Senior Bowl Quarterback Aftermath and Beyond
Senior Bowl Quarterback Aftermath and Beyond
The 2019 Senior Bowl is in the books. Just like every other year, the quarterbacks were under the brightest lights and some made the most of the opportunity while others saw their stock take a major hit. So, who helped their cause and who needs to rebound at the Combine?
The 2019 quarterback class has, so far, not been one of the better groups in recent memory, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that there aren’t a few that flash some potential. A couple diamonds-in-the-rough made their way to Mobile for this year’s Senior Bowl and some of them flaunted some highly desirable traits to tantalize NFL teams.
The Senior Bowl roster featured a handful of talented, household names from the college ranks and pit them against each other. The North and South teams each filled up four quarterback spots and they all came in from around the nation and from numerous conferences to show their stuff against some of the top-notch seniors or graduated talent.
Daniel Jones from Duke, Tyree Jackson from Buffalo, Gardner Minshew from Washington State, Jarrett Stidham from Auburn, Will Grier from West Virginia, Trace McSorley from Penn State, Ryan Finley from North Carolina State and Drew Lock from Missouri filled out both the South and North team rosters.
Tyree Jackson was one of the better players in the practices and game. I could very well see him sneak into the second round based on his exceptional potential and prototypical traits. He has the big laser arm but also has some wonky throwing mechanics, but the latter can be attributed to poor coaching in the past and could likely be cleaned up with some NFL guidance.
Jarrett Stidham is a name that I’m back and forth on. He’ll make some plays that wow me or he’ll make some that underwhelm to various degrees. He’s a project at the very least but is generating his own hive on Draft Twitter. As they say, “it only takes one team”, so a second-round selection for Stidham isn’t outside the realm of possibility. There are even rumblings that he’s a dark-horse candidate to creep into the first round.
Ryan Finley is not a prospect I’m particularly interested in or impressed by, but someone will likely nab him at the beginning of Day 3. It also helps that NC State has somewhat of a QB pedigree: Phillip Rivers, Mike Glennon, Jacoby Brissett, and Russell Wilson before his final season at Wisconsin.
Daniel Jones is getting a lot of love in the draft community. He’s projected as a first-rounder right now, but his stock took a hit during Senior Bowl week. In many ways, I see Ryan Tannehill-esque tendencies and with that comes some reservations with his NFL career. I think he’ll start to cool as the process continues.
Trace McSorley has gotten unnecessary and misleading comps to Baker Mayfield in the past few months. They aren’t true or fair and McSorley shouldn’t be viewed through the same lens or at the same level. He’ll probably be a late-round pick, at best, and I’m hard-pressed seeing him carve out a successful NFL career.
Drew Lock is one of the biggest names from the Senior Bowl. Lock is currently being touted as a top-10 pick, which I think will happen despite his obvious shortcomings. The ceiling is high for Lock and will lead to a quarterback-needy team to snag him earlier than expected. There have been some recent rumors that John Elway is “smitten” with Lock. Regardless of the smoke this time of year, Lock will go in the top 10 by the time it’s all said and done.
Will Grier is a prospect that personally like, but he didn’t have a great week in Mobile. His arm strength was and still is under heavy scrutiny, but I think that’s overblown. With that being said, Grier still didn’t have a good week and I think he’ll drop to the late-second to early-third round.
Last but not least, Gardner Minshew is an enigmatic prospect and I’m not sure how he’ll ultimately project in the NFL. Part of me says he might be a solid backup, but part of me wants him to become this fun, electric quarterback. Minshew is polarizing but exciting and has an exciting attitude that I would want in a starter. I predict he goes in the fourth round on a Day 3 flier, maybe a fourth-round compensatory pick.
There’s still plenty of draft season to be had with the Combine and Pro Days, so many of these guys still have time to make their sales pitch, and it’ll definitely be must-see TV watching how the dominoes all fall come April for the 2019 Draft.
-By: Shawn Digity