2021 QB Thread

I know we're not in the market for a QB but I've been watching some bits and pieces of some of the top guys.

And Trey Lance looks legit to me. Hard to say yet in terms of consistency yet and obviously competition is an issue (albeit not really sure how much tbh) but my word can he fit the ball into spots that not many QBs can.

Looks like a really interesting crop of QBs behind Trevor Lawrence this year.

Justin Fields
Trey Lance
Zach Wilson

so far those 3 all look like they could/should go round 1 to me

but there's an interesting pair behind them as well and I'm not sure what I'll think about them in the end - probably be lower than consensus (because I often am with QBs)

Mac Jones (who 100% looks like a Kyle Shanahan dream QB lol)
Kyle Trask

not come across anyone else - but also not done really much filmwork at all (don't really plan to start until it feels like the season's for sure over) - just seen some snippets of these so far

Michael Penix!!! That is all. If he's not draftable kidnap his ass.

So interested in the QB's.

Lawrence and Fields are the top 2 picks.

Then you have Lance and Wilson. I would likely lean Lance as QB3, but he may need a year of development.

I think Mac Jones ends up a 1st round pick.

Then there's Trask. He is not really what you want in a modern day QB, but you can't ignore the production this year in the SEC. Depending on how the Gators finish their season, he could end up being picked in the 1st for that 5th year option.

Desmond Ridder from Cincinnati looks interesting too

7 QBs so far that look like they might have a chance to get taken fairly high (not saying how high yet lol - not done any study just passing observations from what ive seen)

lololololol

and here's the whole set of comps



and all i have to say about all of this is that Matt Miller is absolute trash, not sure how that dude managed to get his inside connections but they are literally the only thing he has that makes him in any way knowledgeable

he's a trash evaluator who hypes up when he's "early" on a prospect

but frequently fucking sucks

getting frustrated seeing talk about Trevor Lawrence being the greatest QB prospect since Andrew Luck and stuff

here's clearly going number 1 and for good reason - he's probably the safest QB prospect since Luck but in terms of better prospects - I haven't graded him yet properly but I find it hard to believe he'll end up with a better grade than I gave Joe Burrow last year

one of the best things about having 3 LSU WRs to grade this year was that I got to rewatch Burrow

im getting to the stage where i might be at this stage with a controversial opinion lol

i dont doubt that the jags are taking Lawrence at number 1 - he's a pretty safe prospect

but i also dont doubt that on at least a few boards he won't be QB1, and there may be some boards where he's not even QB2

i haven't done any QB study specifically but i've seen a ton of all the top 6 QBs just from watching tape of other prospects

Trey Lance I've seen a little of because of Radunz
Fields I've seen a ton of because of Olave (before he decided to go back to school), wyatt davis and josh myers
Wilson i've seen some of because of Brady Christensen and some preliminary stuff on dax milne
Lawrence i've seen tons of because of Cornell Powell, Amari Rodgers and Jackson Carman
Mac Jones I've seen tons of because of Waddle, Devonta Smith, Leatherwood, Deonte Brown, Dickerson
Trask I've seen tons of because of Kyle Pitts

and none of that includes the defensive players ive been watching playing against them too

and the more i watch the more I like Fields and Wilson (tbf I've always been a Justin Fields admirer)

There are some bullshit reports out about teams not thinking fields can go through progressions (think the quote was something like he only had 7 throws where he did it all year - which is patently false) or scan the field

and seeing the way it exploded on draft twitter and sort of in the media and my only question is...

are we really doing this thing where we pretend the black QB isn't intelligent and clever enough again?

if there's a QB you want to criticise in the top 3 guys for being a "1 read" QB then that's Trevor Lawrence



a tweet i thought was particularly incisive considering the way language still gets used in circles

rossihunter2 said:

i dont doubt that the jags are taking Lawrence at number 1 - he's a pretty safe prospect

but i also dont doubt that on at least a few boards he won't be QB1, and there may be some boards where he's not even QB2

i haven't done any QB study specifically but i've seen a ton of all the top 6 QBs just from watching tape of other prospects

