Absolutely not.. I would challenge anyone to convince me there aren't 32 players better than him in this draft. Hell, I would take that number to 50. QBs always get preferential treatment.. and they also usually end up as significant busts 2 years down the road. Dart will have to have a perfect scheme to survive in this league. That type of QB is not worthy of a first round pick.
Right on @xinik and @Campbell, you are preparing yourself that the QB may not be available later in the draft. I don't think that outweighs your responsibility to improve bad rosters. Especially by taking bad QBs, well, at least QBs you don't deem having franchise traits.
We are sharing brain waves @xinik. Honestly, I wouldn't hate the pick if it were Hunter either. I just think Sanders is out of the equation. I do believe the Browns are still in decision mode, but I think it is down to two NON-QBs.. unless of course the smoke screen is real at #1 and Ward isn't being picked there. Hell maybe someone comes up to #1 to take Carter. Wouldn't that be a shock to the draft world?
When Nix and Penix are top 12 players... It kind of makes you rethink a few things right? The lack of "true Round 1" talent in this class makes things all jumbled up. Is there REALLY that significant a difference between the guys who are going to be taken at 25 and 50 in this class? And if so you are considering all sorts of things like positional value and scheme and player fit etc... in determining these things. I'll be honest I haven't done a massive deep dive into the QB's this year like I normally would. I was sort of resigned to the fact the Giants were taking one and couldn't get Ward and don't want to repeat the Daniel Jones experience of realizing it was a mistake on draft night and being biased against the kid the rest of his time with the team... So I don't actually have a real answer to this question on Dart. But I think team boards are, as usual, going to be all over the place and it only takes 1...
Yes, 100%, if you are convinced he is "capable". It doesn't have to be reality, but if your evaluations move you into that spot, I agree he would be worthy. I have a hard time believing there is no one that hasn't moved to that conclusion either, so I think you are right and someone will take him in the first round. I disagree with this wholeheartedly, but in the NFL, there is a bigger blind spot for QBs than any other combination combined. You can have a great scout team, but if a GM on the hot seat looks at a guys highlight reel, it can be enough to shut off the haters in the room and come to your own conclusion.
Giants have actually done this. I think they are still trying to find the QB of the future in this draft class -- but they have a starter and a back-up that will give you better play then you got from your QB room last season. They are prepared to gamble and miss out on whomever they liked on day 2 if that's how things break. I think their might be fire behind the smoke that they are looking at Hunter at 3 and then trading back up for Sanders. I'm not sure that's better then just taking him at #3 overall though... I think mentally I am a point where I realize now that only Ward is REALLY worth a first rounder. And I'll be honest watching his tape I have WAY less confidence in him they I did Maye or JJ McCarthy coming out... So I think I am on board with trying to build a dominant defense and get by with Wilson and see how the chips fall come next draft class.
Just for a moment want to argue that it’s not just Quarterback. John Ross in the top 10. Tavon Austin. Some of the Edge guys who never produced (Shemar this year will likely go high) Odafe Oweh. These are also huge leaps in expectation over the actual tape. (Not real fair for Stewart maybe) The moral for me is some of these position coaches/coordinators have egos bigger than castles.
Just because it relates, Daniel Jeremiah was asked the other day “If McCarthy was in this class…”, and he said J.J. would go first in this group
First) Every squirrel finds a nut now and again. Someone is going to hit lightening in a bottle. If the player wasn't taken #1 overall, then that is exactly what it was. If other teams passed on him, he isn't a sure thing. Second) That lightening strikes fast and leaves even faster. I wouldn't anoint either of these guys after single seasons. Brock Purdy was annointed the next Tom Brady after his first full season as a full time starter, being taken late in the draft. Now the league is catching up to him quickly and the 49ers won't even give him a contract extension offer. The tides switch quickly in the NFL. We may easily be talking about the Broncos and Falcons in 2026/2027 as one of the QB needy teams. I do believe there is a significant difference in the talent at 25 vs 50... I just don't think any of the QBs are in that top 50. I think there is a huge difference between an Emeka Egbuka or Luther Burden vs. a Jayden Higgins or Xavier Restrepo at WR. Or.. a Omarion Hampton vs. Quinshon Judkins. OR Walter Nolan vs Shemar Turner. I think there are significant franchise quality differences between these examples and others... Now, taking QBs into the equation, that is where the importance overrides some of these franchise traits for other positions. Is the difference great enough between these players to pass on the most important position, even if that QB grades out lower than the second of each of these examples? That's the question GMs have to ask themselves during the draft process.
