The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - Top 5 QBs in the 2022 NFL Draft

Episode Date: April 1, 2022

Robert Mays returns with Nate Tice for some more digging into the 2022 NFL Draft prospects, this time with a full rundown of the consensus top 5 QBs in this years class - Kenny Pickett, Malik Willis, Matt Corral, Sam Howell, and Desmond Ridder. What are the pros and cons with each guy? Who are some pro comparisons? What's the path to the league for each of them? And most importantly...how does Nate rank them? All that and more QB discussion on today's Athletic Football Show. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the athletic football show. The athletic football show. Today's Friday, April 1st. I'm Robert Mays. Joining me today is my good friend Nate Tyson. Nate, how you doing, buddy? I'm doing well. I really feel like these discussions we're about to have the next couple of weeks is like,

I've been frozen in time for four months. And then finally you caught up and you're unfreezing me, you know, like in a sci-fi movie where I'm traveling by years. You're Han Solo. We're getting you out of the kryptonite. No, not kryptonite. It was the carbonite carbonite. Carbonite.

My nerd card is lit on fire. That was a shocking scene for me when I was nine years old. Oh, yeah. It's intense. Oh, man. Yeah. One of my best memories ever with my dad is they re-released those in like 97, I think. And that's when they started George Lucas started tweaking it like some of the edits.

And at the time, I didn't know. And even my dad, after he saw Return of the Jedi, he's like, they changed shit. I was like, I didn't know my dad like the Star Wars movies that much. But even that eight years old, I knew George, my dad definitely did. So it was a very big part of my childhood. All right. That's funny. So what you're referring to is you have been deep in the draft takes for months with the work that you've been doing for Bleacher Report.

I am coming very late to mine. So we're going to talk about the quarterbacks today. We pushed it back a little bit. And I do think that that timeline is interesting, especially in regard to this position and the conversation we're having about it here in the lead up to the draft. And we're going to get into that. So we're going to talk about the top five guys today. You guys know who they are. at this point, right? Kenny Pickett, Malik Willis, Desmond Ritter, Matt Corral, Sam, Howe.

Those are the guys that we're going to talk about today. The guys that, let's say, are in first round consideration. We're going to go through scouting reports. Some of the things you could talk yourself into, some of the things that are drawbacks to each one of these guys. And we're just going to go through them one by one. But I wanted to start with kind of a broader conversation about this quarterback class, because the lifespan of a quarterback class narrative is always worth watching to me. So for the last year, right, since we had this conversation last year, because the way we see a specific quarterback class is informed about what the next one's going to look like because you want to get yours in the right time. Same as next year. There are guys at the top

of the draft that are going to be worth drafting. The whole conversation around this group was, it's not good. It's not a good group. There aren't that many high-end quarterback talents. This is what we were saying all fall, even as Kenny Pickett was playing pretty well. And then, for whatever reason, we seem to get collective amnesia as a football media the month or six weeks before the draft as these guys inevitably get pushed up the draft. And this is a real phenomenon, not just in the way that we talk about it, but people within teams talk about this. How inevitably, because there's desperation and because there's scarcity, you're going to see these guys pushed up the draft and you're going to have rationalizations that don't seem to make a lot

a sense because when I was watching all these guys, all five of these guys, if I were an NFL general manager, I don't think I would want to tie my future to any one of these five players. If I'm being honest, I just don't think I would want to in the first round. I know. And that's exactly in the first round. That's exactly. That's the, that's the qualifier. And that's especially in the top half of the first round, especially.

I always in my, like, because there's a big difference between big board and mock drafts or just drafting is that those guys get reached some some positions drop back positional value all that fun stuff and with quarterbacks it's always that kind of half i in my head i always call it a half round inflation if i have a guy mac jones is a perfect yeah pat mac jones is a perfect example for me last year i had a late or early second round grade on him i liked him but i was like if someone took him in like the round pick 20 give or take a couple picks that makes sense to me that's a half round inflation yada yada yeah that's kind of what happened you got pick 15 i believe it was these guys Um, even with a half round inflation about where I have them on my personal board is still nowhere near the first round except for one guy and we'll talk about them.

But it's very just, it's funny when we went to the combine and, and I got to talk to some guys with some teams and talking about who they thought like that quarterback and just some thoughts, picking brains. And you can already see it happening where guys are starting to talk themselves into some of these guys and talk, especially one of the players, Malik Willis, but really talking themselves into it and going, well, you know, if this hits, if this happens. my God, in the back of my mind, I'm like, even guys in the league are doing this, not just media, but guys with teens. With Willis especially, though. Yes. When the coaches get involved, yes. That's, he is the exact type of guy that a coach is going to look at and their eyes are going to light up. They're going to get so big because you see the wow physical trace. It's like, ooh, I can work with this. And the coaches I talk to, shockingly, liked Malik Willis. A couple different offensive play callers at the combine. That was one of the names they mentioned to me. I was like, all right. I know. And I at that point, I have nothing to say. because I haven't watched them, and now I have, and I understand it. But I think that you're really trying to see something when you're having that conversation about Malik Willis. So you mentioned Mack Jones. I like Mac Jones better than all these guys.

Like, I think a lot better than all these guys. Remember we had the conversation about Mac Jones last year when we were doing this show. And my takeaway after I watched him was, I was more impressed than I thought I was going to be. Yep. You know, he played on time. And I was just like, man, I kind of like him. more than I expected to. I didn't have that experience with any of these guys.

Not a single one. There are moments and there are certain details about each guy. It's like, okay, that works for me. But as a total takeaway, not a single one of them was like, oh, that's better than I thought it was going to be. That's funny. No, there's one guy I have above Jones, but other than that, that's it. This guy I would have considered, it's Ritter, by the way, spoilers. But it's, you know, I would have had him in between Zach Wilson and Mac Jones.

Like that's if even on just the scale I did for Bleacher report as well, that's how it shook out anyways. But that's the thing is that's more about some of the potential tools that Ritter is working with. It's not that I'm the high guy amongst a lot of people with Ritter. And that's the thing. Watching Mack Jones last year, I agree. It was like, oh, wow, this guy operates so well. And I kept comparison to Chad Pennington, which I feel even better about watching him as a rookie is that watching this guy so accurate. Everything.

It was, oh, it was an RPO system. but the thing was his eyes were perfect every single snap. Always going to the right place. Always. And the accuracy. And like those are the things that's like, all right. I can talk myself into this. I just did not have that experience.

You can see his floor. His floor was so much better than all these guys. I totally agree with that. Okay. Yes. So let's start with Desmond Ritter, who is your guy in this group. First question. On Good Morning Football today, they asked him if he could hear any song by anyone, what would it be?

and he said complicated by Avril Levine. Does this change how you view him at all as a prospect? I still love him. Okay, all right. I wanted to give you an out here. I love, he was comfortable with himself to give that answer. I like that.

At least he's not like every other guy that says some Drake song or something. Like, you know, at least he had something unique, a little bit of personality. I'm totally fine with it. What is your most embarrassing, the most embarrassing song that if it came on, you'd be excited?

