The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Klatt ranks his Top 5 Quarterbacks in the 2024 NFL Draft

Episode Date: February 19, 2024

FOX Sports’ lead college football analyst Joel Klatt ranks his Top 5 Quarterbacks in the 2024 NFL Draft. Klatt breaks down this QB Draft Class that he believes has as much top-end talent and depth a...s any group since the famous 1983 Draft of Elway and Marino. He breaks down what exactly makes Caleb Williams a generational talent before discussing the battle for the #2 QB in the Draft between LSU’s Jayden Daniels and North Carolina’s Drake Maye. Klatt then reveals how he evaluates the future prospects of 21-year old Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy vs two veteran collegiate QB’s – Michael Penix Jr from Washington and Bo Nix from Oregon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Every player that I talk about tonight, I think can, will, and should be drafted in the first round of the NFL draft. College football has never been better. Interest has never been higher. Believe that we are at the dawn of the golden age of college football. It was an epic day of college football. It was one of those days where you fall in love with the sport all over again. Hey, what's up everybody? Welcome into the program.
Starting point is 00:00:35 I'm Joel Clatt. this is the Joel Clad show, and we are right in the middle of draft season. So thank you for joining us. We've got a great episode today. I'm going to rank my quarterbacks. So I got my top quarterbacks available in the draft that's coming at you straight ahead. But first, make sure that you are following the show wherever you are at. Okay.
Starting point is 00:00:55 So wherever you're listening to this podcast, wherever you get your podcast, make sure to subscribe right there. Also, by the way, rate and review us. That always helps. So thank you for doing that in advance. If you're watching this show on YouTube, make sure to subscribe to the channel. Make sure to subscribe. Leave a comment below. As you know, I've been jumping in and leaving some comments with some of you down below on each of the shows. So make sure to subscribe and get down there and I will see you down there in the comments.
Starting point is 00:01:23 Also on social media, we're everywhere that you are possibly social media ing. It's not a term. I understand that. But regardless, we're there. So at Joel Clat Show, wherever you like to social media. and if you want to follow me personally, I'm on Twitter at Joel Clatt or on Instagram at Joel underscore Clat. Yes, this is going to be a great show. Just a reminder for those of you, I love covering the draft because I love college football, right?
Starting point is 00:01:48 This is a college football podcast, but I also cover the draft because these are the players that I love and that I've covered for many of them for the last three, four, and five years. I am on the NFL network's draft coverage. I'm on night one and night two on their main desk with Rich Eisen and Daniel Jeremiah and Charles Davis. So I will be back there again for the first round as well as the night two on Friday night from Detroit for rounds two and three. So I'll be there and diving into these players. But I like to give you all of my thoughts here first because that's what you deserve after following college football with me and being a fan of the show. And I very much appreciate it. So let's get into it.
Starting point is 00:02:30 top quarterbacks available in this year's draft. And first and foremost, this is a great quarterback draft. It really is. This is a deep quarterback draft. This is as good of a quarterback draft, at least on paper to this point, that we've had in a long time, maybe back to the 80s, 1983, possibly. It's very deep. There is a mixture of the traditional talented three years and done player.
Starting point is 00:02:55 And then you've also got some of these guys that have played a ton of football transferred around, had a COVID year, and they're very experienced and old players. So you've got this perfect storm of events that have happened in the last few years in college football, that have kept players in college football, kept them around, and they have also allowed guys to flourish like it always has earlier in their careers. So now we've got what I would consider to be as deep and as good of a quarterback classes as we've seen in a long time. Those of you who have watched the mock draft already know I have assigned six quarterbacks in my first. round mock draft. I get it. That's a lot, but they deserve it. They deserve it. It's not hyperbole.
Starting point is 00:03:38 It's not a reach. These guys at worst are in the top 40, 35 players available in the draft. By the way, my top 50 list will be dropping sometime later in this draft season closer to the draft. I'll be prepping you for that during this entire sequence of events during draft season and dropping my top 50 players available as we get closer to Detroit. So tonight is the top quarterbacks, and they are all fantastic. I want to give a giant preface. My biggest pet peeve and problem with the draft coverage is that, and actually doing this, is that in order to evaluate players, you have to rank them.
