Slimm's 2017 Quarterbacks (Underclassman) | Page 5 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Slimm's 2017 Quarterbacks (Underclassman)

I know it's a little early to project but someone mentioned Deondre Francois early. Any thought to where he is projected to go once eligible?
 
TedSlimmJr said:
Not sure what you mean by that. That kinda depends on who is "we" and what guy "we" thought Watson was.

Watson is very much the quarterback I've always thought he was. He's pretty darn good. He's a top 10 talent. Furthermore, he's basically having an identical season to the one he had last year, he's just running a lot less and doing it against a tougher Strength of Schedule this year. Not perfect and not flawless, but neither is anybody else. I think people overreact too much from week to week about these players. One week they're trash and the next week they're incredible.

I've always liked to evaluate player's based on their careers. Look at the entire picture. You'll get a much more accurate assessment of what you're dealing with. What's correctable and what isn't. What's worth actually being concerned with and what isn't. I mean, are you really going to knock a quarterback for a 3 INT game when he threw it 70 times? And completely overlook 580 yards passing and 3 scores? I don't understand that line of thinking. The majority of Clemson's games for the past 2 years are over at halftime because of Deshaun Watson. Again, he's only a Junior. But he's as good as Marcus Mariota was coming out of Oregon. I think their skillset is nearly identical.

Last year you overreacted to Jared Goff's 5 INT game vs. Utah. Yet he still went #1 overall. The reason is because once you've seen enough of a kid to establish that he's a top talent at his position, that won't change based on one game. Ever. If Mitch Trubisky or Kizer go out and throw 5 INT's in their next start, they're still two of the three best quarterbacks in this draft. Period. We've seen enough at this point to know that. I have anyway. Based on their careers. Trubisky with the smallest sample size, but shows such great feel in the pocket, and displays such maturity in his decision making to be that inexperienced.

For me the bottom line is this, I don't think there's a nickel's worth of difference between the three of em'.... Kizer, Watson, and Trubisky. All three have the talent and ability to play at the next level and develop into franchise caliber quarterbacks. They all have different strengths and weaknesses, so it comes down to a system and personality fit. I'm honestly not sure which order I like them in at this point, which is a rather rare situation for me. There's one thing I don't like being and that's indecisive. But I simply can't separate Watson, Kizer, or Trubisky enough in terms of grade to put them in any particular order and feel good about it. I like all three.

Mahomes looked completely undraftable vs. Iowa St. Following up horrible lob passes in the middle of the field into triple coverages with pick six's due to inaccurate passes and brutal decision making. Texas Tech got blown out 66-10 by a team that came into that game with only 2 wins all season. Because Mahomes was so terrible. By far the worse performance I watched any of these quarterbacks put up that wasn't played in a hurricane. But again, you have to evaluate players based on their careers if in order to get an accurate assessment of what you're dealing with. Mahomes is a little more physically talented than Kizer, Watson, or Trubisky....but he's also the least polished mentally, mechanically, and the most risky for several reasons.

I think any team should be excited about attaching their career to any of these quarterbacks if they're a GM or coach. Especially if they need a quarterback. But I wouldn't do it #1 overall with Myles Garrett sitting there. Not me. Also, Cody Kessler has played pretty well for Cleveland. Better than I've seen any quarterback play for them in a long time. I believe Kessler was my #2 or #3 Senior quarterback prospect last year.
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Excellent post, Slimm. I agree that Watson and Mariota have a lot of similarities. There are two areas where Watson separates himself from Mariota to me. Watson's instincts/big-play ability when the play breaks down is more similar to Russell Wilson (imo) and a level higher than Mariota; Watson's ability/willingness to throw covered WR's open is more similar to Winston than Mariota - though Winston did it in a pro-style offense. This translated to a higher INT total for each, and a lot of people knocked each QB for those INT's. I don't like the higher INT rate for its own sake, but I don't think most people put enough emphasis on this trait in college QB's. In the NFL, you'll have to throw covered receivers open to score at a high rate. People knock Watson for his accuracy, but how many college QB's drop dime back shoulder throws 30 and 40 yards down fiels whenever they want?

For me, the most valid concern with Watson is that he only reads have the field (with few exceptions), and he throws to his primary target most of the time. These concerns are mitigated (for me) because of Watson's ability to shred Cover 2, the fact that he makes OL calls, the fact that the Clemson staff put in pro-style concepts to suit Watson, and because he's smart, instinctive, a gym rat, and a natural/humble leader.

I'd be fine with Cleveland going for Garrett. Given their issues, they probably should. But, I think SF would be making a crucial mistake by passing on Watson. He should be an ideal fit for Kyle Shannahan's offense.
 
NorFlaFin said:
Mitch just got short

http://draftwire.usatoday.com/2017/01/28/is-mitch-trubisky-way-shorter-than-we-thought/

If he has small hands, he'll drop like a rock.
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I don't know what he will measure I just know that he's not a guy that I would covet with a super high pick. He's good. Legitimately so. I like him. But does he have the combination of skills that make me say this guy, definitely this guy? No. I don't see that.

DeShaun Watson has that little something extra, despite being sort in-category with a Mitch Trubisky. Patrick Mahomes is in a different category altogether.
 
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