Conventional wisdom throughout the entire NFL draft process was that quarterbacks wouldn’t hear their names called within the top five. The 2017 class is not necessarily filled with franchise-level signal callers and appears to be deep at multiple positions on the defensive side of the ball.
As the draft itself nears, this can now pretty much be thrown out the window.
It started earlier in the month with reports that the Cleveland Browns were torn between Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett and North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky. While that report can be taken with a grain of salt, it’s a clear indication that NFL teams value signal callers at a higher clip than other positions heading into the draft.
Remember, neither Jared Goff nor Carson Wentz were considered top-end overall prospects heading into the 2016 NFL Draft. Despite this, they ended up going No. 1 and No. 2 respectively after teams moved up to acquire their services.
This lends some credence to the idea that quarterbacks will be over-drafted when the annual event kicks off in Philadelphia next week.
Picking third overall, most figured that the Chicago Bears would have their pick of the litter at the quarterback position. In fact, there was some speculation the team could move down from that spot and still select their franchise signal caller.
That no longer appears to be the case. And now, if you ask Bears beat writer John Mullin from CSN Chicago, the team might actually have to trade up in order to pick up its quarterback of the future.
“To this point, the predominance of thought has centered around whether the Bears would trade down from the No. 3 pick. But a confluence of circumstances might be positioning the Bears for a possible trade the opposite direction,” Mullin noted this week. “A trade up could allow the Bears to pick Texas A&M’s Myles Garrett, the most dominant pass rusher in this year’s draft, or more likely Watson, who checks every box for what general manager Ryan Pace wants in a franchise quarterback.”
With Cleveland already indicating that it likely won’t trade the first pick, this leaves the San Francisco 49ers at No. 2 overall in prime position to take advantage of quarterback-needy teams throughout the remainder of the top 10.
First-year 49ers general manager John Lynch had previously indicated that his team was “open for business” when it comes to the second pick. And in reality, San Francisco’s draft plans are about as skewed as any team in the NFL. We really have no idea in what direction this team might go.
One could conclude that Lynch and Co. will go after their quarterback of the future at two. Then again, the rumors continually linking San Francisco to Washington Redskins signal caller Kirk Cousins raises questions there. Add in the presence of stop-gap starter Brian Hoyer, and this is magnified further.
With the Buffalo Bills potentially linked to Mitch Trubisky and other teams within the top 10 in need of quarterbacks, San Francisco finds itself in an optimal position to acquire more draft capital to begin what promises to be a lengthy rebuild.
Would Chicago trade a valuable pick to San Francisco in order to move up one spot in the top three? That’s the biggest question here. However, if the team is sold on Deshaun Watson as the top quarterback in the class, it might have to make that move. This, despite the fact that Chicago added Mike Glennon in free agency last month.
Yes folks, the entire quarterback situation promises to get more interesting as the draft approaches in just over a week.