The Browns have also done this... In 2014, Manziel was touted as a top ten talent. The Browns passed in the top ten and then traded up to get him later in the round.. their instinct was correct. In 2007, Quinn was in the green room, the Browns passed only to trade back up into the first to get him later... Their instinct was correct in passing early in the round and getting Future HOF OL Joe Thomas. In 2012, the Browns passed on a QB in the top ten to take a RB, then took a QB later in the first round.. that QB was Brandon Weeden. Their instinct was correct in passing early in the round for a QB. No QB after their #4 (traded up to #3) was ever deemed a good starter from that draft class besides Russell Wilson and Kirk Cousins who are now being tossed around the league and scrutinized for their pro career.
That is the million dollar question for me. Let's say the Giants do what I view as "the right thing" and pass on Sanders for the blue chip player. It's so hard in my mind to justify trading up to lock in Dart, or hell even taking Milroe at 34 overall if guys like Walter Nolan might still be on the board... The step down feels WAY more manageable at 34 then it does at 3. But man do I think it would feel bad if the to trade a 2026 first for a guy who wasn't worth just taking at #3 overall if that's the path they choose.
The next million dollar questions are... Who will be in the mix for the second tier QBs (including Sanders if he gets by the Giants.)? Where do you need to trade up to in order to get the QB you want?
If Sanders makes it to 4... are we even sure he is QB2? I'd say his next possible landing spot is Vegas at 6 and the Saints at 9. Saints are probably where I think he goes at this point. If he makes it past there he will free fall or some will will have to trade up for him to get in front of the Steelers I think. I suspect 21 is the likely landing pad barring a trade up?
Yes it is, yet they were in the same light as the prospects we are talking about this year. Manziel and Quinn were at some point in the top 5 conversations. Both dropped for different reasons, Manziel off field issus, Quinn is exactly the same as the prospects we have today.. Good college career at a top school, iffy on the franchise traits. Weeden is Shough... Old guy who stayed in school long enough to make a name for himself. Weeden had a baseball career before starting football, Shough just has extra seasons due to injuries and COVID. I have a very bad feeling about this QB draft class.
Excellent question! This is one the talking heads should be exploiting. Talk about click bait. They have already started talking about the possibility he is the guy in the green room dropping on night one. Why not start considering many teams don't have him as QB2? This is interesting to explore. What is the biggest hope when drafting a QB, if he doesn't make a franchise stature? Is he going to be a great career backup? I think that would be the next "win". I don't see Sanders as a career backup. I do see the next tier, minus Milroe, as that backup guy always competing and hoping for their break that never comes. I think the Saints are the spot where he ends up, if I am going to throw a team out there. I could actually see him dropping, the Saints being so torn on what to do they make a trade down out of desperation, and still getting him in the 13-16 range. Now, there's a theory, right?
Likely no Hall of Famers coming from this class. One could always prove us wrong, but it seems unlikely
I haven't been following things real closely - is Ward considered the consensus #1 QB? As a Miami fan... that should speak to the quality of the QB class. The guy has ultra throwing talent, for sure, but his ability to make a big play / throw is offset by his propensity to make big mistakes, etc. The amount of times that I just put my head in my hands because the guy decided to throw the ball across his body, downfield, into an easy catch for a defender, instead of just throwing the ball away or running for a few yards... Great arm. Can make all the throws, etc. Can he make the right decisions in the NFL? Very doubtful. Not sure if he ever grows from that point, but that's not something we can really predict.
Short answer, Yes. He’s pretty consensus top QB at this point. Probably 80%+ to go #1 overall. All that with the asterisk that everyone knows it’s not a strong QB class
I mean I think he is easily QB 1 in this class. But I would have put him as QB 5 last year I think. I think he is a good prospect but certainly have a lot of concerns for a guy likely to go #1 overall. That said I would still rather trade up to #1 for him then take one of the other options at #3 overall... So there is that.
