Slim Pickings at QB; Poole Clearly Leads the Pack
by trigrdan | 4 years ago | 0 Comments
Lombard, IL – When we left off last time, I told you that you may be surprised at what gets revealed when looking at the remaining 5 QB’s projected to be drafted – well I didn’t say it would be a good surprise! While there may be some projects that you can take a flier on, this appears to be a 1 QB class. At any rate, let’s take a look and the remaining 5 QB’s.
First up is Brayden Phillips out of Texas A&M. Phillips knows how to take charge on the field, which could help him, but there are a lot of red flags. With an A THP, Phillips will fall under the coveted 90+ THP that most coaches are looking for. His SAC should be in the 78-81 range, but both the other important MAC & DAC will fall below that mark. Finishing out his known abilities will be his ability to throw on the run, which ends up in the 78-81 range. With all of these ratings and the fact that he is a 23-year-old rookie, your best bet is to steer clear of Brayden Phillips.
Oklahoma’s strong armed QB, Ron Fletcher, is another guy that does not come highly recommended. He could find his way onto a roster, but will likely be a career backup. Starting out as an overall 62 or lower as a 23-year-old rookie is never a good sign. It will be hard to improve on his 86-89 THP as well as his 78-79 MAC. Fletcher will best serve as a 3rd string QB or a FA signing to fill in a one-week gap. The talent is just not there to shine in the MOF.
Joey Hardison is slightly better than our 2 previously discussed QB’s, but that is mainly because of his THP. Ranking as high as he can, Hardison has no problem firing the ball with a 90+ THP (this is becoming a common theme with QB’s in this draft.) Hardison will also be able to hit the short passes, with a respectable rating of 78-81. I was disappointed that we didn’t get another accuracy rating on him, which surely would have elevated his draft stock. Instead, it’s another decent throw on the run guy – with a rating range of 75-77. With an overall rating of 66, Hardison may be able to help out a team in need and will not break the bank with 5th round talent.
When seeing the initial ratings, I, along with many others, got pretty excited about Luke Otto out of North Dakota State. Another strong armed QB with 90+ THP and a very respectful DAC of 78-81. Then it came crashing down. Not that MAC of 72-74 is bad, it’s just not what we would expect out of a projected 1st round QB. His SAC will be even lower which puts him as a mediocre QB at best. With an OVR of 64, Otto can dig himself out of this hole, it will just take a little longer than we had hoped, and probably longer than the number of seasons that we have left.
That brings us to our final QB – Brandon Seither out of North Carolina. Seither has one negative thing going against him on the surface and that is his age. As I’ve stated before, starting out at 23, it is very difficult to gain the progression needed to be a superstar in this league. Luckily for Seither, he should be able to start for a team immediately in MOF. Despite his stock falling (2nd round projection/5th round talent) Seither has some very good ratings. 90+ THP and a MAC of 80-81 are phenomenal numbers. Factor in another impressive rating of 78-79 in his DAC, and you have yourself a bonafide starter. Although it may seem like a disappointment that his talent fell short of his projection, I think Seither is worthy of a higher pick than the 5th round.
Draft Insider’s final QB rankings:
1 – Sean Poole
2 – Brandon Seither
3 – Rodd Grant
4 – Joey Hardison
5 – Luke Otto
6 – Paul Eaton
7 – Ron Fletcher
8 – Brayden Phillips
9 – Dorian McCullers
10 – Brandon Monk
We need to protect our QB right? Join us in the next edition when we look at some offensive lineman in the upcoming draft.