Starting point is 00:04:27 And inevitably, I'll have a player on this list rated below another player. because that's what rankings are. And inevitably, in the comments below, you're going to find, why do you hate this guy? I don't. That's why I started with this is a great quarterback draft. Every player that I talk about tonight, I think can,
Starting point is 00:04:53 will, and should be drafted in the first round of the NFL draft. They are our really good players, very good players. And I can't wait to talk to him right here. Great quarterback draft. One of the things that I love about this draft is that there's not a lot of projection needed. These guys have played a ton of football. Every one of these guys has started at least 25 games. We don't have kind of the ancient Anthony Richardson where we've got to project out or
Starting point is 00:05:19 Trey Lance where you've got to project out. These guys have experience. I love that because I'm a big believer that experienced quarterbacks have more success in the National Football League. If you look at the guys that have won Super Bowls since Tom Brady won his first, first Super Bowl. All the way back now, basically this century, you will find that on the average, these guys play a ton in college. Well over 30 starts on average. A lot of them well over a thousand attempts in college. They win a lot of games, obviously, and it helps if they're a winner. But
Starting point is 00:05:51 most importantly, they're experienced in all of these guys are. So let's start with number one. And I don't think it's any surprise. It's Caleb Williams. Caleb Williams is my number one quarterback available on this draft. Now, I have said before, and I think a lot of people, and you're going to continue to hear this, it's like, well, he does a lot of things like Mahomes, and he's even better than Mahomes was in college, and all of those things are true. But let's not just stop there. I want to try to, as best I can, explain why I think Caleb is a generational talent at the quarterback position. Why is he my top quarterback in a quarterback heavy draft? And the reason is, is because I find it incredibly rare, and in fact, it generally never happens,
Starting point is 00:06:35 where a quarterback that I evaluate is excellent in all five categories that I'm trying to evaluate him. And Williams is, he is top-level talent in every category. And here's those categories. I talked about these categories this fall when I was talking about Williams on some of the broadcast. Number one, controlling the game from the pocket is, do you have the ability from the pocket to just stand there,
Starting point is 00:07:05 receive the snap in a post-snap read, control the game from the pocket? Do you have that ability? I always start with that because, generally speaking, that's the thing that always holds everybody back in the National Football League. Post-snap, making decisions, controlling the game from the pocket. Do you have the ability to do that? Williams does.
Starting point is 00:07:25 And he showed amazing. ability to do that at time. So again, top end in every one of these categories. Arm talent. Do you have the requisite arm and how talented is it? This guy's arm talent is off the charts, in particular when he's out of the pocket, which I'll get to in a moment.
Starting point is 00:07:45 He makes every single throw. It's strong down the field. He's accurate in the intermediate zones. He can change angles. He's got an incredibly talented arm. Category number three, movement and creating. Can you move in the pocket? Get yourself free.
Starting point is 00:07:58 Can you create without being a threat as a runner? Can you create time and space in order to be a threat as a passer, eyes downfield and then hurt the defense outside of the pocket? I don't know if anybody has ever done that, at least that I've evaluated, okay? At least that I've evaluated, better than Caleb Williams. This is his superpower right here in category number three, movement and creating. When he's on the move, he is most dangerous, very similar. to Mahomes in a lot of ways. And the reason is, is because there's a combination of that
Starting point is 00:08:33 arm talent and the ability to continue to know what's going on down the field, he is accurate on the run off platform. So he gets himself loose, and we've seen this time and time again, right? He gets himself loose in the pocket. He escapes and his eyes stay downfield and then boom, laser beam. And he scores a touchdown. He throws a touchdown. That's his superpower right there. arm strength and accuracy on the move. Excuse me. Guys ridiculous in that one. Number four, can you be a threat just straight with your legs?
