Comments on Quarterbacks in the 2020 Draft

[VikingLord]

Wow, been real quiet around the VMB lately, so I thought I might try to spark some discussion around QB prospects in the upcoming draft.

To frame the discussion, I want to reference the following analysis by "Scout Headquarters": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GSzlNyPVTY

I have watched a lot of highlight reels for various QBs and watched some other analysis videos, but I liked how Scout broke his analysis down and covered a few different guys. However, if anyone reading this saw another analysis they liked or thought was really good, by all means share it as I'd love to hear other perspectives.

So back to the prospects covered in the Scout video...

He covers 10 different guys. He doesn't rank them relative to each other, but rather puts them into groupings from the worst group (which he calls the 5th) to the top group (the 1st), going over relative strengths and weaknesses as well as their pro player comparison.

I wanted to specifically comment on his observations regarding the following players as I have followed them and had slightly different opinions about them prior to watching this video.

The first player I was surprised to see in the 4th group was Jacob Eason. As I watched highlights and read more about Eason on sites like Walterfootball, I was starting to think maybe Eason was a 1st round prospect who might even come off the board prior to #25. There are so many QB-needy teams in the upper half of the draft, and Eason sure seemed like a prospect that might get some nibbles from that group. So looking at Scout's analysis of Eason and listening to what he has to say about him was a bit of a shock.

Another guy who surprised me a bit was Jalen Hurts, who he had in the 5th group. I watched a few OU games this year and so I'm familiar not just with Hurts' highlights, but his general play, and I can understand why he's not a top prospect. However, with Hurts overall athleticism and the apparent trend among NFL teams towards more athletic, mobile QBs, plus Hurts apparent solid combine performance, I considered Hurts to be a late 2nd or early 3rd round prospect. After listening to Scout's analysis, and further, watching his dedicated video that analyzes Hurts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvDkDnCjLos), I think the Vikings should stay far, far away from Hurts. The things Hurts does well can't be taught necessarily, but the things he doesn't do well are even harder to teach (or, more accurately, correct) at the pro level. I was thinking maybe if Hurts fell to the Vikings in the 3rd Spielman might consider taking him, but after watching and listening to the Scout analysis, I have zero confidence Hurts could ever be more than a journeyman backup as a pro. He's not a guy you can sit on and groom to be your eventual starter.

Scout has Burrow in his 2nd tier of prospects. While he generally likes Burrow, he's not sold on his ability to lead a franchise as a pro under less than ideal conditions. If he's on a stacked team he'll win. If he's not, he likely won't elevate the team. Kind of reminds me of Cousins from that perspective. Very interesting (and fair) take.

Scout's 1st tier prospects are also very fair. He's got Herbert and Tua in that group, and he particularly likes Tua, while also pointing out that Tua has some weaknesses that can be exploited and he'll have to work on. He did a dedicated analysis of Tua as well at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpFVeZFN-L0 which I highly recommend watching if you get a chance.

So, if you're Rick Spielman and you really, really want to get your franchise QB in the 2020 draft, who would you target and what would you be willing to trade to move up to get him? How far would you have to move up to get a Herbert or a Tua?

Most mocks I've seen have both going in the top 10 and I even saw one with both off the board in the first 5 picks. If Spielman were convinced that Tua is the guy, would it be worth it to try to trade up?

Not saying I would do that, just curious what others think and hoping to start some discussion.

Another angle to this - who are the QB sleepers in this draft? Who might slide down the board for one reason or another, but could emerge as a really good pro if put into the right situation and allowed to develop?

[fiestavike]

Sadly, I don't think it matters now. I suppose Cousins is effectively only on a 2 year deal, but it doesn't seem likely they'll use draft capital to move up and get a potential franchise guy knowing he won't play until year 3 at the earliest. More likely they'll try to nab somebody in the 3rd or 4th...or 7th if they bring in a QB at all.

[phantom]

Sadly, I don't think it matters now. I suppose Cousins is effectively only on a 2 year deal, but it doesn't seem likely they'll use draft capital to move up and get a potential franchise guy knowing he won't play until year 3 at the earliest. More likely they'll try to nab somebody in the 3rd or 4th...or 7th if they bring in a QB at all.

Don't worry if history repeats itself were going to have Aaron Rogers