Sam Darnold
He had an up-and-down season with too many turnovers - fumbles were a particular issue beyond the interceptions. Darnold needs to improve his decision-making, eye movement, and confidence.
He admitted that confidence was an issue for him in 2017. Earlier in the day of the Trojans' upset loss to Washington State, a scout who was doing tape study of USC quarterback Sam Darnold texted me that they thought Darnold was a good prospect and should end up being a quality starter in the NFL,
but he thought Darnold was being overhyped as a "can't miss" elite-quarterback prospect. They felt that Darnold was not better on tape in 2017 than Mitch Trubisky or Deshaun Watson were in 2016.
Josh Rosen - concussion and shoulder surgery
Rosen had a mixed outing in a loss to Stanford in Week 4. Previously, he completed 34-of-56 passes for 463 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions in a loss to Memphis.
Both of his interceptions against the Tigers were bad decisions, and one was returned for a critical pick-six. He was lucky a few more of his passes didn't turn into a few more interceptions.
7/17/17: Rosen completed 59 percent of his passes for 1,915 yards with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions over his six games of 2016 before being sidelined by shoulder surgery. Rosen is a pocket passer, but there is already talk that his character and leadership are lacking. Some team sources have told me that Rosen is disliked by a lot of teammates.
Josh Allen - shoulder problems
Allen will probably be a high pick in the 2018 NFL Draft,
but some of his performances in 2017 indicate that he could be a work in progress who will need some developmental time. His completion percentage and interception total from 2016 provide evidence for that assessment, too. Allen has a great skill set, but he needs a lot of grooming for the NFL.
Prior to a three-touchdown game against Texas State,
Allen had his third ugly game of the season, even though Wyoming beat Hawaii. He was only 9-of-19 for 92 yards with a touchdown against the Rainbow Warriors. In Week 3 versus Oregon, Allen completed only 9-of-24 passes for 64 yards with an interception. He completed 22-of-32 passes for 328 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions against Gardner-Webb.
Baker Mayfield
Mayfield is undersized for the NFL with just average arm strength. He can have issues reading defenses because of his height, throwing into tight windows,
and will have a big adjustment in learning to work under center, call plays, and operate a pro-style offense.
One big area of improvement for Mayfield is his footwork as he gets happy feet in the pocket. One college scouting director told me that Mayfield's feet are terrible. In speaking to multiple teams, they had second-day grades on Mayfield, but that doesn't mean he won't go in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
7/17/17: In 2016, Mayfield completed 71 percent of his passes for 3,965 yards with 40 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He picked up six rushing touchdowns as well. Improving his field vision, feel, and pocket passing are necessary for Mayfield to have any chance of being an early round prospect.
He is a good college quarterback, but not a pro-caliber signal-caller.
Read more at
http://walterfootball.com/draft2018QB.php