Starting point is 00:09:05 Top end. This guy is top end, right? There's not many that were better than him. So it didn't matter if he was just creating in the pocket or outside. He could also be a threat as a runner. Just ask OU. In fact, his first meaningful football as a college quarterback was basically a fourth down run in which he was stopped initially and then ran for a touchdown against Texas.
Starting point is 00:09:25 in the Red River game. Sooners come back and win that game. Wasn't going well for them. Remember, they bench Rattler. They put in Caleb Williams when Lincoln was there. And that fourth down run, I know sooner fans don't want to think about the fact that Lincoln and Williams left, but they did.
Starting point is 00:09:45 And that's what we were initially graced with was his ability to hurt you with his legs. And then the last thing is, just your mind. Do you have the schematic ability in your mind? mind to understand what's going on in the football field. And he does. He has that. I've talked to him at length about schematics. I've talked to his coaches about what he understands about schematics. The guy understands what's going on. He gets the game of football. And so when I look at
Starting point is 00:10:10 those five categories, normally, normally, when I'm evaluating these quarterbacks for the draft, there's always at least one where you say, average to below average in that category. But he's so good and the other ones that it makes up for it, right? There's guys like that all over the place. The rarity is to find someone that it's exceptional in all five. So why is Caleb Williams a generational talent, and why is he number one on many lists, including mine, is because this guy is top end excellent in all five categories that I evaluate,
Starting point is 00:10:47 and that's one of the most rare things in this, at least this position and profession. I would also encourage people don't get bored with the fact that we've known this for a long time. Generally speaking, our society gets bored with greatness. You know, oh, we don't like it when people win back-to-back titles. Oh, you know, Michael Jordan didn't win MVP every year. Why? Because people got bored. Was he the best player?
Starting point is 00:11:15 Yes, of course. Of course. And I think people get or got bored with Caleb Williams. and we expected so much out of him. And when their season didn't go well at USC, we all were just kind of like, well, you know, maybe he's not the best quarterback. Yes, no, no, no.
Starting point is 00:11:31 Yes, he is. Yes, he is. Don't get bored with our initial thoughts. And I would just encourage people to remember that. We've known he was going to be the number one pick for a long time. And if he's not, I believe that that is chasing ghosts. If a team doesn't select Caleb Williams number one overall, I think it's chasing ghosts.
Starting point is 00:11:56 I mean, it happens in this sport. It happens in the draft process, but I don't think it'll happen this year. Last thing that I want to get into with Caleb here is just a quick peek in what his year was like. A lot of times, and by the way, this goes for all of these quarterbacks and a lot of these players, by the way. There was always a question from NFL decision makers,
Starting point is 00:12:19 like, what is he going to be like once he gets some money? What is it going to be like in our locker room once he's rich? And the general consensus was always that money is an accelerator. Whatever you are, you will be more of that. People don't generally change with money, right? So if you're a problem in college, you're going to be a problem in the NFL, and maybe even more so because you've got some money. Well, now we've got case studies of what these guys,
Starting point is 00:12:51 or like as college players with money. And in Caleb's case, a lot of it, a lot of it in Los Angeles. And so you're not going to have to wonder what this kid is like. You know, just go talk to his coaches. What was it like? And in a lot of ways, it's going to be so much easier for him going into the National Football League because it won't feel like he's in two different worlds, where he's practicing with guys that are talking about their, you know, English lit test
Starting point is 00:13:19 and what they're going to eat on a budget. Those are some of his teammates, and he's going to his penthouse, and he's making $4 million a year. Right? So, I mean, like, that's actually kind of more difficult than what he's going to do in the National Football League.
Starting point is 00:13:37 So that's just something to kind of keep in the back of your mind. He didn't play his greatest football this last year, but I still think all the things that I talked about are still true. Number two, Drake May from North Carolina. Drake May is as good as I've seen in a long, long time. Let me put it to you very simply. If it wasn't for Caleb Williams, Drake May would be the slam dunk number one pick in this draft.