Thousand miles, Vanessa Carlin. That's a great answer and a great song, because if that came on, I would be excited. I have some, like, deeply uncool opinions about, like, 2012 EDM bangers from my past. So I have some, there are definitely some in my repertoire. So that's why I can't judge him too hard. Like, anything like that? I mean, I definitely attended some Skrillx concerts in 2011, yes. Yeah.

So, yeah, I mean, there's some skeletons in that closet. So I cannot judge him too hard. When I started watching Desmond Ritter, I started laughing to myself knowing how much you love him because you're a parody of yourself at this point. He is the exact type of quarterback that you would love. And it was apparent to me so quickly. So the first thing we're going to do with all of these guys, I want to hear your scouting report. If you were writing this guy up as a scout, what would it look like? So walk me through what you're right about Desmond Ritter would look like.

Yeah, I think real quick is I think this is what Desmeritur, because when you watch him, you appreciate him more when you watch them on film and not to sound like a snob or anything. TV copy to film is so different for a lot of these positions, but especially quarterback. Once you get that end zone copy, you can see their eyes. And why I say that's, that's how Ritter is. He is the comedian's comedian of quarterbacks. Like he is the quarterback's quarterback, kind of like just how it's polish is. That would be the first thing I would say about him is his pull.

in the pocket and as an operator of a real dropback passing game, a real offense. That's what he operated at Cincinnati. And so my first things that would, like, if I'm just looking at my report right now, is just at first you see the good height. You see his great straight line running ability. He's not very shifty, but straight line, he, I mean, he's a legit. He looked like a four or five guy on film and that's what he ran at the combine. So that kind of like went, went hand in hand, which was good.

He's a smooth mover for sure. Yes. And yeah, and he pull the Nordame game, all of a sudden, he's pulling away from guys. But also just a competitive and tough player. He's not afraid the big moments. He got better as games win along and as a season went along. And that was one of the things that really appealed to me as I watched them, consistently able to progress through a range of concepts that they ran. They ran real. If you watch the Rams third down offense that Matt Stafford was in with all this empty stuff, Cincinnati ran some of those concepts. And those are with backside digs over routes where he has to actually progress. rest between the hashes and he does it consistently. It's not just like, oh, that was good one time throughout the whole season. He's hitting backside digs time after time after time, which is good. I consider it. I say he has good arm strength. I think he can drive the ball.

He's a line drive thrower. But the thing is, when he throws a deep ball, he flashes it, but he can baby it a little bit. He seems to be a bit of an overthinker where he's like, I got to throw this perfectly in there and then the ball dies on him a little bit. A lot of the time when he was throwing like slot fades near the. down near the goal line, like in the high red zone. He left several of those short that I was watching because he babies them a little bit. Those are the ones I was like, I want more out of those. He's underthrowing those consistently.

Yeah. And when he's loose and in a rhythm, also he'll rip a 65 yard like in the first, first game, I think it was against Miami of Ohio. He has a beautiful post and it's right in rhythm. And then it's like, okay,

you have that in you. But I think that's what he is. He's so tightly wound in a good and bad way. And I like my psycho. robots. I got quarterback. That's what he is. He's a psycho robot. That's the type of guy I like. And you're right. I am a character of myself because he has at least what I've seen from interviews, what I've seen just like, even when he's miced up, he has, I've seen some clips of him. He's a really psycho competitive player in a good way and that he wants to get better, that he wants to win.

He might not show that all the time in an interview, but he has like a lot of similarities to DAC as far as mentally, as far as competitor. And I like that. I like that a lot. If I'm going negatives with him, this would be the big thing. Oh, let's talk. Let's talk about some of the processing stuff. Because I saw similar things. And I'll compare him to another guy that I think that if we're talking about people that have had to read stuff out and throw the ball over the middle of the field,

Pickett does a lot of that too. But what's different with me with Ritter is that this is just anecdotal. But it seems like a lot of like two by two looks. He's reading out two-man concepts. And he's just doing it very quickly in a way that DAC would, where it's a lot of like, all right, like hitches and things like that. He's making the right choices with that. And that happens all the time.

And I think that's what was really impressive to me. And then the psycho-robot thing, it's very funny that you mentioned robotic and mechanics because one of the things that jumped out to me, the first game I watched him play was against SMU. And the first touchdown he throws, it's play action. And the way he flips his hips back and gets that throw on the guy, it looks Rob, like it's just very good. It looks like a drill.

It's very efficient movements when he's doing that. And you see that stuff all the time. So those like, it's not mechanical in a bad way. It's almost mechanical in a good way the way he's playing the position. That jumped out to me too. So I totally understand why you're saying that. Yeah. His pocket movements is where it shows up.

And that's why when I first started watching him was like, oh, I didn't know you had this shit to you. Like I was like watching from the end zone and how he's, the old line was not good. It was a very good team, obviously with the record and what they did. But the offensive line was not good. So there's a lot of times he would have to step backwards in the pocket, backwards being to his left. and he would stay balanced and stay in rhythm. And it was like good,

like for especially for a college player. And that was really cool to see because I finally have been able to glance at him earlier in his career, especially in 2020. And it was he's improved. And that's where I think he's a competitive guy. He's been well coached, but he takes the coaching because all that pocket movement stuff is drill work.

You do that every day as a quarterback. Most guys though, as soon as bullets start flying, those feet get all over the place. That's Baker. As Baker Mayfield. Like, but with Ritter. he tries to stay bounce. He's trying to always do the right thing, sometimes to a fault.

And that's where a lot of some of the DAC similar areas can come, where you're like, just scramble, just be an athlete. Like, you don't have to be a killer from the pocket on every play. But I just really do like that. That he is a, also another thing is he's a big game hunter, like, which I'm always going to be a sucker for. He's going to push the ball when he's a calculated kind of risk taker. He's like, oh, I can, this is the time. That safety came down.

I'm throwing the post. Hey, okay, they moved over. I'm throwing the dig. I'm not checking it down, but he can get to the checkdown. So those are the things I really like about this guy. And that's why I'm a fan of them that amongst all these quarterbacks. They have two plays that seem to play off each other as compliments where it's like a two by two set. And on the right, both guys will run hitches and then both guys are on hitching goes.

And like so and they, and he hit the hitch and go for a touchdown. One of the games I was watching, I was like, okay. Like I could get into some of this stuff. I again, the leaving some of those short, he's a little slight. I mean, there are things to worry about. But I understand why you like him. Yeah. The slighter frame is pulling by.

big caveats with him is one of my negatives. I skinny guys, luckily he's a good athlete, but I always get a little worried with guys under 210. Doesn't matter what their height is. Doesn't matter what it is. I just do. Unless you're a freak athlete,

like a Lamar or a Vic, just not a lot of success rate with those. Just because of one durability, which he's never had issues with, but also just getting pulled down in the pocket. Yeah, shaking guys off in the pocket. That's a huge thing that we've seen recently, right?

Even with Burrow, who's bigger than you think he is, it just the ability to take that shot and extend a play, It's really important right now. It really is. And the other thing is he does. And this is, it's gotten overblown, but I do have to bring it up is that he does have some accuracy issues that he sprays the ball. My theory, my theory, this goes with the psycho robot is that he's too amped up at the beginning of games.

