I'm never going to have the insight that most of the guys have here, but I really looked at Sanders today and here's what I saw: When has a clean pocket, he has good placement. He puts the ball where it's easy for the receiver to get but hard for the defender. He is accurate on all the throw types. He also can run, so there's that aspect that everyone looks for. There's a lot of things that concern me about him though. He seems small. Some say about 6' 1" and 212lbs. That doesn't eliminate him from success but I'd like to see a bigger guy. Arm strength is only average. Some throws that a strong armed guy can make look easy look a bit harder for him and the windows gets tighter for the WR as the DB can make up ground. That can be fine in college but the NFL is quicker. Another thing is his trait of drifting in the pocket. He took a lot of sacks. 42 last year IIRC, but some were because he drifts backwards in the pocket and puts the tackles at a disadvantage when trying to block. If he would just step up, he could've avoided quite a few sacks. He's a 1st rounder because of the market, but I don't see him separate himself talentwise from some guys that were 2nd rounders in years past. This may sound like a strange comp because he's much more mobile, but IMO, his throwing ability is about the same as Aiden Oconnell. Not strong. Has to anticipate more than average. I think there will be a huge dip in production when it comes to the next level, although he has a chance at success if it plays out right.
The way you asked it seemed like you were wondering what you'd think a general scout would say and not if you were one. This clears it up.
A little late to the party but here’s my input Dart is not top-32. I have I. Around the 35-40 range because of positional value and there’s a drop off after him. Is he going in the first round? Yes but it’ll be a team in the 10-21 range who thinks he can bolster the position because of they have other talent on the roster. If not there, it’s probably late first for a team looking to trade back in to get the 5th year option. As far as Sanders goes, he’s borderline top-32 but he’s going in the top 8. He’s got the bloodline and talent “justify” that. Unfortunately, he’s got to have talent around him, and teams drafting towards the top don’t have an abundance. The kid is pretty talented, but having Hunter made him look better than he actually was. Also, it was embedded in him to take the sacks instead of trying to make throws with tight coverage; to help make his passing stats look great (not throwing it away and not throw INTs to drop comp %). My worry for him is that he’s gonna take a lot of hits from the pocket when going against man because the coverage will be there in the NFL. Sanders is this years Anthony Richardson and JJ McCarthy; in the sense of it hits, it hits big time. If not, then the franchise loses out on 2-5 years of prime play from your stars.
Just a cursory glance at my notes will have Fields as easily a better prospect than Dart coming out, so I'll have to reframe the question for if there are enough similarities to say I would be comfortable with a loosely tangible comp between them. I'll take a few minutes later today to watch some video and respond to a bunch of other posts.
IRISH asked... So, my question is.. coming out of college Fields, does Dart compare to him? You might have to rewatch film. Don’t cheat and just look at stats. _______ Just a two-bit, or 2 cent observation here from a 2 brain cell kinda guy. IMO, Fields clearly came out higher than Dart does now, but Fields had the team called 'The Ohio State Buckeyes', completely surrounded by talent. Is Ole Miss at this juncture comparable and does it even matter? Does this even factor in? Is this apples to oranges?
