I'll play;
1. Stroud- the cognitive score story is supposedly "inaccurate" so take that how you will. I absolutely love his arm and his ability to throw it with accuracy at all levels. He was masterful against Georgia in the playoffs and has stepped up in big games. Size, enough athleticism to move in the pocket, and I just believe his total package of what you are looking for makes him the safest if this group of potential land mines
2. Richardson- they are all a gamble, so if you are going to gamble why not do it on the guy with his elite athletic tools and upside? If he lands in the right situation and isn't rushed into starting, he could be something special.
3. Levis- he reminds me so much of Jay Cutler coming out of Vandy. I think at the end of the day you'd like to see more consistency but you have to take his subpar supporting cast into account. Love the arm strength.
4. Young- at the end of the day I just don't trust his frame to hold up over an entire season and the potential is there to spend as much time on IR as he does on the field. 5'10" and 195 pounds...if he works out, good for him, but I'm not going to buck 50 years of NFL history in saying a guy this small is going to be an elite quarterback at the Pro level. He's not Kyler Murray and he is also someone who got to sit back in the pocket at Bama behind a bunch of massive 5 stars and throw to all his 5 star receivers and tight ends.
5. Hooker- I like the kid, but the age does throw me off a little and you won't get an immediate return with the knee injury. Some concerns about him being a one read and throw it quarteback.
Quote: @minny65 said:
@ JR44 said:
I would rank them Levis, Stroud, Hooker, Young, Richardson - I think Levis could be another Herbert and I like his attitude from everything I have seen about him, I love Hooker's work ethic and leadership, I see Young as another Tua, no way I would use a high pick on him.
I had to do it 
Please don't let Hooker come to MN. That is just asking for a love boat 2.0.
Quote: @PurpleCrush said:
It's all smokescreens.....probably. Apparently the potential news that Levis is going #1 was started on a reddit thread claiming that Levis has been telling family & friends that he's going first overall.
Yeah, I don't believe anything I read on Reddit. But if the Levis #1 odds went from +4000 to +400 in three hours, they're getting it from somewhere other than Reddit.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
@ PurpleCrush said:
It's all smokescreens.....probably. Apparently the potential news that Levis is going #1 was started on a reddit thread claiming that Levis has been telling family & friends that he's going first overall.
Yeah, I don't believe anything I read on Reddit. But if the Levis #1 odds went from +4000 to +400 in three hours, they're getting it from somewhere other than Reddit.
I'll say this - this draft has been one of the hardest to get a grasp on in quite some time. There's a certain feel that no one has any idea what to expect.
I just assumed that we didn't have a chance at Young and Stroud so I really only looked semi-deeply (as much as internet will allow at AR, Levis and Hooker. In that order I like Levis (would move up into 13 range for him), then Hooker who I might be tempted at 23 but ideally a move down and still get but a gamble. Lastly, AR. His one year stats are bad across the board. Against 5 ranked teams he was 1-4 w/l, 49% completion, 6-4 TD/INT. His combine has people falling all over and we have seen that many times before but his on field results were poor.
Quote: @PurpleCrush said:
@ MaroonBells said:
@ PurpleCrush said:
It's all smokescreens.....probably. Apparently the potential news that Levis is going #1 was started on a reddit thread claiming that Levis has been telling family & friends that he's going first overall.
Yeah, I don't believe anything I read on Reddit. But if the Levis #1 odds went from +4000 to +400 in three hours, they're getting it from somewhere other than Reddit.
I'll say this - this draft has been one of the hardest to get a grasp on in quite some time. There's a certain feel that no one has any idea what to expect.
Yeah, the Vikings needing a QB has really thrown the whole thing into chaos. I remember in 2019 correctly predicting the Vikings #1 pick in January (Bradbury). This year, I don't have a freaking clue.
Quote: @PurpleCrush said:
@ MaroonBells said:
@ PurpleCrush said:
It's all smokescreens.....probably. Apparently the potential news that Levis is going #1 was started on a reddit thread claiming that Levis has been telling family & friends that he's going first overall.
Yeah, I don't believe anything I read on Reddit. But if the Levis #1 odds went from +4000 to +400 in three hours, they're getting it from somewhere other than Reddit.
I'll say this - this draft has been one of the hardest to get a grasp on in quite some time. There's a certain feel that no one has any idea what to expect.
Is it the kids all having media teams and controlling the narrative?