And that he is just like, oh my God, I got to throw this. And the Norderdame game is the perfect synopsis of this is that he's, oh, my God, I'm just amped up. Big game, big game. And then you see him throw that first ball and it goes 10 yards over the guy's head. And it's like, Jesus, Desmond, chill out. Like really calm down. Another guy that had this issue that I've been around was Derek Carr. When he was a young player as a first year, second year guy was he would get too amped up for games.

And then his first couple throws would be sprays. And then you calm down as the game went along. Usually once you get hit once or twice, it calms you down. You're like, okay, all right. I'm back to even right now. So I do think that was something you do have to mention. But I don't think it is as crazy. I don't think his accuracy is bad.

People are saying that like, back in like he's can't hit the broad side of the barn. And I actually think he has pretty good accuracy. because he actually can throw guys open into tight spaces. So I just do have to mention it, though, because he does have some bad spray. Every once in a while, it sneaks up on you. It's not consistent, but every once in a while, it's like, oh, man. Yeah. It's like, oh, man.

And he's a line drive thrower. So it goes worse, like, because it doesn't arc and you guy can maybe catch it. It goes, I'm not putting him on this scale. But it's like when Herbert misses. And it's like, what the fuck was that? It's like a lesser version of that. But maybe it happens a little more. in the Herbert.

All right. So one thing I wanted to do with all these guys because it's going to be a necessary process for teams because these are all borderline prospects. Why would a team talk themselves into Desmond Ritter in the first round? It's day one, he can step in and start for you. Just mentally, the polish he's shown, especially his senior year, I think some teams that will tantalize some teams going like, man, this guy can handle an NFL offense. He's not going to go in.

It's not, he's huddled, which is a big thing. People don't realize what a growing, a growing pain that could be was for some quarterbacks to get the play call that doesn't have to be a long play call. But just getting it and regurgitating it in the huddle, breaking the huddle, walking up to the line and doing all that, he can handle that. Guys, quarterbacks are getting better at it. But that's still an adjustment for a lot of guys. And checks at the line of scrimmage. I mean, he's doing his actual work at the line of scrimmage. And when you compare that to some of the other look to the sideline, look back offensive.

So many that we see. I mean, it's, it's striking. And as someone who doesn't watch a ton of college football, when you watch these five guys, especially in succession and how different it is, it's crazy how different the offenses are, the structure of them, and what those guys are asked to do.

And he's doing a lot before the snap at the line of scrimmage, adjusting protections, just doing a lot of details that other people aren't necessarily asked to do at the college level. Absolutely. Early in the year, the Indiana game is a really good one. But every week he did.

it. He would tell Jerome Ford, the running back, who I also like. But he would tell him, point out and go, hey, that's your guy. He would, hey, he would check to, he would communicate to the center. He does that game after game. So it wasn't just like a one. Sometimes you see it, especially at Earl in the year when these college coaches get so excited. They're like, oh, we got this fifth year senior quarterback. Okay, we're going to give them a whole bunch. And they do it for one game against, you know, southeast Missouri. And then you never see it again once conference play starts. Desmond Ritter was doing that week and week out. And like on tough plays, too, the Indiana one's the best one. because he's like sliding the protection into a corner blitz and then hitting the whole shot right behind it. So he has that advanced level to his game that's surprising that because when I first got introduced to him in September when I first started watching him, I was told, oh, he's just an athlete. He's just an athlete. He's just a scrambler. And I watched him and I was like, this guy has a lot more to him than just that. And it improved throughout the year. That's why it's really cool.

It really is when like you said, when you start watching some of these guys are like RPO, R. RPO, RPO, RPO, RPO, BOOL, Sprint Out, RPO. And then all of a sudden you see a seven-step drop-back concept with a backside dig. You're like, all right, there we go. There's some real quarterback play happening right now. Yeah, there's several of those plays where it's just,

he's like, it's a hitch in a little bender, and he's reading it out perfectly. And just like, he understands like, all right, this against quarters, this is the side I need to go to. Yep. It's a lot different. It's just a lot different than what you see from some of these other guys. All right.

Absolutely. With each of these guys, the tone of these conversations is going to be a lot of negatives. So I want to do the best case scenario. The best case scenario in the NFL for Desmond Ritter is what? Oh, man. It's like a blend of Ryan Tannahill and DAC. Like just it's Ryan Tanehill straight line athleticism and arm strength with

DAC's headiness and competitiveness. That's a pretty good quarterback. It's a real good quarterback. I really like it look at all prospects as I've stole this from a basketball in advance stats. I mentioned this last year, but star, starter, bench, or bust. Like, just really, what percentage do I think this guy could be a start? I think Ritter, it's like 5% if I'm just making up a number.

But I think he has the largest threshold or largest chunk to be a starter. And I think it's a great way to look at it. And maybe his upside, you know, maybe he hits that one out 20 shots. But I really do think he can be a tangibly above average quarterback more often than not, if we're doing this in multiverse. Like, I think that is that he can be a starter more often than that. I think that's above average starters is his most likely path, which is a little bit of upside that if he continues to work on his consistency, consistency. And puts on like 18 pounds.

And but it puts on about 10 pounds, start squat a little bit more. But if he keeps growing up at a Notre Dame game, he just gets thrown in the air. In my nights, my notes, it literally says my guy is very slight. Very skinny. I know, I know. We got to get a little, well, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at midnight, like what I did my freshman year of college. But I really do think it's that he has a high kind of like, high likelihood, not high likelihood, but likelihood of above average starter with a little bit of upside that if he keeps growing as he did his senior year,

that's like there might be more to him. And I just really like his competitiveness and it's just professionalism. I think that's a good way to put it right off the bat. He's going to step in and you're comfortable with him as your starter because I think he's going to be a good leader at the next level. All right. Let's get to our next guy. Let's do Kenny Pickett. You're right.

And Kenny Picket up. What does your scouting report on Kenny Pickett look like? Like a kind of a baller like as far as like it's like it's just not baller and like a like oh, he's the best player ever. But more of like he's a Kenny ball game like that's my nickname for him. He's Kenny ball game. Like he has the not just with the two gloves, but just he runs around, make some plays. I really I'm going to get more detailed. But I really think Kenny Pickett plays how people wanted Johnny football to play like just like run around, throw some balls open and run around scramble around a little bit.

but he has he's good height he's a good solid overall athlete um has enough size and play strength got some bulk to him to take some hits because he needs to um i i would say he has a above average arm strength i actually think ritter's arm is a little better uh which i really i disagree with you about when he drives i don't know i think his arm strength has been a little overrated i don't think it's great but i do think he has enough arm some of the like some of the outs to the field that i saw him throw and some of the deeper comebacks that i saw picket throw. It doesn't wow you, but I think he has more than enough arm. I think Ritter's arm leaves me wanting more, more often than Pickett's arm does. I get you. No, I'm not saying it's bad or anything.

Like he has an NFL arm, like plenty, plenty enough arm. It's not where it's like, oh, boy, you better be right every single time because that thing's floating on you. But I don't know, I, I, when I watched them, just like watching the similar throws that they make, it was like, I think they're very comparable for a lot of glances. Maybe those are the routes. I think he is accurate, which is that is what how that's how he wins it's good accuracy and creating place that is that is how he wins and that's where the burrow comparisons come to come from is he scrambles around can make some place and he operates when he's operating on time he can throw some bbys in there i think the burrow stuff is really misguided thank you i'm going to get to it in the second i think it's really misguided because

we can talk if you want to talk about joe burrow joe the best part of joe burrow's game is the way he navigates the pocket. Yes. The way that Joe Burrow navigates the pocket and his awareness within the pocket to me physically is the best part of what Joe Burrow does as a quarterback. When I watch Kenny Pickett play, I don't see any of that. I don't think he has much awareness in the pocket. He is bailing out.

