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Should the Jets pick Mitchell Trubisky or Deshaun Watson if either is available when they are on the clock at six?
Probably not, according to the two former scouts, Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks, both now with the NFL Network.
“I don’t think any of these guys are worth top 10 picks,” Jeremiah said about the top quarterbacks in the 2017 draft.
“I [agree] with Daniel,” Brooks said. “I don’t think there’s a quarterback worthy of being the number one pick.”
So in the opinion of these two, the Jets should stay clear unless they trade back.
But then again, many draft experts and scouts didn’t think Kirk Cousins was worthy of a first or second or third round pick. He went in the fourth round to Washington, and he’s about to make $23 million this year under the QB franchise tag.
But then again, 31 teams didn’t think Tom Brady was worth a first, second, third, fourth or fifth round pick. He went in the sixth round of the 2000 draft. He might be the best quarterback ever.
But then again, no team thought Russell Wilson was worth of a first or second round. Seattle picked him the third round. He makes over $20 million a year now.
No team in the league through that Drew Brees was worthy of a first round pick. He went in the second round to San Diego, and they didn’t think that he was better than Philip Rivers, and let him walk in free agency.
No team thought that Tony Romo was worth of being drafted. He just retired after a terrific career in Dallas.
You get the point.
Scouting college quarterbacks, and trying to figure out how they project to the NFL, is one of the toughest scouting assignments there is, in any sport.
I was saying to somebody recently, “in most cases, scouts, coaches and general managers don’t know much more than a fan watching college quarterbacks in a sports bar after a bucket of beers.”
I’m dead serious.
Unless it’s an Andrew Luck or Peyton Manning-type prospect, who comes around about once a decade, and is a slam duck prospect, it’s a guessing game with 99 percent of these prospects.
And honestly, how many top picks in the draft, at the quarterback position, bombed out as well? Many.
Nobody knows. I mean nobody knows how Mitchell Trubisky, Desean Watson, Patrick Mahomes and company are going to turn out.
The GM’s don’t know more than fans or sports writers. It’s pure guesswork.
A fan wrote on the Jets’ Facebook page – “If they Jets pick Trubisky, they better make sure he’s legit.”
I wrote that comment down in my notebook.
I found it fascinating.
If it was only that simple.
Nobody knows how Trubisky and all the other quarterbacks in this draft are going to turn out. Nobody. It’s an even playing field between Jets GM Mike Maccagnan and the coffee master who serves him expresso at the Florham Park Starbucks.
And this isn’t a shoat at Maccagnan. It’s league-wide issue.
I remember when Baltimore picked Kyle Boller and ESPN’s Ron Jaworski, who played NFL QB, and studies more film on QB’s than most, thought he was going to be a great one. It didn’t turn out that way.
Figuring out whether these college quarterbacks can cut it on the next level is one of the biggest challenges in the player personnel world.
So go talk to your local bartender or barista about the top quarterbacks can cut it in the NFL. Their insight on this topic is on the same level as most GM’s, coaches and scouts.
September 17, 2017
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