Starting point is 00:14:06 And I don't think that it's that close. You know, I think that these two guys are separated from the rest of the quarterback pack, even some of these other really good players. This guy has talent like I haven't seen in a long time. He's a better college version of what Josh Allen was in college. He makes throws from the pocket, outside of the pocket. You know, his ceiling is so high. Now, granted, I might be spoiled because I saw him live one time,
Starting point is 00:14:41 covered their holiday bowl against Oregon. Those of you watching this show are seeing some of those highlights. he made a couple of throws with guys, by the way, they had some guys opting out. They didn't have a lot of great players on the outside. And this dude made some throws against a really good Oregon team that blew my mind, like especially for a young quarterback. They blew my mind. His ceiling, he and Caleb Williams make plays and make throws that other guys cannot make,
Starting point is 00:15:09 both on schedule and off schedule. Okay? Like they do things that everyone else just, has to tip their cap. It's like, you know, like we're about to have the Olympics. And in, I think I'm saying this right, in gymnastics, there's like level of difficulty. So basically there are some gymnasts that have a higher point potential than other gymnasts. So they can afford a mistake because their routine has just a higher level of difficulty. I'm almost certain I'm saying this right, right?
Starting point is 00:15:49 And so they just have a higher potential, a higher ceiling, a higher point potential. That's May and Caleb Williams. They do things that other guys can't touch. They just can't touch. So the other guys have just got to stay in their lane and do what they do really well. Because May and Williams are physically more gifted than the other quarterbacks on the list. Let me put it to you this way. If you were going back to the Andrew Luck draft, so that's basically 10 drafts, okay, 10 drafts.
Starting point is 00:16:21 And you look at basically, let's just call it the top two quarterbacks taken in all of those drafts. So think about some of the names that I'm about to read off. So since Luck and RG3, you've had E.J. Manuel and Gino Smith, Blake Bortles and Johnny Mansell, Winston and Marietta, Goff and Wince, Tribisky and Mahomes, which sounds... insane that Trubisky was select, whatever, selected higher than Mahomes. Mayfield and Darnold, Murray and Daniel Jones, Joe Burrow and Tua, Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson, Kenny Pickett and Desmond Ritter, third round in 2022, and then Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud. If you're just taking those names, top two quarterbacks taken in each of those
Starting point is 00:17:11 drafts, and you start ranking them as prospects, as prospects, how. How would you rate them as prospects if they were all in this draft? I think it's very easily that Caleb Williams and Drake May are in the top four. I think for me it's Lawrence Burrow and Williams and May. Like that's... Don't get bored with the fact that we have known that this guy is great for a long time. He's still only 21 years old. He won't turn 22 until August 30th.
Starting point is 00:17:51 Now, he's closer to Caleb than Jaden Daniels is to him. You know, the number three is to Drake. I think I just kind of unveiled number three there, right there, which we can do that because that's what this guy, that top two is separated. And the reason is sealing its potential. Like May and Williams do things that these other guys just cannot do, just cannot do. And these other guys are great players. And number three is Jaden Daniels. Now,
Starting point is 00:18:24 Daniels is also, I would say, like a five-tool type of player. I just went through those tools, and he does all of those really well. Maybe not some of them to the level that Caleb Williams does or Drake May does, but others he does even better. He's more of a threat with his legs than all the others. He's been an unbelievable runner in college football, ran for over 1,100 yards last season. But he is slender. That can be a concern. Can he run around like he did in college? Probably not. He's 6-4-2-10. I love how experience this guy is. He's played a ton of football. 55 starts in his college career, 26 of them at LSU and the SEC. He was incredible last year on his way to the Heisman Trophy, averaged over 400 yards of total offense per game, including 95 per game on the ground.