He's taking sacks. That to me is a weird comparison. I just don't understand it. My comparison, I very texted to do this, my comparison for him was Taylor Haneyke. He is more physically talented. to Taylor Honekees. But you said that to me before I had started really washing. And now that I watched it, that's very, that is mean to Kenny Pickett, is that comparison.

I want to temper our expectations for this because I, I, because that's where I, I was seeing the Joe Barrow comparisons. And I was like, man, I thought Pickett would be such a better operator from the pocket. I thought he was going to be this guy, you know, one to two to three, boom, hits the backside. One, two, check it down. Like, just really quick. He's the opposite. He's very skittish.

He's one and done. He is one. he hopes something comes into his vision and then he scrambles. So that was really disappointing to me because he'll take unnecessary sacks because he looks to scramble. He'll sometimes just, he predetermines a lot of reads. He'll go, okay, one, done. He doesn't really look at coverages.

He just goes, uh, who's open or at throw? Um, he does, you know, his, his ability to create and we talk about this, get a bucket is appealing that like, yes, he can scramble. He's really good at throwing off platform, but you got to operate from the pocket. especially how he's built, how he has to play. He has to show more in that regard. So that was really what he had inconsistent timing. His footwork would get all.

Skittish is a great word. Chaotic. When I heard that his offensive line was bad for a couple of years and that he took a lot of hits, it makes total sense to me watching him play this year. Yeah. Yes. You can see it. You can see some of the scarring.

Yeah, scarring. It's one Mississippi, two Mississippi. He's like, I get rid of the ball. I can't. I can't handle this. And so it's just one of those. I just don't think he says this polished complete player that others were making him out to be.

But he does enough in creation ability and accuracy that's like, okay, that's how he wins. It's just creation and accuracy. So the first game I watched of his was the Clemson game from this year. Okay. And I was out. I was like, I don't understand this at all. Yeah. I was shocked at how bad it was.

I was like, I do not understand how people think he's the best quarterback in this class. And then I watched a couple more games. and I watched the ACC Championship games. Yes. Okay. Now I totally get it. Because where he looks really good, he's a really good thrower of the football.

I mean, when everything, when he picks a guy and he, he's accurate, he's got a decent arm. A lot of the throws that, to me, were the most impressive. Some of the deep comebacks that he hit, I was impressed by. And against Wake, he hit several of those kind of lazy inbreakers over the middle to the single split-out X. And those throws, when he's on time, those look good. He puts the ball where he wants. too. To me, I'm curious what you think about this. I brought this up to our front, Seth Galini, today. So that both picket and Ritter, if you look at their heat maps and just the way that they

play the position, it's less of a Mickey Mouse offense than some of these other guys. They're actually asked to do some stuff. It seemed like a lot of the middle of the field throws that Pickett was hitting to me were to that single receiver side where he doesn't have to read anything out. Like, that is the throw he's making based on a pre-snap look where Ritter is actually reading out two-man concepts. Would you say that? That's fair? Absolutely. Okay.

And I was seeing that consistently. And if you notice how Pitt did it, well, meanwhile, this also, you have to mention this, is that that receiver that they're singling up won the Blitnikoff Award as the best receiver in the country. He's just, shit, I don't know. So, so there was a reason they were singling him up. That's really funny. What Pitt would do in their, his office coordinator was Mark Whipple, who has NFL experience.

And what they would do is say they're on the right hash, they would run trips into the boundary. So they have three receivers. And then they did it against wake like 10 times. Against every, oh, it was awesome. Sometimes what you could tell, they're like, we don't have a play. Just spam this, which is ISO up. The guy's name is Jordan Addison.

He's a stud. And it's like, what's just single him up as the X. Go. ISO routes. And they would just run the running back into the flat to pull the flat defender there. And they would just have that. It was one on one. Simple, very easy decision making for the quarterback.

And when that's happening and when he's allowed to be pointed in that direction, it looks really good. So I can understand. But that's the thing. If you're, and we can talk about this, how a team would talk themselves into him. If you can point him in the right direction, he's 6.3, 2.15, 220. He's got enough arm. He's accurate. I completely understand how you can make an argument that he is the best quarterback among this group in those favorable circumstances. Yes, yes. And the other thing you have to mention, he's going to be 24 as a rookie. Yeah. Listen, there are plenty of downsides. I know. And that's what disappointed me. He has, I think,

over 40 starts in his college career. It wasn't like he just came on late. He had extra years. And then that's why I was so disappointed in the polish. I thought he would just be like a real smart operator. And I was like, man, you've started 40-something games and you act like this is your first year starting sometimes. And that's why I kept kind of, you know, holding off.

I ended up with an early third round grade on him. And that's where I'd be comfortable taking it. I mean, a half round inflation, middle second. And that's where I'd be comfortable taking him. And that's really where I'm at with him. Because, yes, I keep saying a creation and accuracy, but it's just a lot of that operating from the pocket and skittish footwork and all that is a really worrisome to see from an older quarterback prospect. Why is Kenny Pickett a potentially a better quarterback than Kirk Cousins? He can create.

He can create a little bit, right? He can throw on the run. But that like, Kirk Cousins is 6-3-2-10, right? he and when i when you kirk cousins is pointed in the right direction it looks pretty fucking good great yeah and that's when i was watching him that's what i was thinking it's like that's what it reminds me of when everything's moving in the right direction and his decision making is defined and you're giving him something it can look really good and there is more creation to his game but that was the name that kept creeping up to me kirk kuzza's a fourth round pick yeah

exactly that's that's what's so scary if this guy came out of a normal class and you took him to third, you'd be like, okay, okay, that's fine. That makes sense. But if you're talking himself into pick 18, six, six, that cannot be overstated enough as Matt Rule, knowing Kenny Pickett very well. And the owner of the Panthers is a Pitt alum. I also think that there's a level of urgency and desperation there that drives decision making this case. Desperation leads to guys like Kenny Pickett going sixth overall. That's, that's really where we'll leave it at. All right. If let's, let's play this out though. If you were a team,

I kind of laid out my case. If you were trying to talk yourself into Kenny Pickett, how would you start? It's like you say, when you get pointing in the direction, it's he can whip in and operate. If we have a good team around him, it's like maybe this guy can come in,

he can handle NFL verbiage. He can go in and it won't be as big of a jump as maybe some of these other guys. But also it's the processing afterwards will be a whole other story. But he didn't come in at least look like he can do enough. And if stuff breaks down, if he can't get to number two, We see he has, he's a good enough athlete with good enough size.

He can do stuff after that. And we'll get him more polish and more comfortable in the pocket once he realizes that he's with an NFL offense aligned. I think that's what, how you can talk yourself into them. Best case scenario for Kenny Pickett as an NFL quarterback. Oh, man. I think, I think above average starter is best case with him. I just, at the past there.