The NFL is supposed to be the one doing that.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
@ PurpleCrush said:
@ MaroonBells said:
@ PurpleCrush said:
It's all smokescreens.....probably. Apparently the potential news that Levis is going #1 was started on a reddit thread claiming that Levis has been telling family & friends that he's going first overall.
Yeah, I don't believe anything I read on Reddit. But if the Levis #1 odds went from +4000 to +400 in three hours, they're getting it from somewhere other than Reddit.
I'll say this - this draft has been one of the hardest to get a grasp on in quite some time. There's a certain feel that no one has any idea what to expect.
Yeah, the Vikings needing a QB has really thrown the whole thing into chaos. I remember in 2019 correctly predicting the Vikings #1 pick in January (Bradbury). This year, I don't have a freaking clue.
I've gotten Waynes, Bradbury, and Gladney (kind of since they had 2 shots) right. But have no idea this year. I really think they're serious about moving up for a QB but we don't know which one they would pay the price for.
Quote: @AGRforever said:
@"Geoff Nichols" said:
I like the rankings, well thought out. Coincidentally I have Levis on about the other end of the spectrum after watching 4-5 games of each of the QBs. Just a few general thought to expand:
1. Bryce Young - He isn't perfect even once you factor our the height/weight, but he has the potential to be one of the better facilitators in the NFL. Lots of Drew Brees to his game. Doesn't blow you away with any one aspect of his game but is well rounded and can function in any offense cerebrally at a high level.
2. Anthony Richardson - I am a big Richardson fan, arguably I would put him #1 on the list even with the boom/bust potential. Although he hasn't started many games he isn't the project QB the media has made him out to be. Although inconsistent he shows the best ability to feel pressure and create outside the structure of an offense. I also don't mean that to imply he can scramble and run around. He can but actually stays in a throws more often than not. The biggest question is on his short accuracy. Impossible to know if Florida designed the offense to avoid short throws or to protect Richardson. But if he was allowed to throw more layups his accuracy % would be much higher.
3. CJ Stroud - I can get on board with those who doubt Stroud, but he shows a lot of things you can't teach on film and has good size/mobility. On film he sees and processes well but he also was put in a situation where he had an over abundance of WRs who will be WR 1's in the NFL. Can't blame him for that, but how much did it benefit him when reading the field? If anything Stroud will be able to throw consistently to all 3 levels of the field with A+ accuracy. Funny enough his comp may be Kirk Cousins/Jared Goff if you were to add a bit of mobility.
4. Hendon Hooker - This will end up being a tie with Levis, but its a choose your own preference exercise. Hooker has the arm talent, mechanics and athleticism to be highly successful in the NFL. The Tennessee offense is funky but he called it well and was successful in a different system at Virginia Tech. The ACL is no concern for many concerns who don't have an immediate need and the age in a vacuum is irrelevant since QBs have a long shelf-life. The one question I have is the consistency of his deep ball accuracy, it just isn't consistent and this could end up being problematic with the far hash in the NFL on outs. But overall you're talking about a high-floor prospect who at a minimum can win games in the NFL.
5. Will Levis - He has all the physical attributes you're looking for in a QB and has the most experience in a pro-level offense. To be fair I always am harsh to QBs who take a step back in their progression. Linear progression/development is so important for quarterbacks especially. Outside of spending time in a pro offense and the reported ability to process NFL verbiage with ease there a quite a few gaps in his game. Anticipation and the pure arm talent is A+. But the ability to align lower body mechanics is problematic and leads to miss-fires on all levels of the field. His ability to feel pressure in the pocket is also the worst of the 5 although he did have by far the worst offensive line. I'd argue that Levis is more boom/bust that Richardson which is a hot take. To play that out in comps I see some combination of Ryan Tannehill, Jay Cutler and Blake Bortles. All were top 15 picks and have had varying level of success. But I don't see the top 5 QB ceiling.
It seems the top couple spots are out of our price range. Would you trade +3 #1s for any of them?
Or does the one they like need to fall into the 10s to teens to be realistic?
I think picks 7 - 11 are probably the Vikings range for Stroud/Richardson. Could be Levis for all I know. But arguably I think any of the 5 QBs on this list are worthwhile to draft in the 1st round. So if they have a strong preference I think you'll see them move up. If not, I could see them sitting back and heavily contemplating Hooker at 23.
Quote: @"Geoff Nichols" said:
@ AGRforever said:
@"Geoff Nichols" said:
I like the rankings, well thought out. Coincidentally I have Levis on about the other end of the spectrum after watching 4-5 games of each of the QBs. Just a few general thought to expand:
1. Bryce Young - He isn't perfect even once you factor our the height/weight, but he has the potential to be one of the better facilitators in the NFL. Lots of Drew Brees to his game. Doesn't blow you away with any one aspect of his game but is well rounded and can function in any offense cerebrally at a high level.