Trey Lance I've seen a little of because of Radunz
Fields I've seen a ton of because of Olave (before he decided to go back to school), wyatt davis and josh myers
Wilson i've seen some of because of Brady Christensen and some preliminary stuff on dax milne
Lawrence i've seen tons of because of Cornell Powell, Amari Rodgers and Jackson Carman
Mac Jones I've seen tons of because of Waddle, Devonta Smith, Leatherwood, Deonte Brown, Dickerson
Trask I've seen tons of because of Kyle Pitts

and none of that includes the defensive players ive been watching playing against them too

and the more i watch the more I like Fields and Wilson (tbf I've always been a Justin Fields admirer)

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I've been a Fields fan since the release of QB1 season 2. Fields also beat Lawrence at elite 11 and became MVP. Georgia was just too ... to actually use Fields.
Nonetheless a good QB class. I haven't watched a lot of tape yet, but some reports are quite irritating. Lawrence is more mobile than what they give him credit for. Qbs are difficult to evaluate because we don't know how much football "acumen" they possess. Often I ask myself why a qb decided to make that throw instead of another one. Is it because of what they taught him, he didn't see it or he just doesn't know.
I would be a very nice to get some insight. I'm not sure what to think of Lance, Jones and Trask.

cdp said:

I've been a Fields fan since the release of QB1 season 2. Fields also beat Lawrence at elite 11 and became MVP. Georgia was just too ... to actually use Fields.
Nonetheless a good QB class. I haven't watched a lot of tape yet, but some reports are quite irritating. Lawrence is more mobile than what they give him credit for. Qbs are difficult to evaluate because we don't know how much football "acumen" they possess. Often I ask myself why a qb decided to make that throw instead of another one. Is it because of what they taught him, he didn't see it or he just doesn't know.
I would be a very nice to get some insight. I'm not sure what to think of Lance, Jones and Trask.

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havent done detailed study on most of them - put my preliminary grade on fields today (and it's a big one), in the middle of Lawrence

i think with Lawrence the Clemson offence is just not a good system to evaluate - not a ton of vertical stuff this year (and in the past the vertical stuff has been designed to just throw it up to the playmakers who are 100% better than the guy across from them) - so much quick/short stuff to the perimeter - lots of mirrored routes that mean lawrence isn't having to read as much - lots of simple reads underneath and almost nothing in the middle of the field which means there's possibly not going to be many touch throws where he has to put the ball over a LB

still takes processing but it's not the most telling thing - really think that scheme didnt help Lawrence as a draft prospect - they did use him as a runner a ton in the bigger games - he's got some quickness to him - probably like a 4.6/4.7 maybe kinda guy

Mac Jones is cool - he's not going to wow you with athleticism but he's not a statue - probably the least naturally talented but he's the one of the top 5 guys in this class most consistently making NFL throws and good reads with supreme accuracy - he's probably not going to be a spectacular guy who elevates the talent around him necessarily (he could do not writing him off just saying it's less obvious to see than with the consensus top 4)... but he's definitely the guy who's going to operate your offence at a high level - he's really polished despite only starting for a year and a half - really nice pocket presence and manipulation, good footwork and eyes stay downfield even as he's facing pressure, doesn't have the best arm in the class but throws a great deep ball - but he might struggle if he has to consistently drive the ball without being able to step into the throw, quick processor who deals with free rushers etc. really effectively - he hasn't got any really elite physical or athletic traits which caps his ceiling (unless you know he's tom brady which is exceedingly unlikely based purely on probability) but he's solid - a nice but unspectacular QB prospect who probably could start right away for a good team - could be a missing piece - would love to see him in the 49ers offence, would have loved to see him in the colts offence (but unlikely now with wentz there), i think he'd probably do well in the steelers offence too (although not sure what that offence will look like anymore), i would have really liked him in last year's chargers offence but alas that's not an option

not done any study at all on Trask but from watching Pitts, Toney and Grimes I have to say I'm not sure I see a starting QB but then again that opinion might change when i actually dive in