Like the 13th best quarterback in the league? Yeah. Yeah, 13th. Okay. Or the Jimmy G range. The Jimmy G. Kirk Cousins, Derek Carr's better than that. It's the level of Kirk's.

He can be one of the Kirk levels. He is what we're talking about with Kenny Pickett. Absolutely. He is. He's on that, what was the book series? The Animorphs or whatever? You know, he's one of those. He's somewhere in the middle of that.

All right. Let's get to our next guy here. Malik Willis, this is an entirely different experience. Okay. So you're writing up Malik Willis. What is your scouting report? it look like. Big arm, big legs. That's that is what you're looking at with Malik Willis. But great athlete, very good athlete, burst, really strong. As a runner, I mean, he is built.

It's not just speed. It is no strength. I mean, and also creation as a runner where Ritter is not as twitchy. Like if he's getting moved in a straight line, you like it. Willis his ability to make guys miss in the pocket. I mean, he had a jump cut in the Syracuse game where he made a guy missing like literally like running back jump cut to make a huge play on the ground. I think it was their first drive. Oh, you'll see him do juke to spin moves. Yeah.

It's like, yeah, it's spicy. But the build matters too. He is thickly built. That's always good for durability sense, operating in the pocket sense. He can make plays happen out of structure,

not just with his legs. He throws better on the move. But he's going to throw off platform, adjust his arm. He's competitive. He's tough. His teammates really feed off him. You can tell when he scrambles,

you can see the whole side. don't think going nuts. I also want to say that about Pickett, too, is that you can tell his teammates like him because he does a big play. And also his teammates are going, yeah, Kenny, like, yeah, yeah. Like it's like, okay, you always want to see that. I know it's corny. Yeah, of course. They want, you want, you want the teammates to go to the guy's birthday party. It's an important thing. It's us, right? But, you know, and there's a beautiful deep ball, uh, Willis does. There's a beautiful, beautiful deep ball with probably the best deep ball arm strength in this class, uh, like probably a tier or two above anybody else. So they,

They do two plays all the time. Okay. The amount of double move out and ups they ran is truly insane. Stop routes and double moves off stopper out. So many out and ups. Like every single game they ran a ton of them. And then the other, if we're talking about deep ball accuracy and just deep ball acumen, they ran a ton of out from the number two, a vertical from number one,

and he's hitting the whole shot. Whole shot, yep. Those are some of the best throws he had consistently was that whole shot. shot up the left side line and it looks really good. Because he's got a ton of arm to do it. So continue. But that's like, that's what I noticed in their tape all the time.

You have those two things coming up every single game. And it's, oh, God. Can I just start getting into the negative? So I can like that. All right. Lay it on me. Lay it on me.

Because I mean, he seems great like everything. People love him. There nothing but good things to say about it. Nothing but good things. I mean, everybody. So it's pretty,

it seems pretty cool with a lot of these guys. I haven't really. gotten any like, oh, he's a shitbird about any of these guys, which is always good to hear. You want to hear that because it's the future. It really is. If one of these guys hit, you want a good figures in the league. But anyways, you say they run those two concepts all the time. It's because their passing game is so elementary.

It is, it is JV level as far as difficulty, as complexity. And I don't want to sound super mean, but I got to be honest when you're evaluating, evaluating these guys. And that's where you have to ask yourself, is that because of Malik or is that because of Q-free's in the offense that they run. And that's where interviews are huge with these guys and going, can you handle this or is that where they trying to like keep the training wheels on you? And so they ran all those stop routes and outside stuff.

And that's what Malik, the one thing is he's thick built, but he's under 6'1. He was 6'3-8. That matters. There's not, we, I think the Baker Mayfield's number one selection may just forget that like short

quarterbacks, it's not balls getting batted down. It's reading the ball, reading throws in between the hashes. And this is Russell, this is Baker. We can talk about it all over and over. But Malik Willis has that same issue where anything in between the hash is he can't see. Well, they just, they eliminated that by never throwing the ball between the hashes. Just stop routes and out routes.

I know. Keep everything outside. And I mean, again, is that because of him or is that because of what they want to rut? So that's, so that is inconsistent. He's really inconsistent on his timing, his anticipation. He has to see the receivers come open. He doesn't anticipate throwing. He has a big arm, but at the NFL, a lot of corebacks have big arms.

And guess what? Those fricking corners you go against, they don't care. They're going to break on your throw and pick it off. Three games I never saw him make a throw before a guy got out of his break one time. Ever, ever. The best routes he throws are stop routes on the outside, and he's still late on them. And you know they run them a bunch because it's all they run. And that's when you watch Ritter and like the ball is out.

Like the ball is out before guys are even out of their breaks. And that happens consistently. With Pickett doesn't happen as often, some of like the outs and comebacks are on time, but it's, it's not like Ritter where it consistently the ball is out before you even want it to be, which is what you want. It's because the NFL, they, it's this, we talk about NFL. People think NFL Windows is just throwing it into a tight hole. And NFL windows, the timing. It's if I throw this one second late, Jalen Ramsey is breaking on this and he's early. He's waiting for the interception before he takes it to the house.

So he's erratic in his pocket movements. He took the most sacks in the FBS last year. He works backwards in the pocket, which is a no-no. And sideways. He drifts in the pocket unnecessarily a lot. Yes. And that's scary. To his left a lot.

That's what I noticed. He would drift to his left pretty consistently. He's trying to see. A lot of guys get the Madden drop, I call it, when you pull back on the joystick. It's because he's trying to see over the top, over the guy or off its line. And in the NFL, those edges will just keep looking. looping. They'll just keep looping around. So if you work back, that's where you get strip sacks that happen. Yes, he has a big build. He can create a little bit, but that's, you wish you could create more from the pocket and be a real more polished passer. So that's really the negatives is that not only just being in the offense, but also reading defenses. The first play against Oleis is probably one of the worst colors for Willis. It's because he has a guy wide open. If he just throws the structure, he can throw a little curl route. Instead, he's late. Either gets batted down or picked or something bad. Or no, he takes a sack. First play, he takes a sack. Because then he starts, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, He's guessing where the next route's going to be.

So it's just. He's sack on first place, slow to get his eyes back to his right. The curl was there is my notes from the first player. Yes, the Ole Miss game. I'm trying to remember from December 20th or wherever I watched that game. But yeah, that's really funny. Yeah, and that's what he does. And you can't, and that's in college against Old Miss.

Now imagine the NFL. Old Miss game was rough. It was rough because he threw a couple picks where that were predetermined throws. He thought he had one of those whole shots up the right side line. The cover two safety you sitting on it, the entire time. It was an easy, easy interception.

Then he took a truly horrendous sack. It was third down. They were on the 12-yard line in the first quarter. And they were in trips to the right. They ran a little slice route across the formation. The guy was wide open.