2. Anthony Richardson - I am a big Richardson fan, arguably I would put him #1 on the list even with the boom/bust potential. Although he hasn't started many games he isn't the project QB the media has made him out to be. Although inconsistent he shows the best ability to feel pressure and create outside the structure of an offense. I also don't mean that to imply he can scramble and run around. He can but actually stays in a throws more often than not. The biggest question is on his short accuracy. Impossible to know if Florida designed the offense to avoid short throws or to protect Richardson. But if he was allowed to throw more layups his accuracy % would be much higher.
3. CJ Stroud - I can get on board with those who doubt Stroud, but he shows a lot of things you can't teach on film and has good size/mobility. On film he sees and processes well but he also was put in a situation where he had an over abundance of WRs who will be WR 1's in the NFL. Can't blame him for that, but how much did it benefit him when reading the field? If anything Stroud will be able to throw consistently to all 3 levels of the field with A+ accuracy. Funny enough his comp may be Kirk Cousins/Jared Goff if you were to add a bit of mobility.
4. Hendon Hooker - This will end up being a tie with Levis, but its a choose your own preference exercise. Hooker has the arm talent, mechanics and athleticism to be highly successful in the NFL. The Tennessee offense is funky but he called it well and was successful in a different system at Virginia Tech. The ACL is no concern for many concerns who don't have an immediate need and the age in a vacuum is irrelevant since QBs have a long shelf-life. The one question I have is the consistency of his deep ball accuracy, it just isn't consistent and this could end up being problematic with the far hash in the NFL on outs. But overall you're talking about a high-floor prospect who at a minimum can win games in the NFL.
5. Will Levis - He has all the physical attributes you're looking for in a QB and has the most experience in a pro-level offense. To be fair I always am harsh to QBs who take a step back in their progression. Linear progression/development is so important for quarterbacks especially. Outside of spending time in a pro offense and the reported ability to process NFL verbiage with ease there a quite a few gaps in his game. Anticipation and the pure arm talent is A+. But the ability to align lower body mechanics is problematic and leads to miss-fires on all levels of the field. His ability to feel pressure in the pocket is also the worst of the 5 although he did have by far the worst offensive line. I'd argue that Levis is more boom/bust that Richardson which is a hot take. To play that out in comps I see some combination of Ryan Tannehill, Jay Cutler and Blake Bortles. All were top 15 picks and have had varying level of success. But I don't see the top 5 QB ceiling.
It seems the top couple spots are out of our price range. Would you trade +3 #1s for any of them?
Or does the one they like need to fall into the 10s to teens to be realistic?
I think picks 7 - 11 are probably the Vikings range for Stroud/Richardson. Could be Levis for all I know. But arguably I think any of the 5 QBs on this list are worthwhile to draft in the 1st round. So if they have a strong preference I think you'll see them move up. If not, I could see them sitting back and heavily contemplating Hooker at 23.
Everyone knows how we got here so there’s no point rehashing it but to me here are the facts indicating they will try desperately to move up for a QB:
1. Kirk isn’t “their guy”. Decades of NFL history indicate new regimes want to pick their own guy to captain the ship.
2. The moves this offseason, and the ones expected yet to come, have left things very open to a down year/rebuild in 2023.
3. This class has 4-5 QBs who could wind up being the top guy.
4. They haven’t re-upped KC yet.
5. It’s smoke season but every last murmur indicates an interest in the QB position.
6. The perceived and anticipated lack of blue chippers available at other positions at 23.
I know fans get skittish and that picks do have value, but short of a tank that the owners won’t greenlight or a blockbuster move for a vet that will cost just as many picks and a lot more against the cap, I guess my thing is— to quote RATM— what better place than here, what better time than now?
Sure I’d love for the Vikings to trade for a proven commodity but outside Lamar, we’d get laughed off the phone by most teams who have said QB. Seriously what would the cost of trading for Burrow be? 5 firsts? And they might still say no. The reality is we have to gamble at some point and this year, with KC in house to mentor for a year, seems a better time than most. If it doesn’t work out then odds are the Vikings will be in this same exact spot next year, but will also be having to re-sign Kirk and still no longterm plan at the most important position in sports. To me it just makes to much sense to move heck and high water to draft a guy this year.
|
