The 2019 NFL Draft is bereft of deep talent at the quarterback position. Outside of Dwayne Haskins, Drew Lock and perhaps Kyler Murray, it’s pretty stark — a really bad year to be a team in desperate need of a franchise passer.
The Senior Bowl really highlighted this fact to a T, as the quarterback play throughout the week of practices and then during the game itself was less than stellar.
As we’ve highlighted before, this puts a premium on the top picks. This is especially true because the two teams at the top — Arizona and San Francisco — already have their quarterbacks.
So which desperate teams are most likely to give up the farm in a trade up to one of those top spots?
New York Giants (No. 6 overall)
The Giants are in an interesting spot. Eli Manning is clearly on his way down, but the Giants appear to be resolved he’s the guy for at least one more season. If that’s the case, then they could opt to roll the dice and try to land one of the 2020 quarterbacks — a much deeper class.
But honestly, given the talent on offense that Big Blue features, the time is now to make a bold move for the quarterback of the future. Dwayne Haskins has already made it clear he’d love to play for the Giants, and he’d be a great fit for that offense.
Jacksonville Jaguars (No. 7 overall)
The Jaguars could contend for a Super Bowl with a franchise quarterback at the helm. That’s a fact. Blake Bortles isn’t it, and he’s all but gone already. Tom Coughlin might be more inclined to hit free agency hard to find a short-term answer, especially because the Jaguars are still in win-now mode.
But if the Jags fall in love with one of the top quarterbacks, they should make a bold move to trade up for that guy. We’ve seen all too often that teams which fail to pounce on these opportunities end up mired in mediocrity.
Denver Broncos (No. 10 overall)
There’s a lot of smoke out there that the Broncos are honing in on Drew Lock, and if that’s the case he might very well be there at No. 10 overall. However, given the fact that the Giants and Jags both could be looking, that’s a risk John Elway should not take.
If Elway and Co. end up falling in love with Haskins, however, a trade up absolutely will be necessary. Haskins is good enough and has performed well enough in big games to warrant top-2 status, and he almost certainly will be taken that early.
Cincinnati Bengals (No. 11 overall)
The Bengals recently sent out a signal indicating Andy Dalton will be back in Cincinnati next season. If we’re being honest, though, that’s like saying you’re perfectly okay with eating lukewarm oatmeal every morning for the rest of the year.
Cincinnati has some really outstanding offensive talent at the skill positions. Dalton is okay. But he’s not great. The Bengals really do need to seriously explore bringing in young blood to compete for the starting job. Bringing in a gunslinger like Haskins could spark quite the revival in Cincinnati.
Miami Dolphins (No. 13 overall)
This is tricky, because the Dolphins still haven’t announced a new head coach and we really have no idea what direction this team is headed. There’s a rumor out there that Miami is content to play the long game and wait until 2020 to try to land the future franchise quarterback.
That’s certainly an option. But if the Dolphins do their due diligence and find the quarterback of their dreams in this year’s class, they cannot hesitate to pull the trigger on a trade up for that guy.