Mike's Second Take on the QB position ...
Who's stock has risen and why?
Davis Mills, Stanford (6-3, 217 lbs.) - Mills has been included as a first-round pick in at least one mock draft since he put on a show while working out in the rain during Stanford's Pro Day. Peter Schrager of the NFL Network and NFL.com mocked Mills to Tampa Bay with the 32nd-overall selection. Upon further review, it's not the worst idea I've heard.
NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah wouldn't go that far, but he maintained Mills has a chance to be "that Kirk Cousins-type player" (an eventual NFL starter drafted after the first round). In addition to possessing the necessary arm talent, Mills has played in a pro-style system at Stanford and he's taken lots of reps under center (as opposed to almost exclusively in the shotgun). Jeremiah also cited anticipation, timing and an ability to manipulate safeties ("graduate-level quarterbacking"). Those are rare qualities in a prospect.
Other Notes: Jeremiah reported Texas A&M's Kellen Mond (6-25/8, 211 lbs.) is a film junkie to the extent that he's known for standing in the isle of the plane on return flights from A&M road games in order to break down video with head coach Jimbo Fisher. If the No. 6 QB isn't Mills, it might be Mond … It's hard to talk quarterbacks without talking about Alabama's Mac Jones (6-25/8, 217 lbs.), who has been considered a Top 5-prospect all along and yet seemingly continues to be a player on the rise. On Jones' last rep at the second Alabama Pro Day, he faked a fullback dive from the 2-yard line, optioned right, pitched the ball to a running back and then caught a pass in the back of the end zone. He explained the theatrics as a tribute to his high school coach, who had passed away last year. "He ran the Wing-T his whole career," Jones told the NFL Network. "The moral of the story is pay tribute to people who have helped you along the way." Jeremiah assessed Jones' performance during his second Pro Day as better than his first, and Jones' first was impressive.
Mike's First Take on the QB position ...
#5 - Trey Lance, North Dakota State (6-3, 224 lbs.) - He has the prerequisite measureables, and the tape betrays a player who can throw from the pocket and line up under center as well as extend plays and run when necessary or by design. Of the 287 passes Lance threw in 2019 while leading his team to a national championship, 28 went for touchdowns and none were intercepted. The asterisk is it was an FCS National Championship. Coming from NCAA Division I-AA is hardly a deal-breaker, especially when the launching pad is a program as decorated as North Dakota State. But Lance played just one game in 2020 (it was against Central Arkansas). All things being equal, I'd rather have a quarterback from Alabama.
#4 - Zach Wilson, BYU (6-3, 210 lbs.) - The numbers portray a guy on the rise. Wilson completed 62.4 percent of his passes for 2,382 yards, with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions, as a sophomore in 2019. This past season he completed 73.5 percent of his throws for 3,693 yards, with 33 touchdowns and three interceptions. In BYU's bowl game against UCF Wilson threw for 425 yards and three touchdowns and ran for two more scores. He plays with the necessary athleticism. Scouts have also cited anticipation and timing as strengths of Wilson's game. And who better to build an offense than a construction management major?
#3 - Mac Jones, Alabama (6-3, 214 lbs.) - Jones is the outlier in this class because he isn't especially athletic. But at the Senior Bowl the ESPNU crew raved about his ability to place the ball precisely where it needed to be in practices while throwing to wide receivers with which he was unfamiliar. Jones has every stat and every intangible. As for his relative lack of athleticism, Jones works around that. "I think it's his in-the-pocket movement, short-area quickness, being light on your feet, Mac Jones can do that," ESPN analyst Todd McShay maintained. "I don't see the athletic upside of a Josh Allen, but that doesn't mean you still can't be successful in the league." Added ESPN's Louis Riddick: "He's just playing around with people down here. He's playing around with the DBs. He's on a different level mentally as far as what you can ask him to do because of what they asked him to do at Alabama. And here's the thing about Mac Jones, there's no way you can say, 'Well, he's just tapped out, and this is as good as he's gonna be.' He's going to continue to work and get better, stronger, arm will probably get stronger, velocity will increase."
#2 - Justin Fields, Ohio State (6-3, 228 lbs.) - In 2019 Fields threw for 3,273 yards and 41 touchdowns, with three interceptions (let those last two stats marinate for a minute). It would have been 42 TDs had wide receiver Chris Olave not run the wrong route on the critical play in the national semifinal against Clemson, but I digress. Fields wasn't as consistent in what became a disjointed 2020 campaign amid the pandemic (22 TDs, six INTs), but who among us was? If you watch Fields this past season against Indiana or Northwestern (when he was playing hurt), you scratch your head. But if you watch the Michigan State or Clemson games, Fields takes your breath away. He isn't plug-and-play, necessarily, but he fits the new-way-to-play-the-position-with-athleticism profile and the upside is intoxicating.
#1 - Trevor Lawrence, Clemson, (6-6, 220 lbs.) - The consensus opinion of the presumptive No. 1 overall pick was summed up by thedraftnetwork.com as well as anyone: "Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence is among the most exceptional talents at the quarterback position to ever enter the NFL. He blends elite physical gifts with exceptional football IQ, leadership traits, and intangibles that make him the type of talent that would be the No. 1 overall selection in almost any draft." Hyperbole? Maybe just a bit, but Lawrence-to-Jacksonville in a mock draft equates to getting a couple of points for correctly putting your name on the SAT. The intrigue will start this year when the Jets are on the clock at No. 2 overall.
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