Quarterback
This quarterback class is grim. Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota will be gone within the first six picks, and after that are four players who would normally be mid-to-late-round considerations that teams might reach for due to the extreme lack of quarterback talent outside of the already unimpressive top six. But basically, there's little to no reason to spend any significant resource on any of these guys after Winston/Mariota. If you want to aim for someone after them, make it Hundley or Petty.
1. Jameis Winston*, Florida State (6-4, 231)
Age: 21 (1/6/1994)
Projected round: 1 (Top five)
4.97 40-yard dash
103-inch broad jump
28.5-inch vertical jump
11.52 agility score
Despite his villain status, Winston's pedigree as an NFL prospect is hard to discredit. He has the prototypical size at 6-foot-4 and 231 pounds, and he has both polish and natural ability as an NFL-style pocket passer. The Ben Roethlisberger on-field comparison is a reasonable one.
2. Marcus Mariota*, Oregon (6-4, 222)
Age: 21 (10/30/1994)
Projected round: 1 (Top 10)
4.52 40-yard dash
121-inch broad jump
36-inch vertical
10.98 agility score
Mariota is primarily compared to Colin Kaepernick and Alex Smith. The three players possess similar frames and are known for standout running ability, but with those comparisons also comes the implication that Mariota is raw or/and lacking upside as a passer. I think Mariota is more skilled as a passer than Kaepernick and significantly more athletic than Smith, so I think both comparisons are
Quarterback
This quarterback class is grim. Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota will be gone within the first six picks, and after that are four players who would normally be mid-to-late-round considerations that teams might reach for due to the extreme lack of quarterback talent outside of the already unimpressive top six. But basically, there's little to no reason to spend any significant resource on any of these guys after Winston/Mariota. If you want to aim for someone after them, make it Hundley or Petty.
1. Jameis Winston*, Florida State (6-4, 231)
Age: 21 (1/6/1994)
Projected round: 1 (Top five)
4.97 40-yard dash
103-inch broad jump
28.5-inch vertical jump
11.52 agility score
Despite his villain status, Winston's pedigree as an NFL prospect is hard to discredit. He has the prototypical size at 6-foot-4 and 231 pounds, and he has both polish and natural ability as an NFL-style pocket passer. The Ben Roethlisberger on-field comparison is a reasonable one.
2. Marcus Mariota*, Oregon (6-4, 222)
Age: 21 (10/30/1994)
Projected round: 1 (Top 10)
4.52 40-yard dash
121-inch broad jump
36-inch vertical
10.98 agility score
Mariota is primarily compared to Colin Kaepernick and Alex Smith. The three players possess similar frames and are known for standout running ability, but with those comparisons also comes the implication that Mariota is raw or/and lacking upside as a passer. I think Mariota is more skilled as a passer than Kaepernick and significantly more athletic than Smith, so I think both comparisons are a little less than generous, but they're sound for the most part. Mariota's college production and running upside make him an interesting fantasy consideration, but he doesn't project to pro-style passing as well as Winston.
3. Brett Hundley*, UCLA (6-3, 226)
Age: 22 (6/15/1993)
Projected round: 2-3
4.63 40-yard dash
120-inch broad jump
36-inch vertical jump
10.91 agility score
Hundley lacks the pocket awareness and coverage anticipation you'd like to see in an early quarterback pick, but he checks out surprisingly well in other areas. His frame is well-built, his arm is strong and accurate, he stands tall against pressure and is a very good runner. Still, he'll need to get better at reading defenses both pre- and post-snap if he's going to be a consideration as a starter. He looks like a consideration in the first 40 picks, if only because the depth behind him is so remarkably bad.
