Most sportsbooks have CJ Stroud as 3rd favorite behind, Young and Richardson for #1 as of today. Stroud is +450 (DK sportsbook) Free money?
I don't think anyone who has watched a significant amount of both Bryce Young and CJ Stroud film would agree that he has "the most accurate skill set".
There really isn’t any in my opinion. He has a nice arm that fits the NFL, can scramble but is a natural pocket passer, and has incredible pocket awareness. He also doesn’t get rattled and rushes throws when he needs to step up in the pocket. If he was 3-4 inches taller, he is the unquestionable lock at #1.
Arm strength isn’t elite. It’s great but it’s not in the top 3-5 in the class. One of his biggest issues throwing-wise was throwing balls too close to the sideline, leaving WRs with little room to work with. DBs will feast on that once they pick it up. Durability is the obvious one because of his size. I believe him and Kyler were almost identical, and the latter has missed time each of the last two seasons partially because of it.
With Young not having near the elite level of athleticism, or all round build of Kyler, the size issue is something that I think cannot be overlooked. This is a legit negative, and it also plays into your comment about not having elite arm strength. Bryce does have an arm that delivers balls that sometimes 'give up' at the end of throws. He's solid in the short and intermediate, especially in the middle or near the line of scrimmage, with good ball placement and above average anticipation. If the play design calls for him to deliver the ball quickly to a route that breaks back in, then receivers working from the outside will find the pass on time more often than not. I have a list of question marks for Young that the tape is struggling to answer. Have any positives or negatives for Stroud?
He was an Alabama alum? Sorry... had a shot and took it... opportunity was a knockin'. In regards to Young outside of the obvious size thing, I believe he may have already shown he may be injury prone. As you fellers have already mentioned, in comparison to Stroud, I believe arm strength and overall accuracy might be a bit less than Stroud, but he's still excellent shape, just a tick below Stroud. ________ __________________ An interesting observation for potential teams looking at these QB's in this class is the differences between a great pocket passer vs a athletic, mobile QB and I believe personally thats a great option to have available Some say, in the NFL circles, that there is a trend lately of teams going the more mobile athletic types at QB. I think there are still plenty of teams that are designed around the pocket passer. Tom Brady didnt do too bad, lol and Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and the likes were all pocket passers that ripped the NFL appart. I did a very brief and limited search on mobile QB's vs pocket passers and was kinda surprised that there wernt too many mobile QB's in Super Bowls. I dont know if that means diddly squat, but maybe the 'ol fashioned' pocket guy is still the best way to slice and dice a defense? Any way - Bryce Young is a great prospect along side of the others also. I really think its going to be fun during the top 5 picks or so to see what the trading goes like and who and why teams pick one over the other. If you land with a Young over Stroud or vice versa, you still are doing very well in my opinion.
Stroud can deliver almost any ball to any point on the field as he showed at the combine. Top 2-3 as far as arm strength in the class. Does a great job at leading his WRs and placing the ball in the right location. Is probably the best thrower from a clean pocket in the draft. He is a tremendous leader in the huddle and will quickly earn the respect at the next level. He works his ass off to try to keep improving. Now to the negatives. They’re not a ton. The biggest issue for me is when there’s pressure, he panics. You can look at his two games against Michigan, specifically the second halves of the games. Shaky footwork and didn’t go through the proper reads. It also drives me nuts on his unwillingness to run. You could see it late against Georgia but he seemed like has himself convinced not to run.
Richardson doesn't have the field vision that Young or Stroud have. He is still immature in his approach to the game, but has the athleticism to extend with legs. At the NFL level, as it sits right now, I see him fizzling out after 3 or 4 years if he goes to a team needing QB play now. He would really need to have a situation where he become more mature behind a guy, maybe like the Vikings to sit behind Cousins for two years and then come out more mature. Look to his performance against Georgia and Florida St. as where he really stands against next level talent.
My thoughts on Richardson. He’s built a lot like Cam with the mechanics of Vick. He can absolutely make NFL throws; but for every great throw he made, it seemed like it was followed up scratching your head saying “wtf was that?!?”.
Nebraska’s Trey Palmer runs 4.33-second 40-yard dash, fastest among wide receivers Nebraska wide receiver Trey Palmer opened some eyes with his 40-yard dash at the Scouting Combine. Palmer ran his 40 in 4.33 seconds, the fastest among all of the wide receivers in Indianapolis. At Nebraska last year, Palmer was the lone bright spot in an otherwise disappointing passing offense. He caught 71 passes for 1,043 yards and nine touchdowns, more than twice as much production as any other Nebraska receiver in all three categories. Palmer spent three years at LSU before transferring to Nebraska a year ago and didn’t get a lot of playing time, but his solid senior season and his good Combine make him a draft prospect worth keeping an eye on. PFT
That is why I said he needs to mature behind a quarterback for a couple years. Get the WTF moments to a minimum. When you go 33.3% against Florida St. and under 50% completion against Georgia, those are the closest that he has seen to a NFL caliber defense and stats like that will get him benched and cut if repeated time and time again in starts. (Unless you play for the Jets)
Anthony Richardson’s sensational Combine performance raises his draft stock Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson may have done more than any other player to improve his draft stock at the Scouting Combine. Richardson was outstanding in Indianapolis, and as a result he’s now listed behind Alabama’s Bryce Young in the betting odds to be the first quarterback drafted. Young remains the favorite at -240, but Richardson is now second at +380. Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud has moved down to third at +430, while Kentucky’s Will Levis is a long shot at +1100. The extreme long shots are Stanford’s Tanner McKee at +7500 and Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker at +7500. How did Richardson do it? By putting on one of the most impressive performances in Scouting Combine history. His vertical jump was the best ever for a quarterback. His broad jump was also the best ever for a quarterback. At 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, with a 40-yard dash time of 4.43 seconds, he would be considered an elite athletic prospect at any position, not just quarterback. But even more impressive was Richardson’s arm in the throwing drills. Richardson unleashed a series of 60-yard throws that landed in his receivers’ hands. Richardson’s arm talent is remarkable. Richardson is not a perfect prospect. He completed just 53.8 percent of his passes last season at Florida, and he started just 13 games in his college football career. Completion percentage and games started are two of the college quarterback stats with the best track record for predicting NFL success, and Richardson ranks near the bottom of all the quarterbacks in this year’s draft in both categories. But some NFL team is going to fall in love with Richardson’s raw talent, make him a first-round pick, and hope to develop him into a franchise starter for years to come. PFT
A team can fall in love but if he is expected to start week one, he will flop miserably. Raw talent is great if you can develop and let mature. He needs to go to a Minnesota, who only has 3 years left with an aging QB (37 at next contract) or even Cleveland who will run Watson out after a year or two of below expectation results and not shaking his reputation.
I have heard of Richardson to Minnesota and it makes sense if he can sit behind a mentor and learn. Its not a bad idea at all.
Lowest ceiling because he has reached his plateau. Richardson has the highest ceiling because he needs refinement. That said you can’t coach his measurables they are off the chart.
Anyone watch Darnell Washington’s display. Forget the production he was playing behind the best TE in the NCAA .
