2018 Quarterback Class

The Latest CBS mock that came out today has Finley #7 overall to the Cardinals. Definitely gonna have to seriously look at him as a possible 2018 class guy.

 

This weekend Oklahoma State @ West Virginia (Rudolph v Grier). Should be a good one.

 

I had some extra time on my hands so I added Grier and Finley to the first opening set of rankings.

 

Finley graded pretty well, Top-10. Grier not too far back (#13).

 

FWIW...

 

Wazzu QB Luke Falk now owns the PAC-12 passing records for ... damn near everything. Last week, he took over in yards, attempts and completions. Today, he just passed Matt Barkley for all-time TDs. I know he's a Leach system QB, but still worth mentioning.

 

Logan Woodside Named Heisman Contender by Heisman Trophy Trust
Toledo, OH – Senior quarterback Logan Woodside (Frankfort, KY) has been notified by the Heisman Trophy Trust that he is a "contender" for the 2017 Heisman Trophy and a candidate to be one of the finalists for the prestigious award given annually the best football player in the country.

It is the second consecutive season that Woodside has been named a candidate for the award.

The Heisman Trust will release the finalists for the 2017 Heisman Memorial Trophy on Monday, Dec. 4 and the winner will be announced on Saturday, Dec. 9 on ESPN.

Through 10 games this season, Woodside has led the Rockets to an 8-2 record and put up some impressive numbers. He has completed 64.8 percent of his passes for 2,919 yards and 20 touchdowns. He leads the MAC in passing yards and passing efficiency (167.9). In 2016, Woodside led the nation with 45 touchdown passes, shattering the UT record of 29 reached twice by all-time Rocket great Bruce Gradkowski in 2003 and 2005. Woodside was the first Rocket QB to ever crack the 4,000-yard passing mark in a season, finishing with 4,129 yards. Woodside was second nationally in passing efficiency (183.3) and was named a "contender" for the 2016 Heisman Trophy by the Heisman Trophy Trust.

Woodside is also on the official watch lists for the Maxwell Award (national player of the year), the Davey O'Brien Award (top quarterback) the Manning Award (top quarterback) and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (top quarterback on and off the field).

 

Added today -

Kurt Benkert
Drew Lock
Riley Ferguson
Tanner Lee
Logan Woodside
Nic Shimonek
Daniel Jones


Removed today -

Anu Solomon

 

Some quick thoughts -

Mason Rudolph may be locked into that top spot. His score put him in a position to have it from this point on.

Kurt Benkert is being extremely undervalued at this point in the process. You can expect to see his name gather more steam on other sites leading up to the draft.

Josh Allen took a tumble, Chase Litton made a nice jump up, Matt Linehan took a step backwards and Lagow continues to hang about in a spot that once again exceeded my original expectations.

 

I am leaning that Tanner Lee transfers to a contender as a grad transfer and makes his case to be an early QB next draft. He wasn't able to show his best ability in Nebraska's system on a crappy team but a new coach on a rebbuilding team may not be wise when he can go to any school losing a QB to the NFL and show that he could be a much higher prospect.

 

Right now, I don't see Jake Browning as anything other than a college level quarterback but I have Tanner Lee as a legit NFL prospect.

^^ That statement would not appear to jive with my current rankings but everything between, and including, Rypien and Woodside is at scores that are separated by a margin thinner than a hair off a frog's ass.

Based off the first two score sets there is a solid chance that Browning, Thorson, Linehan and Grier may continue to trend down while Rypien and Lee trend up, and Benkert, Litton and Lagow all continue to ride higher than expected.

If I roughly tier them off of their current scores -

Tier 1 (clear first round grades):
Mason Rudolph - Oklahoma St.
Josh Rosen - U.C.L.A.
Baker Mayfield - Oklahoma
Kurt Benkert - Virginia

Tier 2 (small drop into second round grades):
Sam Darnold - U.S.C.
Ryan Finley - N.C. State
Lamar Jackson - Louisville
Chase Litton - Marshall

Tier 3 (very small drop to bottom second/top third grade):
Josh Allen - Wyoming
Luke Falk - Washington St.
Richard Lagow - Indiana

Tier 4 (drop to consistent bottom third grades):
Brett Rypien - Boise St.
Drew Lock - Missouri
Will Grier - W.V.U.
Riley Ferguson - Memphis
Matt Linehan - Idaho
Jake Browning - Washington
Clay Thorson - Northwestern
Tanner Lee - Nebraska
Logan Woodside - Toledo

Tier 5 (large drop, bottom 5th round grades):
Jarrett Stidham - Auburn
Tanner Mangum - B.Y.U.
Nic Shimonek - Texas Tech

Tier 6 (large drop, 7th round and undraftable) :
Mike White - W. Kentucky
Daniel Jones - Duke
Nick Fitzgerald - Mississippi St.
Max Browne - Pitt
Austin Allen - Arkansas
Quinton Flowers - S. Florida
Blake Barnett - Arizona St.
Kyle Allen - Houston

 

Something else that occurred to me this morning while I was taking down the quarterback board and getting ready to start in on running backs...

This class of quarterbacks is scattered with various types of talent that, if put into the correct situations, could yield more than a handful of passers that get significant snaps as a starter somewhere in their NFL career.

Part of that is due to this being a bit deeper of a quarterback class than we have seen in the recent past, but a bigger part of that comes from the current situation in the NFL with starting signal callers. There are many, many teams that will be looking to get potential early starters and guys to fill the road down a shortened road.

It will be interesting to see just how much 'demand' has an affect on the overall market and how these players are valued in late April.

 

Interesting news on Chase Litton. I'm always happy to see Marshall (Randy Moss/Chad Pennington/Amhad Bradshaw) players making some possible NFL noise.

 

I think Chase's immediate success will be heavily dependent on his situation and right now I would prefer he had the same kind of route to being a starter that Jimmy Garoppolo has had.

 

I can see that being good for Litton. However he goes about it, I hope he makes it.

 

This is very interesting to me. I find it ironic that the QB class is so talented and loaded and at the same time the market from the NFL is going to be high. Supply and demand at its best. I also find it interesting to see how some of the bigger NCAA names transition to the NFL... chances are a few are overrated and vise versa.

 

It's a great draft for teams needing a QB if they like their options and a better one for teams that don't need a QB as they can have their targets slide down the board.

 

I'm reading reports that Sam Darnold (USC) and Will Grier (WVU) will NOT be declaring eligible for the 2018 NFL Draft and will remain with their current and respective teams.

 

I really like Josh Rosen and if I was the Chargers, I would trade for/groom him.
I do not like Browning or Darnald.
Falk is another that will drop and I like.

 

Wyoming QB Josh Allen to play in bowl game, enter NFL draft...