Starting point is 00:19:13 So again, like he is a threat. Every one of those five tools, you see, elements of during the course of evaluating him. Now, did he play with some outstanding wide receivers? Yes, yes, yes, he did. And was it easier for him to put up some of those numbers? Yeah. And is it harder to evaluate him for the next level because of neighbors and Brian Thomas? Yes. That being said, this guy is highly skilled. And again, I'll go back to that experience. I'm a big believer in experience going into the National Football League. And 55 starts is a lot. That is a lot. We talked about Bo Nix with 61 starts. Well, you know, here's Daniels and he's right behind him with 55. What I thought he did so well during the course of his career is he went from what I thought
Starting point is 00:19:59 was like a really athletic and dynamic player athletically on the field at ASU to a guy that was controlling the game from the pocket. So he was more well-rounded, a five-tool player. Rather than great in one or two areas early in his career at ASU, he developed into a guy that showed the elements necessary to be really good in all five categories that you have evaluate. And again, just a reminder, what are those five categories? I talked about them, pocket control. Can you control the game from the pocket? Arm talent? Do you have it? Movement and creating? How good are you when things break down and you can't just be a runner? Number four, how are you as a runner? Are you a threat to the defense with your legs? And then what is your
Starting point is 00:20:45 mind like, do you understand the schematics of the sport? And I think Daniels really developed in a lot of those categories. He was much better getting the ball out on time and on target, especially late in his career. Now, granted, he had quality wide receivers to do that. But that was what I felt like was the proper maturation that you saw from him from a quarterback standpoint. So Daniels is number three. at number four I toyed around with this guy at number three because I got to tell you like I'm just a huge fan before the season I was talking about this guy
Starting point is 00:21:23 I told you he was the dark horse for the Heisman trophy I ended up voting for him for the Heisman trophy he does one thing through the roof well like incredible. And it's the one thing that you see quarterbacks have to do the most in playoff situations. And that is control the game with leverage throws from the pocket. In the heat of the moment, can you do that?
Starting point is 00:21:58 And Michael Pinnock does that as well as any of these players. Now, is he deficient in some of these five categories? Sure, sure. And yeah, there's going to be, going to be a lot of questions about his injury history. Two knees, a shoulder. I will say he just played two full seasons without re-injuring himself. And he was on the field and he was reliable in the last couple of seasons. And again, this guy from the pocket, nobody was required to control the game from the pocket and college more than Michael Pinnock's.
Starting point is 00:22:33 They didn't win unless he was controlling the game from the pocket. His ability to understand the schematics of defense and then throw with leverage down the field is second to none. His ability to throw the ball with leverage deep down the field is uncanny. And when I say leverage, and I've talked about it a little bit on this podcast, when you watch highlights of him and those of you on YouTube are seeing some of those highlights right now, when you watch highlights of him, what you see is that even if he's throwing the ball 30, 40, 50 yards down field, he's missing on the correct side. The ball has proper leverage.
Starting point is 00:23:11 He's always putting his player between the ball and the defender. So the ball is always away from the defender. It drives me nuts when I watch quarterbacks throw the ball down the field and they short wide receivers. They lead them into coverage. They make the play more difficult on the wide receiver. Whereas if I'm playing wide receiver from Michael Pinnock's, he's putting the odds in my favor.
Starting point is 00:23:35 Okay, because the ball is in the proper area for me to go catch it. Lower odds for the defender, higher odds for me. It's always that way. I'm telling you, it's exquisite. Now, I think a lot of people would just say, because of his injury history, well, well, he's immobile and he can't really move around. He might not be a threat with his legs, and that's one of the categories where he falls short
Starting point is 00:24:00 compared to some of the other guys that I just talked about. but think about his ability to manipulate the pocket, move in the pocket, and then create. We saw that against Texas. His performance against Texas in the national semifinal is a case study in how you have to play at the NFL level in the playoffs. This guy was pressured 16 times, didn't take a sack. Most of that pressure was from right up the middle against guys, by the way, that are going to be in the National Football League, and selected really high in this draft, Byron Murphy, Devandre Sweat. that was a really good defensive line.
Starting point is 00:24:34 And he put his team on his back through the ball, unbelievably well down the field in the middle of that chaos and that pressure. Did he play well against Michigan? No, he didn't play well against Michigan. But it's in there. It is in there. And that's one of the things that you've got to understand about college players. They're never going to be great every single game.