And he just didn't throw it. I mean, there's some of those available throws that he just doesn't make. It's like, oh, man, I just heard to know what he's seeing in that moment. Yeah. And that's why it's, I think if we're going to talk yourself into him,

it starts with the physical traits. But like you mentioned, he by most like all accounts is a smart guy. So if there is a like a processing level there that if it's a different offense, that he can have more on his plate, that would be how I would talk myself into him is that this is what he was asked to do in college in this specific way. If we asked him to do more, if we put more on him, he can handle it. Plus you have the traits. Like I, when I'm looking at teams and I'm looking at situations with him, if he ended up in Pittsburgh and he didn't have to start for. a year. Or he ended up in Washington and he didn't have to start for a year. And he could

truly just sit on the bench for an entire year with a team. I think Scott Turner is a good offensive coach. If he ended up with somebody like that and got to learn for a year, that would be the best case scenario for me. Of this group, I can talk myself into him because of the tools. Yes. Because his upside, I do believe, is higher than any of these other guys, even if that upside feels far away when you watch him play. Yes. When I wrote him up, I said he's going to be a huge project, but a fun project. Because it's like you said, he has to sit.

He has to. And it's not just terms and verbiage and breaking the huddle and all that stuff. He's going to get thrown against NFL defenses. They're going to eat him alive. It's just you can't win this way. And I know I'm being harsh right now, but this is day one. It's he needs to sit and just get adjusted to that and really realize what's happening weekend, weekend, week out. But he has that upside.

We're talking about star starter bench bust. He has more star potential than anyone. But his starter might be the same exact percentage. He might have a 10% star, 10% starter, and then like 50% bust. Like, you know, that might be what he is. But it's, that's the home run swing you're trying to take. We talk about getting a bucket a million effing times on this show. He's the guy that can get it more than anyone.

And where you could see him in the game, taking over a game in the fourth quarter, scramble for a first down, throwing the launch ball. And you're just like, oh, wow, he won him that game. That's what, that's the appeal of him. But it's, I think it's just going to take time in the right situation. And I'm just scared if a team overdrafts him. And hey, your day one starter, it might be a little, it might be some growing pains for him and the franchise. It feels like most places he would potentially land.

Most places any of these guys would potentially land, they wouldn't have to start right way. There wouldn't be urgency for them to start away. Even Seattle, right, if they don't bring in a veteran and Drew Locke is there. The nice part about Seattle is, I don't think that Pete Carroll's on the hot seat. I don't think John Schneider's on the hot seat. I don't think you trade Russell Wilson. It's like, oh, we have to win right away. So I'm like there's a huge amount of urgency to play a quarterback that they were in draft this year. And everyone else has a bridge option. Everyone, even if Atlanta drafted him, Mario is there for a reason. Trubiskey's in Pittsburgh. I think every team has put themselves in a

spot where they don't need one of these guys to play right away, except for Carolina. I think Carolina there is urgency for whoever they pick to play right away. And I think that's what leads them to pick it. If I'm trying to connect the dots, that's why I'm doing it. But with Willis, that's what I would say. I was talking to a play caller at the combine. And what he said to me essentially was, why would I swing for the middle? And that's a coach talking.

And there's a reason that coaches aren't the ones picking these players. Yes. But I think that is the allure of him, is that. that in class without a lot of star power, he potentially has it. Yes. And it's so funny how people talk about Willis is how you usually hear coaches talking about like a toolsy left tackle or edge rusher.

Oh, just wait until I coach him up. Like I'm, oh, just wait until I get my hands out. Because there's so many guys get overdraft it because they get the freaking D-line coach saying, oh, wait till I get my hands on him. He's going to have 12 sacks.

And then they come in and it's like, yeah, that's exactly what the player was in college that, you know, it's a can or won't thing. So I, that's what's funny. hearing talking to coaches and scouts and just even as i'm watching them is like that's it sounds

like you're talking about some toolsy dancing bear left tackle not a quarterback that you might have as your franchise guy so it's it's interesting he's a unique prospect he's a fun player it's i i want him to go in the right situation because i want to see him succeed because he could be such a fun player um and my pro comparison for him by the way is tyrod taylor because just because i just that's where it was like where i went with him because he's best on the move and he has that bigger arm. Tyrod has an underrated arm strength, especially throwing deep.

What's the best case scenario? Oh, man. Super Tyrod. I mean, shit. Like, uh, you're, I mean,

you get a pro bowl guy that can win you, when you a game. Like, I mean, week and week out, take over games when he has to. And the, all that character stuff comes to fruition,

where he gets into a system that eases him into it. And it's like, oh, man, they let him do what he's good at. Uh, but it might, but you're two,

three, four before he gets there. That's best case is, a legit pro bowl win you a game every week type of guy. That's this upside. For me, it feels like a version of what Kyler is where he's stronger and bigger. So then that's a nice part about it.

But the arm is such that like they have similar arm talent if channeled in the right way. Yes. If channeled in the right way is going to put it. It's like freaking cyclops from X-Men. Just give him some glasses so he doesn't kill somebody. I want to be very clear before we move on. When I say he's the one I would roll the dice on, I'm talking at like 28. Yeah.

I want to be very clear about this. If the Lions pick him at two, this is not the type of bet I'm talking about. No. I'm a thousand percent with you. He ended up my QB2. I have a late second or early third on him. And it's it's that's like where Jalen Hertz went, like you know, where Derek Carr went, where Kaepernick went, like I'd take him in that kind of range.

Not like you said, top 10 because that's a hell of a home run swing to take. All right. Sam Howe from North Carolina. You're writing up Sam Howell. What does the scouting report look like? Man, there's a beautiful, beautiful deep ball. Very catchable deep ball. Big, thick runner.

He uncorked one against Georgia Southern this year. That was like 62 yards in the air. And it was just on a dime. I was like, holy shit. He gets the arc on it. It must be just something being short. Maybe that's what it is because he's six foot. And maybe that's like when I was playing with Russell Wilson in college.

I always be enamored with his deep balls. I mean, I think we all are. When he throws those moon shots, Kyler does the same thing. Maybe it's being short, they can get that extra little leverage. Like, they can get that extra couple degrees of the angle where they can get it high.

But man, he throws a beautiful deep ball. When he's in rhythm, he can get some accuracy, which can help, like has some good accuracy, flashes it where let's create some yards after the catch. Really good,

I mean, I'd say a really good runner, but a good strong runner, tough runner. He's an okay athlete. I'd say above average athlete. Nothing to write home about. But he's tough and thick built.

I know you're going to laugh about that. But I'm trying to say all the good things. These are all my strengths with him. But, you know, just seems like, you know, another good character kid,

which also helps as well. And I think his teammates like him as well, which it does matter. I know we're going to laugh about all that, but that shit does matter. It does. It absolutely matters. It does.

Especially at that possession. Think about what Jim Ursay has been saying about Carson Wentz all week. Yes. That shit does matter. Yes. Or what's happened to Baker in Cleveland or I mean, that stuff really. You have to be such a special player at quarterback to be an asshole. Like, they'll tolerate you.

It's a sliding scale. So if you're not going to be a true, true star, you better be a good guy too. You better be a good hang. But that's my positives for him is beautiful deep ball, good build. tough player and can run around a little bit. I wouldn't say you can create as a thrower, but he can create as a runner a little bit just because of his build. His arm is pretty good.

