With the 2016 NFL Draft quickly approaching, scouts and executives from every franchise are looking to rebuild their teams with the best college players in the nation. The draft is a chance for teams that struggled last season to select a star player who could possibly turn them from a losing team into a winning team. Every year, the biggest picks in the draft are NFL teams picking new quarterbacks. The quarterback is the most important position for any team, making it a big deal when a team drafts a rookie quarterback. Many struggling teams are in need of a franchise quarterback in this years draft. However, they may be out of luck as most scouts have called this draft class the worst in 15 years for quarterbacks.
When studying college quarterbacks who are in the draft, most NFL scouts look for experienced, mature, and coachable quarterbacks with a strong arm and tight accuracy. While some of the players in this class have some of the characteristics that teams want, none of them possess all of the traits that traditionally make a great NFL signal caller. The top rated quarterback prospect in this year’s draft is North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz, a one year starter at a subdivision college football program. While he has the physical attributes of NFL quarterbacks, he lacks experience in big games and competing against high level talent. The next two highest rated players are Cal’s Jarred Goff and Memphis University’s Paxton Lynch. The two are very talented, but are forgoing their senior season’s to go to the NFL a year early. This decision is usually unsuccessful in the NFL as the younger players lose a golden opportunity to develop and mature at the college level. Take Johnny Manziel, who left after his sophomore year, as an example. Mariel has lacked performance on the field with the Cleveland Browns as well as an impressive list of off the field issues. These issues include a recent domestic violence case that has been moved to a grand jury.
Rounding out the top five ranked quarterbacks are Michigan State’s Connor Cook, who some teams are very high on, and Penn State’s Christian Hackenberg. While both players are pro style quarterbacks with outstanding physical attributes, their health is the biggest issue. Cook suffered two shoulder injuries in his senior season that forced him to miss substantial amounts of time. Hackenberg, also was sacked more times than any college football quarterback in his last two seasons with the Nittany Lions. It is certain that no team wants a quarterback who has already been severely beaten up before even taking a snap in the NFL. Pro scouts are also being cautious with him because of attitude problems and meltdowns on the sidelines after poor performances.
This year’s quarterbacks are very unique with the fact that there are so many question marks surrounding them. Most years the top five quarterbacks are solid and are off the draft board after the first round, However, this year is different and if your favorite team is looking to rebuild, they may want to center their team around a position other than quarterback. We will see what teams these quarterbacks will join when the NFL draft starts on Apr. 28th.