Starting point is 00:24:53 They have highs and lows, ups and downs, partly because the players around them have wild ebbs and flow in their performance. But what you do see is the potential for him to be pretty great all the time. And again, it might be a lot of fit with him, where he goes, who he gets to throw to, who his offensive coordinator is. But this guy's game translates. He started 45 games. He's older.
Starting point is 00:25:19 He's mature. He's 24. He hasn't been injured in two years. And he throws the ball post-snap with great reads and great leverage. And that's exactly what you need in the NFL to be a really good player. All right, number five. Number five is going to be JJ McCarthy from Michigan. McCarthy's got this, this, kind of these Drake May elements in which, like,
Starting point is 00:25:42 I just feel like his ceiling is, is incredibly high. He's got elements of all five tools. They flashed at times. And the knock against JJ is going to be that we didn't have to see it all the time. If Michael Pinnix was asked to throw the ball from the pocket and a post-snap read down the field, let's say 15 to 20 times per game, which he was. JJ was maybe asked to throw the ball, just no play action, just straight drop back and a post-snap read. So let's let me break this down for you really quick.
Starting point is 00:26:19 If you've got play action, then you're manipulating the defense without just your eyes. And generally speaking, you're coming up and it's one to the primary and then you're getting to a checkdown. Very rarely out-of-play action, do you have a big full-field read where you get to decide on a different... Those decisions are made before the fake is made to the running back. Okay. Then in quick game, three-step or catch-and-throw from the shotgun, those decisions are also made pre-snap. I am throwing the ball based on numbers, ratio, or leverage. So I'm picking a guy that's basically going to win, and at most I'm going to read like one, you know, like lion or
Starting point is 00:27:00 double slants. You got a loki on the inside. You got a slant on the outside. I'm going to read that outside guy, but I know that he's going to basically get sucked in by the inside lookie. I'm throwing the outside slant. Now, if the inside one is wide open, does he get it? Yes, because he's number one. See, I'm going through all these schematics to tell you the decisions are generally made. But if you're going to sit in the pocket, receive a shotgun snap, and really read something down the field in a drop-back passing sense, that's something that Michigan didn't do a lot. They didn't need to. One, they had the league. two, it was outside of their identity.
Starting point is 00:27:32 So he only had to do that, I would say, on average, between three and seven times per game. So that's not nearly as many times as Michael Pinnock's had to do that. Now, he will be required, JJ, to do that more at the NFL level than he was at Michigan. Okay? So that's why it's a bit of a projection. Although, let's face it, the guy played a ton of football. He's 27 and 1 as a starting quarterback. So does his game translate?
Starting point is 00:27:59 Yes, of course it translate. He wasn't running a college offense. He was running Jim Harbaugh's offense. That is a pro-style offense. He was handling protections. He was handling run checks. All of those things are going to translate. And he did so, by the way, in an incredibly unselfish manner.
Starting point is 00:28:20 Name the other five-star quarterback that wouldn't care what his stats were and would just do anything for the team, hand it off. all the time. Blake Corum got all the touchdowns for Michigan. You know, JJ could have thrown for a lot of touchdowns, a lot of touchdowns. If they would have just gotten down near the end zone, done a little play action, hit Roman Wilson, hit Colston Loveland, all these different guys. They had threats. They had guys on the outside.
Starting point is 00:28:47 And yet they didn't. They handed it off. Why? Because that was their identity and that was their philosophy. And JJ didn't care. That's unique. And that's going to be a huge plus for him in his evaluation and when these evaluators, are trying to rank him for the next level.
Starting point is 00:29:02 Just turned 21 years old last month. Like I said, 27 and 1 in college. I thought his superpower was that unselfishness. But there are these moments when you watch him on tape that he flashes this high potential, high ceiling that reminds you of the top two quarterbacks. In the right fit, J.J. McCarthy could be one of the quarterbacks from this draft that we talk about is like, man, why didn't we see that?
Starting point is 00:29:31 Of course he's having a ton of success. He's also going to have the advantage of not getting taken by a team that is a heavy need team. Because of the depth of this quarterback draft, he's not going to get selected in the top three picks, I don't think at least, okay, based on the way that you can evaluate these guys because of those questions I was talking about, which means he's going to fall to some team or organization that is much more sound. and has a much better roster, that's going to work to his benefit during the course of his career.
