The Official QB Thread- JD5 taken #2. Randall 2.0 or Bayou Bob? Mariotta and Hartman forever. Fromm cut

[CommanderInTheRye]

Three QBs worth considering at the top of the draft.

 

Take one hundred scouts and you'll get one hundred different perspectives and 100 different opinions and even those learned opinions are subject to change over time.

 

Here's one more log to toss on the fire. There'll be plenty more between now and the end of April...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CapsSkins]

Definite split among evaluators between Maye and Daniels at 2 overall. This guy was Director of College Scouting for the Giants for six seasons.

 

 

[ThatNFLChick]

This is going to fluctuate so much between now and the draft. I wouldn't be surprised if in a month people will be talking about both McCarthy and Nix as top 5 picks 

[HTTRDynasty]

 

 

[Skinsinparadise]

Yeah the back and forth is just going to keep coming, on both fronts. 

 

I was listening to Ryan Fowler yesterday on Sheehan, ex-Draft Network guy, used to work for this team and is a fan.  Big on Drake Maye, elite arm talent, can make any throw in the book.  He said asking people he knows in the league about Daniels, its all over the place from high pick to late 2nd rounder-3rd rounder.  Concerned about can he make tight window throws, durability - thinks its more boom bust with Daniels.   Maye with the higher floor and still has a high ceiling.

 

His description of both fit mine to a tee except he did that drill about Daniels being a straight line runner.  IMO he's not.  He has a lot of zig and zag in his running.  I was listening to someone else say this recently that Daniels is no Lamar as a runner because Lamar can go horizontal and zig and zag in the pocket.  IMO so can Daniels.  He didn't do it a ton but he did at times. 

 

I am 100% sold on Daniels as a runner.  What am not sold on is can he survive as a runner.  Fowler reminded that Richardson who is a bigger dude didn't last as a runner last season.  I don't recall did Richardson get injured while running?

 

 

 

6 hours ago, ThatNFLChick said:

This is going to fluctuate so much between now and the draft. I wouldn't be surprised if in a month people will be talking about both McCarthy and Nix as top 5 picks 

 

Yeah the draft process has become an entertainment business.  And coming up with outlier positions garners attention.

 

Some dude is going to have Caleb as the 3rd best QB.  Someone will pick Nix, Penix or McCarthy as number two or whatever and get a stint talking about it on ESPN or whatever.

Edited January 25 by Skinsinparadise

[HTTRDynasty]

21 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 I don't recall did Richardson get injured while running?

He did.

 

[Skinsinparadise]

3 minutes ago, HTTRDynasty said:

He did.

 

 

thanks i was too lazy to look

 

 

[HTTRDynasty]

2 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

thanks i was too lazy to look

I’m sitting here with my 5-month old daughter sleeping on my chest, so luckily I had some time

[Skinsinparadise]

Just now, HTTRDynasty said:

I’m sitting here with my 5-month old daughter sleeping on my chest, so luckily I had some time

 

Been a long time for me since my daughter was that age but thinking back, I could relate. 😎

[Warhead36]

7 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

thanks i was too lazy to look

 

 

Better off tanking for 2026 and going for Arch

[Skinsinparadise]

2 minutes ago, Warhead36 said:

Better off tanking for 2026 and going for Arch

 

lol, yeah.  Granted anything can happen and someone new can emerge.  But for the moment, the idea of passing on a Qb in a touted draft for the position and banking hey lets get our guy in 2025 is a depressing thought to me.  Fortunately, I don't think that's what they will do.  I'd be shocked if they don't go with a QB in this draft.

[kingdaddy]

6 hours ago, ThatNFLChick said:

This is going to fluctuate so much between now and the draft. I wouldn't be surprised if in a month people will be talking about both McCarthy and Nix as top 5 picks 

A good question for Peters today would be "do you have any idea of what you're gonna do with the #2 overall pick as far as picking a specific player?" 

I'm sure many on the site would say he knows who he wants but I'm not so sure he does until he gets a head coach in here with an OC. 

 

[ThatNFLChick]

 

 

[HTTRDynasty]

Oof.

 

 

 

 

[bearrock]

I think there's a lot of fool's gold with trying to compare Caleb Williams as the next Mahomes or Daniels as the next Lamar.  If Caleb play in structure well then he has the improvisational ingredients to play like Mahomes.  If Daniels can utilize his running ability while staying healthy and marry that with a very good passing game, then he has the chance to be special like Lamar.  Well, those are gigantic ifs.  

[mojo]

14 minutes ago, HTTRDynasty said:

Oof.

 

 

 

 

That's worrisome.  The last thing I want to see is another RG3 who was willing to get pounded to the turf in an effort to gain an extra yard.  I remember Gruden saying that was one of worst traits, thinking he could score a TD on every play.

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

I’ve been all over the place and still am.  I was big on Daniels but the deeper I dive in, the more I step back.  What’s bothered me about Maye is something that workouts and interviews can’t measure, and thats the ability to step up and carry when needed most - and I just haven’t seen it.  To be fair, Caleb Williams suffers a bit of that too.

 

I realize there’s no perfect prospect, and we have to take our shot, just really can’t get gung-ho about any of the 3.

[ThatNFLChick]

Just now, mojo said:

That's worrisome.  The last thing I want to see is another RG3 who was willing to get pounded to the turf in an effort to gain an extra yard.  I remember Gruden saying that was one of worst traits, thinking he could score a TD on every play.

