem to agree with that assessment.
“His pocket awareness and pocket mechanics break down too often at critical times,” Mayock said.
However, while there are major concerns about these prospects, expect as many as three to go in the first round, with so many desperate teams in need of a quarterback.
“They are gonna get pushed up,” Jaworski said.
And, perhaps a couple of them will turn into franchise quarterbacks.
But they’re all loaded with red flags.
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