Starting point is 00:30:05 Good chance he lands with a team that is not terrible, that is not bad. And that makes for a better situation for a young quarterback. Just ask Bryce Young. Ask a lot of those guys that I mentioned a little bit earlier. A lot of these guys went to a terrible situation. Terrible situation. Zach Wilson go to the Jets? Not that Zach Wilson was great, but my gosh.
Starting point is 00:30:25 I mean, the Jets were an absolute dumpster fire. And all you Jets fans know exactly what I'm talking about. Now, I only have five guys listed, but I would be remiss if I didn't talk about the guy that I have ranked sixth. And the reason is because I believe that this guy is going to get selected in the first round. And this is not a knock. And again, this is where people are going to be like, how in the world did you leave him off?
Starting point is 00:30:49 He's only left off because the graphic has five players. I have six players in the first round, and my sixth guy is Bo Nix. Bow Knicks from Oregon is a guy that I really love at this position. Now, is he as talented as some of these other guys? Maybe not. But if you looked at all those quarterbacks that were selected in the last 10 years, he's better than a lot of those guys, a lot of them. He's more of a point guard and he's a little bit more cerebral.
Starting point is 00:31:18 But his superpower is that the ball is on target and on time. When you watch Oregon play, that ball left his hand perfectly in rhythm. That style of player is going to be a great fit for somebody in the NFL. He's incredibly smart, handled a lot of checks on the field that were checks that were not built in. So like sometimes you get a package of plays as a quarterback. And not every quarterback in college gets this, but some. All right, the more advanced guys will get a package of play. And that package of plays would include two runs and a pass or two runs and two passes.
Starting point is 00:32:00 And then you're going to get your team into the best look of those four based on what the defense is or what you expect the defense to be. Very rarely at the college level, do you get carte blanche to just say, I don't like my look now. I'm just going to change to something that's totally different based on the personnel group and formation that I'm in. not many guys get that. He had that ability at Oregon. That tells me that this guy, at least from a college perspective, is about as smart as they can possibly come, which you would expect for a guy that started 61 times.
Starting point is 00:32:37 But for me, Bo Nix is an easy first round selection. Easy first round selection. I mocked him to Denver. Early, what was that the 12th pick in the draft? He is a perfect fit for Sean Payton. When I look at what Drew Breeze did, and for those of you that don't know, and it wasn't a long time,
Starting point is 00:32:54 but Sean Payton signed me out of college as an undrafted free agent. So I was in the Saints offense for a very brief time, right when Drew Bree signed. I know how I went through installs with Sean Peyton. I know how he coaches. Bow Nix is perfect for him. Perfect for him. If I'm the Denver Broncos,
Starting point is 00:33:16 I would be ecstatic with a guy like Bo Nix. Balls out on time, on target. You can have five blockers, five free releases, even on third down, third and short. He knows where the ball is supposed to go. It's replacing blitzes. It's going to the open area. It's beating leverage. All those things are things that he did really well at Oregon.
Starting point is 00:33:36 He's mature. He's a solid leader. Like I said, he's highly experienced and his game translates to the next level. I know my list had five, but I think six guys get selected in the first round because they should. Because their talent dictates that they're all first round caliber quarterback. And that's why I think this is as good a draft as you will find since 1983. Elway, all of those guys. At this position, at least, it is fantastic.
Starting point is 00:34:04 Okay, make sure to follow the show wherever you're at. If you want to send us a mailbag question, please do so. The Joel Clatshow, Mailbag at gmail.com. Follow us on social media at Joel Clat Show. Make sure to subscribe if you're on YouTube. Make sure to subscribe as well, wherever you're listening to your podcast. Rate, review us, leave a comment, all of those fun things. I will be back next week with my top pass catchers in this year's draft
Starting point is 00:34:31 and a great discussion about one particular player from the SEC. That's coming up next week right here on the Joel Clashio.

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