These are my top quarterbacks for the 2010 draft...as of 1.28.10 1. Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen - Clausen is the most NFL ready passer in all of college football. 2. Oklahoma's Sam Bradford - Bradford's shoulder injury is a major concern, but when healthy, he's one of the best. 3. Florida's Tim Tebow - Tebow just has "it". The guy doesn't know how to fail. Realize that I'm basing this ranking off of where I think he'll be selected in the draft. Someone will overdraft this kid. 4. Alabama-Birmingham's Joe Webb - Webb is a lot like our very own Brad Smith. At UAB, he was the best athlete on the team, so the coaching staff decided to put him at QB. He'll be drafted as a wideout...but that doesn't mean we won't see him in the Wildcat. 5. Oregon State's Sean Canfield - Canfield is a lot like former OSU quarterback and current Carolina Panther starter Matt Moore. Neither has a very strong arm, but they're smart players. At the very least, Canfield will be a decent backup. Wait, no Colt McCoy and Jevan Snead?!?! I've never been big on either one of these quarterbacks. Colt McCoy doesn't have NFL size and he has a weak arm. I just don't think he'll make it in the NFL. Extremely overrated as a pro prospect...great college quarterback though. Jevan Snead just makes a ton of bad decisions and his accuracy seems to be getting worse as the season goes on. Not a first day pick in my book. 1.27.10 EDIT: I see that a few of you guys are pretty high on Troy's Levi Brown. I like his size and arm strength, but he played in a system that made him look a lot better than he is. I see him as a developmental prospect. If I had to take a development guy, I'd take Central Michigan's Dan LeFevour over Brown. This is a very weak quarterback class after Clausen and Bradford, who are both likely to go in the top ten. So, after they're gone, we probably won't see a QB taken for a while...unless Jacksonville makes an attempt at saving their franchise by overdrafting Tebow
I've been saying for quite a while....Jimmy C. will be the first pick in 2010's draft to the St Louis Rams. Tony Pike may be out for a while, so that can effect his stock. Injury is to his non-throwing arm so we have to wait and see. I like Zac Robinson to play in the NFL, not as starter, but a solid back-up. Dez's suspension may have hurt his draft status.
Please no Clausen to the Rams! He went through a similar spot in 2007(Freshman year) where he had a joke of an O-Line and got trampled upon. It would be no different in STL. But yeah if Rams had a brain, they would take a guy who I feel is the best QB of this class(Taking he comes out of course). Just as an Irish fan I don't want to see it, Rams are just that bad. Send him to Washington(O-Line sucks but they have more talent) or something And I think NFL wise Locker is at worst top 3. He brings more tools to the table than a Tebow or Pike(Who I like ALOT but think he is a 3rd rd to 4th rd QB). He is strong, agile and makes the right throws. He makes stuff out of nothing. He reminds me of Roethlisberger in a way but without as powerful of an arm. Add that he played with an awful team throughout his stay and I would be SHOCKED if the Seahawks passed on the local kid. That's the ideal spot, learn behind Hasselback and then work stuff out.
The Rams are being built the right way though. Instead of taking a quarterback, they took a potential franchise offensive tackle by selecting Jason Smith. They also signed one of the best centers in the league, Jason Brown. Alex Barron was a first round pick also, but he hasn't lived up to his potential. The Rams defense will eventually be one of the best in the league. Laurinaitis, Long, and Carriker are great players to build a defense around. By selecting Jimmy Clausen, the Rams would have a potential franchise quarterback that gets to hand the ball off to an excellent running back and play behind a young, improving offensive line.
remember how people said don't take Sanchez this year and take a QB next year with Bradford, Tebow, McCoy, Snead, etc? interesting how things pan out. I love Jimmy C. i want him to go a team and do extremely well. He's physically and mechanically ready to go to the NFL. I hope he's mentally ready as well.
As crazy as it may look to some, I'm finding it very hard to disagree with anything on the list. The only thing I could say is maybe Locker and Pike above Tebow, but that's really only because I'm starting to feel stronger that he just doesn't really have the passing skills to make it in the NFL. Locker's not exactly Joe Montana with his passing skills, but I think he's got a lot more room to grow than Tebow. Clausen to me has been the ONLY QB in college football to actually play like he deserves to be the top QB taken. He's made some big time throws so far this season, and, in my mind, made the plays today to beat USC (Kumara doesn't slip and that's a perfect pass). After playing at Notre Dame, I really don't think the hoopla he'll see as the #1 pick will bother him, especially in a place like St. Louis. For Mallett, I know that he's physically as gifted a quarterback that I will probably ever see, though he still needs a lot of work to get him to being an NFL QB. Hell, he still needs work to be a top college QB. That said, a 6-7 kid with a railgun for an arm? Hard to pass up, to say the least. I'm starting to think there could be a sleeper kid rise up very quickly with a big 2nd half to their season and make it to the top 15 or so. There are some seniors that might have something like that in them (kids like Robinson, maybe LeFeavour), but someone I'd watch is junior Jerrod Johnson from Texas A&M. Had a miserable game today, but is big and fast, but with a good arm and a terrific comfort level in the pocket. He ends the season with games against Oklahoma in Norman, then Baylor and Texas in college station, maybe a perfect time to make a run for him.
