After spending a week in Indianapolis, and four days last month in Mobile, I’d tell you there are five quarterbacks with a shot at going in the first round—Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer, Texas Tech’s Pat Mahomes, North Carolina’s Mitchell Trubisky, Clemson’s Deshaun Watson, and Cal’s Davis Webb.
In what order, I don’t know. And I don’t think NFL teams have that figured out yet, either. But some themes to the class have emerged.
“First off, what stands out, I think there’s only one guy that’s ever taken a snap from under center,” Chiefs GM John Dorsey told me. “How about that one? It shows how we’re evolving into a spread-option era. Then, what you have to analyze is can they spit out a play in the huddle? If you look at the majority of these guys, everybody’s signaling everything in from the sideline.
“These are the types of things people are looking for as they sit and they talk to these players. Can they sit and regurgitate an offensive play? That’s hard to do, especially in (our) system, it’s really hard to do. But on the whole, they’re a more athletic group.
“Are there any finished products here? I don’t think so. So where are the warts, and are you willing to live with the warts? That’s what people are asking.”
I then asked Dorsey if any of the quarterbacks are ready to play. He smiled and said, “Me personally?” Then a long pause, another smile, and a “No.”
Again, that doesn’t mean there’s not plenty to like with the group, and more to dissect. So I asked one AFC personnel director to break down for me what he saw from the quarterbacks. He missed Webb, but got the other four. Here are his notes, with the caveat he wanted to emphasize—these guys are throwing different routes to receivers they don’t know …
• Kizer: Big, strong, good arm and velocity. Smooth release. Inconsistent feet, timing and accuracy. Had the same misses on multiple reps.
• Mahomes: Tight release, but thought he would be more consistent and better throwing deep.
• Trubisky: Athletic, good arm strength. Some inconsistency in accuracy and timing and deep ball.
• Watson: Very consistent, athletic. Easy motion. Easy ball to catch.
A winner for the week? It was Watson. He blew teams away in interviews to the point where I know a couple clubs that weren’t wild about him were anxious to go back and take a second look at the tape to see if they missed on their evaluation. And his field work was very good.
I wrote last month that Trubisky was the leader to be the first quarterback taken, and I still think that’s probably the likelihood. But Watson has gained some ground.