 

LOL, every QB has highlights of them getting blown up (though he needs to protect himself better and did at the second half of the season)

 

Daniels stats in both of those games:

 

VS ranked Ole Miss

27/36

75% Completion Percentage

414 Passing Yards

4 Passing TDs

99 Rushing Yards

1 Rushing TD

 

VS Mississippi State

30/34

88% Completion Percentage

364 Passing Yards

2 Passing TDs

64 Rushing Yards

2 Rushing TDs

[Forehead]

5 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

I’ve been all over the place and still am.  I was big on Daniels but the deeper I dive in, the more I step back.  What’s bothered me about Maye is something that workouts and interviews can’t measure, and thats the ability to step up and carry when needed most - and I just haven’t seen it.  To be fair, Caleb Williams suffers a bit of that too.

 

I realize there’s no perfect prospect, and we have to take our shot, just really can’t get gung-ho about any of the 3.

 

It's all moot.  Jim Harbaugh is going to trade us Justin Herbert straight up for #2 so he can draft J.J. McCarthy.

[FootballZombie]

4 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

I realize there’s no perfect prospect, and we have to take our shot, just really can’t get gung-ho about any of the 3.

 

They all have warts that would keep me up at night, but like you said there is no perfect prospect and draft history tells us pulling star players at any position is hard.

 

These guys have performed at the highest levels and compared to the QB groups that usually come along this one seems to be pretty good.

 

Can't ask for much more than that.

[Ghost of]

10 hours ago, mistertim said:

I do like some things about McCarthy but I also think it's a bit tough to evaluate a guy in his situation because he wasn't really asked to do all that much, as he was part of a team with a fearsome defense and extremely effective rushing attack.

 

Though I'm a bit dubious about his arm talent. He seems to be able to make all the throws for the most part, but I've also definitely noticed that on intermediate and out routes where he needs to get the ball there on time he tends to really have to put everything into the throw for it to get there with enough zip. He's not Colt McCoy level, but I'd say he's probably got an average to slightly below average NFL arm.

 

Looking at the offense under McNamara and under McCarthy, he is asked to do a lot, it's just within certain bounds, of course. This year he was hurt during Penn State and couldn't drive into his throwing base well (especially in the pocket) the rest of the year.  I would need to review throws from earlier in the year on those routes/areas of the field that you mentioned to see if you're right.

 

He made a great throw to Roman Wilson vs. OSU that was an NFL read and throw.  I note that I've said (perhaps in this thread) that I thought Tom Brady was great (for different, pocket passing reasons) but that I was not sure about his deep outs. I don't think McCarthy joins the Marinos, Elways and whoever else people put at S-tier.  But he's at B-tier at worst. He's not Chad Pennington out there. 

 

I do think McCarthy would benefit from a year of patience to fill in the gaps and get practice and mental reps without any pressure, similar to how at Michigan he was there during the COVID year, had some reps in 2021 with McNamara but was the backup, and then blossomed in 2022 through this year.

 

Ultimately, some of the same reason I liked Brady is why I like McCarthy. Any nitwit with a cannon can make throws that make your jaws drop on occasion.  And smarter/more intuitive guys can occasionally put together a surgical drive.  What matters in winning championships is how you respond under pressure. I know LKB likes to make fun of the idea of clutch play/players (or that's who I remember being an opponent of it) but it seemed pretty clear that Brady was a tier above everyone else, including Manning when it came to those types of moments.  I like that McCarthy has specifically called out his reads of coverage and recalling from film study that the LB or S from OSU didn't turn his head on a certain route and it ended up a touchdown.  

24 minutes ago, mojo said:

That's worrisome.  The last thing I want to see is another RG3 who was willing to get pounded to the turf in an effort to gain an extra yard.  I remember Gruden saying that was one of worst traits, thinking he could score a TD on every play.

Jayden Daniels also doesn't look downfield when he scrambles. It's just a straight up run.  That's also worrisome. And by the metrics I saw (in this thread?) Daniels had the most wide open receivers of any of the top prospects.

[kingdaddy]

40 minutes ago, HTTRDynasty said:

Oof.

 

 

 

 

This kid will have an NFL career of about 3 games if he makes decisions like he did on these plays. 

 

17 minutes ago, Forehead said:

 

It's all moot.  Jim Harbaugh is going to trade us Justin Herbert straight up for #2 so he can draft J.J. McCarthy.

Herbert and their 1st for #2 overall and a 4th round pick.

[MisterPinstripe]

Just now, kingdaddy said:

This kid will have an NFL career of about 3 games if he makes decisions like he did on these plays. 

 

Yeah he seems to really put himself in harms way a lot, if that's something that he just cant stop doing he is going to be oft injured. If thats his instinct it may be hard to coach out of him before he gets broken in half by an NFL MLB or safety.

[DWinzit]

26 minutes ago, Forehead said:

 

It's all moot.  Jim Harbaugh is going to trade us Justin Herbert straight up for #2 so he can draft J.J. McCarthy.

He does love him some JJ but he is not worth the 2nd pick so I doubt this goes down even if our new HC really likes Herbert.

 

 

[formerly4skins]

56 minutes ago, HTTRDynasty said:

Oof.

 

Right? Like, I get him being uber confident in his athletic skills. But, those clips flash both bad decision making and an unsustainable style of play.

 

Can he not slide? Does he not understand protecting the most important player on the field?