I'll keep an eye on Johnson, GH. He could end up a lot like Josh Freeman...big, strong, mobile passer with a big arm. I've never been a fan of Freeman, but I'll try to check out the next A&M game on TV here - I'm really interested in watching him play against top talent.
Can I ask why? Ryan Mallett is 6'7 245 redshirt sophomore that has a cannon attached to his shoulder. Mallett's still extremely raw as a passer, but the kid has an unbelievably strong arm and he's poised. We all know what arm strength can do to someone's draft hype. He reminds me a lot of Kerry Collins.
I'm sorry but I cant accept Tim Tebow that high, even trying to be as little of a Tebow Hatter as I can do, Tebow wins no question about that, but frankly you gotta wonder about how good he really is. Besides his individual tools, he plays in a spread offense, boom right away major issue, second of all there is something to be said about where you go to a school, where you are loaded with talent around you, often times other great players mask your mistakes (Yes you could say the same thing about Sanchez). Also consider this stat, thus far in Tebows season, he has only thrown for over 200 yards against 1 SEC opponent. I think Tebow has a huge bust factor. And keep in mind an NFL team that drafts him is going to ask him to throw the ball alot more. I just dont see him projecting as an NFL QB. Maybe a "Wildcat" or Fullback However, I completely agree about Claussen and I saw Mallet for the first time today and he does look amazing. Also I think Locker might go back to school
The spread offense is already being used in the NFL. Don't knock him because he plays for the best team in the country and he's surrounded by talent. That's not his fault. I'll be the first to tell you that Tim Tebow won't be ready to start in the NFL right away, but I truly believe he'll be a first round pick. Who cares if he hasn't thrown for over 200 yards in every game? He plays in a gimmick offense that doesn't require him to throw the ball that much. He's not going to be able to run over everybody in the pros, but he'll still be a very dangerous runner...especially in the redzone. Urban Meyer built that Florida offense around Tim Tebow. He is the best coach in college football because he calls plays that put Tebow in the best situation to make a play with whatever's there - sometimes it's downright sloppy, but Tebow gets the job done. WHEN Tebow is drafted in the first round, a team will build an offense around him. It's a do or die situation for a team - you have to build AROUND this kid and when you do, he'll win you a lot of games. He could be bust and that team would be in a horrible spot, but it's a risk they'll have to take. The guy can change the way the game is played. I don't think he'll be the best passer in the league, but he can definitely be a top tier quarterback if he's given an opportunity to develop.
I pegged Jevan Snead as my top QB for 2010 a while back. That has sort of changed. I still like him but right now he's not a Day 1 pick. Will he improve? Will see but he's a guy I'll keep a close eye on I agree that Jimmy Clausen is the top qb right now..Bradford will be back next year after this shoulder injury
Clausen right now, is the best QB pro-prospect. When you watch a QB you can sense, "this player get's it" and Clausen get's it. Jimmy C has great command of the offense and without question the leader at ND. If Notre Dame had Floyd, the outcome would have been different yesterday. With Golden Tate doubled team almost all day, Jimmy C still got him the ball. Tate isn't an elite prospect, but shit that kid is a baller. Strong hands and very good route runner. I wish more people would give Zac Robinson credit, mabe his spread offense hurts his stock. He should be at top 5 QB prospect. When his career ends this year....he will have thrown for over 9000 yards with a completion rate at around 62%. Probably would have been closer to 10,000 yards with Dez. Doesn't have a strong arm but is smart, usually makes good decisions and is a leader. Has good feet and moves in the pocket well. Played well last night and got the ball to Hubert Anyiam, a player to keep an eye on in the future, to the tune of over 100 yards. Anyiam should thank Dez for the opportunity. IMO, Zac will be drafted in the Mid 2nd Round or at least early 3rd Round, depending on needs of teams. Some team will get them a solid #2 QB with the potential to be come a starter after a few years learning the NFL system.
I haven't seen much of a pocket presence by him, except today he showed decent signs (that scramble when he threw off the wrong foot.) Even though he got away, he still has to fix his throwing on the move. Question-- Is this ranking based on where you think they will be drafted? Or overall QB ---> pro level? If it's the latter, then OK, you could ignore my post. Also, I don't know how I feel about Locker. He has a bad completion percentage is bad at Washington, and that is one of the first red-flags that are thrown up when looking at a player
Being fair to Locker, he also works on an awful team(They went winless last year), worked under a bad head coach for 2 of his years(Willingham sucks, I saw it as an Irish fan) and he has WRs who drop passes far too much. The Comp rate is not his fault.
Like BakerMaker said - Locker is on a terrible team. He doesn't have much to work with... The best thing for Locker was the hiring of Steve Sarkisian. Sark runs a pro-style offense and Jake Locker looks very comfortable in it. Playing in this system will definitely help him when he gets to the NFL.
but the explicit job of the quarterback is to throw the ball thats what he gets paid for, when needed he runs. Also he plays in a spread run, most NFL teams run more of a spread Pass. No doubt he is going to be a threat in the red zone and he has great size for a runner but his odds are really stacked against him. If he goes in the first round it is because a team wants to sell tickets I'm not really sure if he can be successful.
I'll take Tim Tebow over the odds that are against him. He may not be ready right away, but if given the time to develop, I think he will be successful. Work ethic and confidence are huge.