It's been so interesting watching Trevor Lawrence in depth - his physical tools pop off the screen

people talk about Fields and Wilson as athletic but Lawrence is probably the most athletic of the 3 - and had the offence most built around his athleticism

i dont think Lawrence is a good processor right now of what he's seeing - frequently looks like he's making the right pre-snap read (making checks etc) and then not seeing that play through in the way you'd expect - frequently loses the LBs in the shallow zones underneath - locks onto his 1st read too long for better or worse (and then sometimes comes off it too early... which is bizarre lol) - he gets really rushed by simulated pressure (which was clearly identified by the better teams as a weakness because you saw it a ton from LSU, Ohio state and Bama) and has his process sped up without actually being under pressure

that makes him seem like not a very good QB - I think he's a really good QB prospect but there are some pretty clear flaws in his game right now

having graded the consensus top 5 QBs, Trevor Lawrence is not QB1... or even QB2... which is probably controversial

there's a ton of potential and he flashes so brilliantly - but i see much higher level processing from Wilson and Fields

and Mac Jones...
Lawrence has physical traits that transcend Jones but Jones to me looks miles ahead of Lawrence in terms of processing and running an offence that it really would not surprise me at all if Jones has the better rookie year especially as he's likely going to a better team than Lawrence is too

rossihunter2 said:

There are some bullshit reports out about teams not thinking fields can go through progressions (think the quote was something like he only had 7 throws where he did it all year - which is patently false) or scan the field

and seeing the way it exploded on draft twitter and sort of in the media and my only question is...

are we really doing this thing where we pretend the black QB isn't intelligent and clever enough again?

if there's a QB you want to criticise in the top 3 guys for being a "1 read" QB then that's Trevor Lawrence



a tweet i thought was particularly incisive considering the way language still gets used in circles

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It is amazing how these guys get stereotyped and it's honestly pretty shameful. And it goes both ways too.

Trevor Lawrence is big, tall, and white so he has to be your statue in the pocket.
Justin Fields is black and can run so that means he has no traditional QB traits and therefore, can't play there.

I think we have a really strong group of QBs this year and it's a shame the media still tries to pin them into this box based on looks. I also wish there wasn't this "it's him or him" mentality. You can like all of the guys for different reasons. Just because someone likes X player better doesn't mean Y player is automatically terrible.

Simba said:

It is amazing how these guys get stereotyped and it's honestly pretty shameful. And it goes both ways too.

Trevor Lawrence is big, tall, and white so he has to be your statue in the pocket.
Justin Fields is black and can run so that means he has no traditional QB traits and therefore, can't play there.

I think we have a really strong group of QBs this year and it's a shame the media still tries to pin them into this box based on looks. I also wish there wasn't this "it's him or him" mentality. You can like all of the guys for different reasons. Just because someone likes X player better doesn't mean Y player is automatically terrible.

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and that's what i just wrote in the other thread lol - i've got lawrence 3 but i like all 3 of them

the report about lawrence was obviously utter rubbish but the Justin Fields not being able to scan the field one was absurd and was the same old crap that I thought was finally being gotten rid of after Deshaun and Pat in 2017, and Lamar in 2018 and then finally Kyler went #1 in 19... but here we are again...

really interesting and i take note of what he says because he has a pretty cool recent track record...



i'd say he's pretty spot on the last 3 years lol - will be interesting to hear why he's so low on fields and high on kellen mond (albeit i've not done any work on mond at all yet)

iirc he was also in on Mahomes too

he's never one for the groupthink and has a great success rate with his evaluations

rossihunter2 said:

really interesting and i take note of what he says because he has a pretty cool recent track record...

i'd say he's pretty spot on the last 3 years lol - will be interesting to hear why he's so low on fields and high on kellen mond (albeit i've not done any work on mond at all yet)

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Mond seems very Dak Prescott like to me really not special at nothing but still able to cover all the bases with both his feet annd his arm but his greatest intangible seems to be leadership.

Mac Jones is also highly underrated in most pundits. Good to see Simms have him higher rated especially over Lance who should have remained in school one more year

Willbacker said:

Mond seems very Dak Prescott like to me really not special at nothing but still able to cover all the bases with both his feet annd his arm but his greatest intangible seems to be leadership.

Mac Jones is also highly underrated in most pundits. Good to see Simms have him higher rated especially over Lance who should have remained in school one more year

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idk that Lance improves much with another year playing small school ball...

mac jones is a classic case of traits vs tape

from what i've seen of Mond, he'd be the QB outside of the top 5 who i'd want to take a shot at (but not in the 1st round lol) - super inconsistent but has flashes where he makes ridiculous throws and has ridiculous games etc. - in that sense i guess he's a bit like Prescott in the sense that he seems to be the guy who might be taken later with the greatest chance to be an actual decent NFL starting QB

but saying that i've not actually done any study on mond yet so... who knows lol - will be very interested to hear why simms ranks them the way he does