4. Bryce Petty, Baylor (6-3, 230)
Age: 24 (5/31/1991)
Projected round: 2-4
4.87 40-yard dash
121-inch broad jump
34-inch vertical jump
11.04 agility score
Petty is ranked ahead of Hundley by some, presumably due to perceived superiority in pocket management and defense reading. I think it takes a bit of biased interpretation to reach that conclusion, as Petty had a lot of simplified reads in the Baylor offense, which in no way resembles a pro-style system. Moreover, Petty is less accurate and much less athletic than Hundley at two years older. At roughly 21.5 years old, Petty was unable to win a starting role over Nick Florence, who was no more than a late-round prospect before retiring prior to his own draft.
5. Chris Bonner, Colorado State University-Pueblo (6-7, 235)
Projected round: 3-5
Age: N/A
Workouts N/A
In an extremely weak quarterback class, Bonner is a small school quarterback who might sneak surprisingly high in the draft order to a team desperate for a big developmental prospect. Bonner threw for 6,704 yards (8.03 YPA), 63 touchdowns and 17 interceptions in 27 games the last two years.
6. Shane Carden, East Carolina (6-2, 218)
Projected round: 5-7
Age: 23 (11/6/1991)
4.94 40-yard dash
104-inch broad jump
29.5-inch vertical jump
11.62 agility score
Like Garrett Grayson, Carden is an extremely experienced non-AQ quarterback who lacks the size and arm strength to push for the first two rounds, but his history of production and understanding of the position should allow him to push for the fourth or fifth round in a hopelessly weak quarterback class. Carden is a bit more mobile than Grayson but might be less pro-ready after playing in a Texas Tech-style Air Raid offense at East Carolina. Although he's generally lower regarded than Grayson, Carden was the one more successful against Power Five competition. In 2014 games against South Carolina, Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Florida, Carden combined for 1,613 yards (7.8 YPA), 10 touchdowns and five interceptions.
7. Garrett Grayson, Colorado State (6-2, 213)
Projected round: 4-6
Age: 24 (5/29/1991)
Workouts N/A (did not participate)
Grayson is conventionally considered the best of the rest after Winston, Mariota, Hundley and Petty. He is experienced after earning starts in all four of his seasons at Colorado State, starting every game for which he was active since his sophomore year, and he reliably improved. Although he threw for 4,006 yards (9.5 YPA) and 32 touchdowns in 2014, Grayson's numbers were inflated by the presence of elite wideout Rashard Higgins, as well as Colorado State's MWC schedule. When playing the AQ-school trio of Colorado, Boston College and Utah, Grayson threw for just 629 yards (6.4 YPA), three touchdowns and three interceptions.
8. Brandon Bridge, South Alabama (6-4, 229)
Projected round: 4-7
Age: 23 (3/21/1992)
4.72 40-yard dash
110-inch broad jump
33-inch vertical jump
11.55 agility score
Bridge is a confusing case. He's almost like an even more extreme version of Logan Thomas -- a guy who looks just awful playing quarterback but possesses the size, arm strength and athleticism to hint at intoxicating upside. Bridge is a standout athlete with a cannon for an arm, but he couldn't win a starting job in 2013 against non-prospect Ross Metheny, and in his lone starting season Bridge completed just 52.1 percent of his passes while averaging just 6.3 YPA. Basically, he looks like an awesome bargain if you're doing a Madden fantasy draft, but Bridge's real-life application just doesn't seem realistic.
9. Bryan Bennett, Southeastern Louisiana (6-2, 211)
Projected round: 6-UDFA
Age: N/A
4.81 40-yard dash
125-inch broad jump
37-inch vertical jump
11.33 agility score
Bennett gets a spot on the list not because there's much reason to hope for NFL success –- he played at a low level of competition and is undersized -– but because he's known as the guy who at least made a fight out of a starting quarterback competition against Mariota in 2012. Bennett threw for 580 yards (7.0 YPA), nine touchdowns and three interceptions while running for 365 yards (5.9 YPC) and six touchdowns in two years at Oregon. Bennett is maybe the most athletic quarterback in the draft after Mariota and Hundley.
Others: Cody Fajardo (Nevada), Dylan Thompson (South Carolina), Sean Mannion (Oregon State), Terrance Broadway (Louisiana-Lafayette)
