2018 NFL off-season thread: Mr. Alex Smith goes to Washington

Man, the Saints' minicamp is getting hardcore.
That's Mark Ingram on a USO tour getting taken down.

 

Imagine if he would have blown out a knee or something falling like that.

That would make Robert Edwards' injury look like child's play.

 

Is there any reason they shouldn't be holding the draft next week? Figure all the scouting and evaluations are in.

 

Barnwell: History tells us the NFL is terrible at evaluating quarterbacks

Interesting and something I've thought about a lot. My guess is that the teams don't evaluate themselves and what they're doing as much as the qb they plan to plug into their organization.

 

My super hot take on the topic is that teams don't evaluate quarterbacks well because it's very hard to do. Also, desperate need is not an aid to good decision making.

 

It is the toughest position in sports. Very few people in the world can play it successfully, of course there are going to be a lot of failures.

 

It's also a position no team has ever been hammered for reaching on a pick. I'd be curious to see an eval on overall grade and where this class would stack up against the pro prospects of every player on the draft. The mock's tend to push QBs up, which lead to higher expectations from fans. Drafting a QB ten or 20 spots higher than he should best on best player available, doesn't suddenly make him play better.

 

I'd like for someone to compile a list of the quarterbacks that teams drafted high that everyone was saying "oh no, fuck that, he can't play."

I don't recall a groundswell at the time that, Ryan Leaf or even someone like Brady Quinn was going to be a complete flameout.

Quincy Carter. Maybe JaMarcus Russell. I can't recall many if any others. And if we are making that list, Alex Smith absolutely would have been on there until he got a decent coach seven years into his career.

 

Manziel.

 

Point to QYFW. But it's the Browns so it doesn't count.*

*Confession: I thought he might be able to razzle-dazzle his way to a little bit of success. I still think it was possible if not for the drugs.

 

Tebow, Trubisky, Lynch, EJ Manuel, JP Losman, Patrick Ramsey - those are just the first rounders.

I think the salary certainty of first round picks has encouraged teams to take "flyers" on players who may hit or not. Before the Bradford deal, I think teams were more cautious in using first round picks on QBs.

 

WTF is Trubisky doing in there?