Yeah. I mean, beyond even the deep ball, he gets a lot of RPMs on that ball. His arm talent and arm strength, I think I would put him probably behind Willis and right in the conversation would pick it as a guy that's only six foot. I was impressed with his arm consistently. I think that there are some downsides,

but I was impressed with the way that he could throw the ball. Yes. Can I get into negatives time? I'm ready for it. I already mentioned he's six feet. He's six feet in a quarter. That shit does matter. That's where the Baker comparisons come from because there's a lot more. There's there are more than that. It's it's beyond the size. It's funny though. I mean, they do look alike and run or throw like it's so much. He has a really long over the top throwing motion, which he has to because of his height. And if he's late, defenders punish it over and over. You can see him breaking because it takes that extra second. It's not Byron left. to which, but it does have that longer over the top. He played in a super heavy RPO system.

RPO is like 80% of the snaps. So his ability to process as a true dropback stuff, reading over the middle of the field, which is come up with the height, you can see him just, he lacks anticipation. He's another guy that waits for receivers to flash open. Anytime he does have to go one to two, because he's guessing a little bit because he's not comfortable, just sitting in the pocket, moving around, finding one to two. He'll look to tuck and run the ball. too early. It's infuriating. And that's where the Baker stuff comes up to me,

where he believes that he's a playmaker that he physically is not. And, I mean, you watch a game. That Virginia Tech game from this year, he's just trying to take off every single time. It's one and done, one and done, one and done. And I just don't think he's a good enough athlete to warrant that approach to the game. I think especially in the league,

it shows up immediately as a huge negative if he continues to try to play like that. Absolutely. That's why you get worrisome with these guys and just with any quarterback, not even just with Hal, is if you're going to be a one and done guy, you've got to be a plus athlete coming out of college. And then you're hoping once you get to the NFL, you're in the pocket becomes better. You go, you can get to one to two to three. You can't make a, you can make some plays. That's why sometimes you get these guys that come in as a spot starter and injury. And they're like, holy crap. Look at this guy. John Wolford a couple years ago. Oh, my God. Look at this guy run around a little bit. Right. Yeah. Heinke. Yes. That's that's that. Heineke is like the perfect synopsis. this run around makes a place accurate enough okay but as the season goes along and more film gets on him and he's a little smaller it it just wears it's it's like a hitter in baseball once pitchers start to learn what you are they're like okay he can't hit a change up change up change up change up that's what defense is due to you they go he oh we can just run cover too because this

you know this guy doesn't check it down once he's going to keep trying to throw these shots outside and scramble and we can just bait them or we're going to run a looping d line pattern that's going take advantage of him trying to bail a pocket, they get smarter. These coaches and defenses get paid too. So that's why I make it a little worrisome or he's a little bit worrisome as a prospect. It's just because of his ability to operate from the pocket. The stat, we talk about the stat in relation to NFL quarterbacks all the time.

The percentage of your pressures that turn into sacks. Yeah. 30.8% for him, according to PFF, which is the seventh highest mark in the entire country last year. That's good. And when you watch him, it feels like that. It absolutely feels like that where he's running himself into. more trouble than is necessary. And he's just not the athlete to overcome that style of player, that level of

decision making. Yeah. But if you were a team trying to talk yourselves into him, how would you do it? Yeah. It's another guy that if a team has patience for a project where they're saying, hey, what's trying to hone in how he operates from the pocket and kind of channel that good arm strength that he has, that's, that is best case. That is what you would, what, or what you would want to do.

He has to take time to operate, though, or to learn how to operate. like he is a project as well along with willis like i really do think howl it's more of a project than people realize um but i think is why you do it is like at start as a high end backup and then maybe grow into a starter's role i compared him to jalen hurts and i actually feel pretty good about that just just as just as play styles can't throw in between the hashes that has to throw outside big tough runner as a part as a super twitchy hurts is a little better runner he's a much better athlete throws a beautiful deep ball so much of jelan hurts his ability to survive is because he's a plus runner.

This guy is not a plus runner. That's the, we're talking, the animorphs. That's the scale of what we're talking about with him. But that's how you talk yourself into him is that just how they did with Joe and Hertz is, okay, maybe he can go create some place and maybe there's some room to grow.

And Hertz maybe hasn't done that, but that's what you're hoping for with Sam Howl. I think if I was talking myself into it, like best case scenario, he ends up being like Baker Mayfield. Like some shade of Baker Mayfield where the decision making, improves and when he's in an NFL offense, he can actually handle it. He's not even as accurate as Baker Mayfield.

No. Like for a quarterback like him where he's not a great athlete, he's not very big, he's got a decent arm, you want him to be more accurate than he is, especially over the middle of the field. Like it's, there's a lot that you have to talk yourself into with him. Yes. And that's why I have a late third or early fourth grade on him, not a first round grade. And yeah, that's exactly it. we, you've nailed it on the head a few times when you just say, like, how, like, how do you win? Like, what, what is your, what is your tool? What is your trait? And how that's what

you keep guessing? You're like, okay, well, there's a great deep ball. Okay, what about every other play when he's not throwing a deep ball? That, okay, and he's not a good enough athlete to create, so he has to win from the pocket. And he has shown no consistency from being able to operate from the pocket or in a dropback scheme. So that there's a lot of hesitations with him. That Russell Wilson without the athleticism thing you say about Baker, I applies to this as well, just when you're trying to project him moving forward. I have a similar feel when I watch him. So I completely understand that. All right. Yeah. Last guy here, Matt Corral from Old Miss. You're giving me your scouting report on Matt Corral. What does it read?

Is it just a say RPO and big letters? I was just to say if I ran a lot of RPOs, I love this guy. You know, he is tough and competitive. I do like that. He is a pretty good athlete. You can get to the edge on designed runs. Quick Twitch player, I think that's the best way to put it. Like, he's just quick twitch as far as like snaps off the throws on the play fakes and and he has a quick consistent release and throwing motion. I would say he's above average accuracy on short intermediate throws, you know, lets the receivers, you know, catch the ball and create something after the catch. Above average arm strength throwing tight spaces.

I think some people think he has a good arm because he throws a beautiful spiral. So he has that kind of, oh, he has great arm strength. And it's like, eh, I don't know about that. He just throws a nice spiral. It's a, it's a little, you know, a misconception that it could happen. He's tough and competitive. even though he's not a big dude. When you watch him even like he looks skinny beyond even what he weighed in at.

I mean, his frame is small. He looks skinny when you watch him play. Yeah. And that's that's my number one negative with him is below average height, bulk and build. And I wrote this before the bowl game like this report. And I even said it'll make him susceptible to injury in the NFL and he got injured in his bowl game. And I'm not like. He's been dinged up a couple different times.

A lot. Because he, he, he, he, you appreciate how tough he is. Like you do. Like he's willing to take a hit. That's college. The NFL, you take three square shots at a buck 95 that he probably plays at. He's going to like get hurt. Like it's just inevitable.

It's just physics. It just really is. He's a single re-quarterback at this time, like point in time. That's the RPO's. Again, just like with Willis is, oh, is that because of what they run or is what he can handle? I've seen Lane Kiffin offenses before. He's, if the quarterback can handle it, he's willing to drop back and just do a normalish offense. He's leaned into RPO's lately, but that's just like probably because it's very

telling. And Derek Classen has brought this up is that football outsiders from football outsiders, friend of the pot, is that it will be a third and seven or third and six, a normal passing down. And they'll just run design runs like QB runs with him rather than have him drop back and throw the ball. That is a red alert. That is like, and Lane Kiffin probably has plenty of third down plays. So the fact that they'd rather just run a draw or we'll just run a QB sweep, something of that sort in the high red zone or in a third and something, third and five, third and seven, that's a little scary as about what he can handle when he's operating from the pocket. I am not a quarterback scout. I don't have a level of expertise in the area. This is a challenge for me no matter what.

