2019 Looking at Potential Future QBs

Unless Danny Etling is the second coming of TB12 we're still potentially in the hunt for an heir apparent to Brady. To me there is no other position more enjoyable to discuss leading up to the draft than QB especially if it is a need. I'm going to transition to linebackers next year and skim the other positions after I am done but I'll always be looking at QBs. We have an expert in @mascho who has already posted his First Sound 2019 video


Mark looked at:

Easton Stick, North Dakota State University, aka Carson Wentz there U. (Mark's Preview)
Drew Lock, Missouri, (Mark's Preview) (Walter Football has him as a 1st rounder - way too early of course but note the buzz)
Ryan Finley, N.C. State, (Mark's Preview) This is another team Belichick has recently spent a lot of time with. WF projects him in rounds 4-6
Brett Rypien, Boise State, (Mark's Preview) He's Rypien the ball today! What a great QB name. Kyle Crabbs also previewed him. WF projects him as a 7-UDFA.

Walter Football is good at collecting rumors. So here are the QBs they heard are getting high end buzz going into 2019 not listed above:

Clayton Thorson, Northwestern, projected round(s): 1-2
Shea Patterson, Michigan, projected round(s): 1-3 He is a junior and just transferred to Michigan. It doesn't matter all that much in the grand scheme of things, I guess, but the Patriots viewed Etling being a transfer who picked up multiple systems as a positive.
Jacob Eason, Washington formerly Georgia, projected rounds: 1-3 He is also a junior who lost a year to injury then his job was taken when he was healthy later in the season who just transferred.
Jarrett Stidham, Auburn, projected round(s): 1-3 He also has another year of eligibility should he want to return. He transferred from Baylor after the scandal hit.

Those are the rest of their first round projected grades. You can see their initial list here. When I find something better than Walter Football as a good resource for who to keep an eye on I will post that. It is as of now the best I have.

Keep in mind that many of these guys will drop off and new names will emerge. This is just to, as Mark says, get a baseline of guys going into this year to look at. That's all. I think something like 1/3 of the names of most way too early mocks last year who came out this year were first round picks another 1/3 picked later and 1/3 not drafted at all.

Who else is on your radar going into the season?

 

My two guys were/are Thorsen and Eason (despite the fact that his father was the other Tony Eason). Stidham is a close third for me on the wishlist. Which, of course, means that New England will pass on all of them, probably multiple times, and they'll do little at the next level.

 

Thorson video up over at the ITP Youtube page now. I'll be updating with these throughout the offseason/summer.

I've got a list of about 39 QBs to work my way through this summer. Some other names I'll list in here to keep an eye on:

Daniel Jones, Duke (I like what I've seen so far but really needs to speed things up)
Nick Fitzgerald, Miss St. (More Tebow than Mariota right now, but there's potential)
David Blough, Purdue (Undersized, scrappy, "leader" type that is coming off a dislocated ankle and might lose the job, but throws a nice deep ball. Gave a heck of a speech at the B1G Kickoff Luncheon last year too)
Will Grier, WVU (Nice arm, BIG12 offense)
Justin Hebert, Oregon (He's getting serious buzz early)
Taryn Christion, South Dakota State (I like him, NFL probably won't)
Case Cookus, Northern Arizona (Seen him in limited spurts, there's NFL potential)
Eli Dunne, Northern Iowa (NFL arm and size, very raw)
Jake Bentley, South Carolina (Does some NFL stuff already, like anticipation throws and manipulating defenders. He's been put on the fast track to leaving school early too, so another kid to watch)

 

When I did the ASU vs. Oregon film review on Christian Sam, I came away impressed with Justin Hebert. He checks all the boxes physically; big, strong frame, athletic, good arm strength. Accuracy was spotty (19-35 that game), but flashed a few big-time throws. He's a little raw (started as a true soph last year) but definitely someone I can see skyrocketing up the rankings with a big junior year, particularly if he cleans some things up and improves his accuracy. Some of the things that appealed to teams about Josh Allen will likely make Hebert a popular prospect. I didn't see the monster arm that Allen has (at least for the ASU game) but I came away much more impressed with Hebert than I was with Drew Lock (whose Purdue game I studied for a Bentley film review).

 

Worth mentioning that Grier lit up SEC defenses as a freshman before he got suspended and transferred

 

Eric Dungey

 

He certainly lit up Tennessee on Saturday.

 

What was really impressive wasn't so much the throws he made, but the ball placement for the receiver. He missed a few throws early, but once he got rolling, he leads receivers on crossing routes, throws in front of them in the flat, over correct shoulder on go's, etc. It was really impressive. Lots of catches where his receiver never broke stride. I'm not a huge Baker Mayfield fan, but that seems to be his most obvious comp as far as delivering the ball. It will be interesting to see how the year progresses.