I truly don't know how you would watch his tape and be able to evaluate him as a potential. NFL quarterback on so many different levels. They ran play action on more than 60% of his dropbacks, according to pro football focus. 6.0. That's insane. That is truly insane. And when you watch them play, he can run that offense very well. I mean, him as a point guard of an RPO offense, the ball's out quick.

You know, he looks like a shortstop. I mean, the ball is out quick. He can put it on guys. I mean, that, it makes sense. like that he was successful doing that. But it is just such a far cry from what you'd be asked to do in any sort of NFL offense. We talk about Tua and like that offense and how weird it is compared to other teams. They were at 40%.

So crank up that offense by 50% by half. And that's what Old Miss was doing last year. Yeah. And unless he gets dropped into like the 2017 Eagles, there's not, there's not a lot of like teams that can win that way. It's going to cap yourself. the only dropback they run consistently would be two by two fourverts. And I would see people going, man, look at corral, looking off the safety and hitting the seam route. And it's like, well, one, that's the only concept, dropback concept they run.

Two, every quarterback since junior of high school has been taught to do that. Two by two, four verts, if you're throwing the right seam, I'm looking left to move the safety and then I'm throwing the right seam. So it's nothing any crazy. And it's the only one they run. And that's all you can like take my copy and paste to the NFL. You're like, okay, what else can you do? Are there any other eyes, anything of that sort? I think he's more of an intriguing backup and with athleticism, some accuracy.

I compared him to Tyler Huntley. I felt just like, hey, go in there and make some plays. Go run around a little bit. And oh, hopefully don't get hurt when you take another shot. Like, that's really what it is. But I, there's just a lot of red alerts that when you watch him that crop up when I watch them. All right, though. If you were a team trying to talk yourselves in a mac or out, what would it look like?

What would it sound like? Just like that Tyler Huntley. But no, it'd be, you take them, hey, we'll get them up to speed. We'll get them going in an NFL offense, get used to these terms, get used to huddling. And then, okay, let's get them on the move. Let's get them throwing off platform. Let's get a lot of more nakeds and sprint outs and play action, just as we said, not just RPAs, but just true play action.

And let's just let him get some confidence operating on true dropback stuff or true NFL level passing concepts. But I just, man, it's so hard to say all that. And it's best case is that he's competitive and he's going to fire up the teammates when he scrambles around a little bit, create some yards. So that's really the best case is he can go in there and make some plays for you with his legs and a couple throws off platform. And hopefully we can build him to being like a starter just being comfortable with an NFL offense. That's best case though. So you've done this already.

But if you were ranking them, how would it go? I have Ritter, Willis, Pickett. And then I actually have Corral and Howl with the same grade. but I went slightly with Corral. Just, I don't know. This was three months ago. So, but no, I have them with the same grade. But that's how I went.

So I went Ritter, Willis Pickett, Corral, Howell. All right. Anything else that you feel like people should know about these guys? Any wrap up thoughts here? I would say, we got spoiled last year with the prospects from last year. Like, those were four legit, legit top 10 talents and Mac Jones, who was a good prospect in his own right. So I think when you watch these guys, I think that we have tried to talk yourselves into them, see what the best case is, but you have to have a level head that the likelihood of these guys hitting isn't high.

They all might. Quarterbacks are so freaking hard. All these positions are coring flips. Quarterback feels like one and four that you're even somewhat correct on these guys. So I think I just have level expectations with these guys because the more that go in the first round, it's going to people are going to talk themselves into them. but a lot of them have warts. Even the guy that I like the best in Ritter, he has his wards as well. So I think just having a level head of how we view these guys compared to not even just last year's class, but a normal quarterback class.

Yeah, I totally agree. I think that there's a good chance that one of these guys will become like a plus starter in the NFL. Like at least one of them probably will. Very rarely do you have a quarterback class like the 2013 class where E.J. Manuel goes, I think, 17th overall and Gino Smith goes in the second round. and none of them end up becoming long-term starters in the league. There's a good chance at least one of them does. I just think that if you're looking at what it's going to cost to go get one and the likelihood of that happening,

and like you mentioned, those bands of outcomes with starter, star, the star bands for most of these guys are so, so small or non-existent. And in a world where you're having to compete against the guys that we talk about all the time, should you spend a first round pick on a quarterback that has very little to no chance of ever becoming a star. Yeah. And also just the opportunity costs of. Exactly. This is our guy.

And then next year you have the 12th pick. And it's like, oh, man, there's four guys we like as far as talking yourself into a guy this year. That's, that's the scary part is, especially if you're in the freaking AFC. And you got to look at all those, you know, those warriors that every other team has. So that's the scary thing with these guys. And that's why it's kind of crazy that even guys I like that they're saying going on the top 10 because I think it's just it might be a two step. Yes, you're taking a step forward, but really you're taking two steps back as a franchise. With the team like Pittsburgh, right?

And let's say you like one of these guys. Let's say you really like Ritter and he's there at 20. I can understand back, all right, we want to start our clock. It makes sense. We want to start this. We want to get this guy in the building and get it going. But to take one just to take one. If you're doing it, just say, like, well, we need a young quarterback.

Like, let's do that. I just don't understand that with all process. And at least one, probably two or three teams are going to do that in the first round. And I just think that it's misguided. I just don't know where it's going to bring you in the end. I do too. This class is going to be a test of patience for a lot of teams. It's fascinating.

I think those decisions are driven by so much more than we like this guy. It is all outside factors that really don't have anything to do with what these guys are probably as prospects. Yep. And desperation leads to bad decisions. It's going to be, it's going to be, I'm just fascinating. I can see all these guys going in so many different spots. And that's what, not just quarterbacks, this entire draft class is really fun in the sense that there is no consensus. Like really there isn't a lot of the positions too. So that's, it's going to be really fun, but especially at the quarterback spot. And it'll probably give some nice fat, cannon fodder for years down the road about who picks who. I cannot wait until four of them

go in the top 12. It's going to be amazing. All right. That's, I'm just kidding. I don't think that's actually going to happen. But if it did, it would be incredible. All right. That's all we got for today. Guys, thank you so much for listening. Please rate and review the podcast on your podcast platform of choice.

Please subscribe to the athletic. We have a dollar a month promotion going right now. If you do not have an athletic subscription, I highly recommend that you'll get one right now. Very soon, you'll be able to check out Dane's draft guide, the beast that he has been working on ad nauseum for a very long time. That is an incredible accomplishment and feat this time of year. That is worth the price of your athletic subscription all on its own.

You can also follow all of the other coverage that we have going on right now. So if you do not have one, highly encourage you to go do that. We will be back next week. I'm not going to tell you guys what the show is going to be on next Tuesday. It's going to be a surprise on more than one level. Let's just say that. Excited about that. Enjoy your weekend in the meantime.

I appreciate you guys listening. We'll talk to you soon. This was the Athletic Football Show. Thank you.