Wes Bunting's Top 5 QB Prospects

I would be nice if he explained WHY he's got them in that order. You know, discuss what he sees as strengths and weaknesses.

 

Drew Boylhart is exceptionally high on Ryan Tannehill, too. Reading between the lines of his QB profiles, I'd say he likes Tannehill even more than he likes Andrew Luck.

 

Totally depends on the position. Drew is very good at evaluating OL, DL and pass rushers, maybe better than anyone out there who's doing this thing on the side. He completely blows at evaluating WRs and his QB analysis are somewhat spotty. Tends to overvalue intangibles and demeanor, tends to underappreciate reads and mechanics.

 

If you click on the QBs he gives the pluses and minuses and a summary.

 

this guy is a dumb *** there is no way in hell That Tannehill is as good as Weeden , hell he isnt near as good of a qb as the kid from Kansas State . Tghis guy doesnt know squat . Luck and Griffen , yes but Tannehill no

 

That's a surprising spot for Barkley. I'm also noticing a trend of people devaluing Landry Jones.

 

What are your thoughts on RGIII?

 

I have been high on Nick Foles the past two years. I wouldn't mind taking Blackmon if he's there when we pick in the 1st and picking up Foles in the 2nd or 3rd and letting him battle either Moore/Henne for the starting spot. I don't see us getting Luck, RGIII or Barkley unless we trade up. Of course this all depends on who finishes with what record but I don't see us loosing more than 1-2 games the rest of the season. Foles has a lot of talent and has just been forgotten a bit this year because UofA was so horrible. He had to play catch up every game this season and his #'s were down a bit but the guy can play and is pretty well rounded imo. I like big QB's and Foles has the size and strength needed to be a good pocket passer. His ability to read defenses is damn good being that he has always been rushed to get the ball out quickly with a sub-par Oline

 

Wes Bunting has been high on Tannehill for a while, most definitely. Tannehill is this year's Christian Ponder, for him.

I don't really mind him being not so high on Matt Barkley and Brandon Weeden. Those two can keep Cam Newton company in the area designated for Wes Bunting's 2nd/3rd round QBs.

 

Could be wrong, but I do not like Nick Foles..at all.

As for Bunting's opinion, this is more or less a trial balloon, folks should realize that when it comes to the Draft and rating Qb's, this stuff is page hit GOLD.

I mean my goodness, I've heard Mayock say, with a straight face "I have not reviewed the tape", in February, this when every single game they'd played before the Qb's bowl appearance in January has been available since early to mid November, early December at the latest.

One would think they'd sort of get a jump start on the whole "watch hours and hours of tape on the guy" thingy prior to February.

 

He is indeed. I find it pretty interesting that he's not so high on Andrew Luck, given that the whole "I'll be different just so that I'll get tons of publicity" is absolutely not his game. It's the first legitimate report on Andrew Luck I've read that doesn't join the hype machine. Say what you want about Drew (and God knows that I often disagree with him, too), but he's a rare speciman of honest evaluation without an agenda.

 

From what I saw with Jones, his numbers were empty. He threw for a lot of yards and TD's against poor competition, and when he played against a team like FSU, he looked bad. He doesn't look like a star out there. He's prolific, but he doesn't seem to be proficient.

I don't get much USC coverage so I defer to what I see on this board when others say Barkley's very good. Luck is probably out of the question unless the Colts pass on him and we can get that number 2 pick from St. Louis or Carolina. Tannehill scares me. I haven't been able to catch him on his good games, which is scary because of how much of him I've watched. I don't think I could stomach this board if we drafted a propsect .

Griffin from what I've watched is a very focused passer. He uses his legs to set up passes. He always looks downfield, and his YPA number is enticing. With work, he can be an Aaron Rodgers in this league. Call me crazy, but I think they have very similar games. Very accurate, athletic, and can hit the deep ball with amazing accuracy. Weeden is just a passer. Just a pure passer, and a damn good one. There are questions as to whether he has a high floor, but a ceiling fairly close to that floor. But, I think he can give 7 to 8 years of competent QBing.

My list is something like this:

Luck
Barkley (based on ck's and Mr. Clean's evaluations)
Griffin - I just love his potential and his accuracy/down field passing
Weeden

I don't have a fifth. I have not seen a single Foles pass and I'm afraid of Tannehill. I've heard good things from ck about Osweiler.

I just noticed me and Yahoo Sports agrees on the top 3 but they have Tannehill at 4 and Jones at 5. Somehow they have EJ Manuel above both Foles and Weeden.

 

Tends to happen when you're a Chad Henne clone that's all arm strength, very little anything else.

 

The problem with Jones seems to be that he really does not have it between the ears.
and Football IQ is the most important trait for a QB to have.
Its why Henne flopped and why Favre is overrated(and a pig****er)

 

Click the link in KB's post. Each player on the list is a link to his grade and a breakdown.

Better yet, go here for the entire Top 25.

 

Man, I must be missing the boat on Tannehill. i haven't seen alot of him, but what I have seen I don't like.

 

1 can hope Barkley falls to us. That would be awesome.

 

The time for players falling to is has passed.

 

All phases of RG3 are approaching top 10 status...His stock is risin since before the season started..Back then a few of us had him as a top 15, but now that might change..

 

Thank you for the insightful post. That cleared it all up. I now feel much better about about our QB options.








PS: who's Tghis?

 

Did you just call Colin Klein a quarterback? He's a RB asked to pass sometimes.

Tannehill is definitely one of the top QB's in the draft.

 

There's no doubting Tannehill has talent. However he's not a guy you can trot out there day one, and he damn sure isn't a guy you can develop with Tony Sparano as your head coach.

 

I also believe Griffin & Tannehill are the 2nd & 3rd best prospects behind Luck, and IMO they have the potential to one day surpass Luck in the NFL b/c they possess a better "natural" passing ability while also being extremely intelligent with a natural feel for the QB position. I'm not sayinh they "will" surpass him; I'm saying the potential exists, even if it is quite small.

I'm also not so sure that Barkley, the outstanding game manager, is the type of QB capable of maximizing the potential of our offense, especially after a few more additions at WR/TE while our current guys, Gates & Clay, continue to develop.

IMO our current group is better suited to become a spacing-oriented, vertical-threat passing offense b/c of the speed and/or playmaking ability we have underneath with Bush, Marshall, Thomas, and Bess along with the downfield threats of Gates & Clay (as well as Marshall's threat when mismatched in single coverage). If we can become a constant threat vertically, we could force defenses to defend this threat while always keeping them on their toes, hence creating extra space underneath for our playmakers to pick up chunk yards. Likewise, the underneath threat we possess would make it difficult to key on the deep pass without getting burned by the big play underneath.

Either way, it creates an offense that's incredibly difficult to defend while being a constant threat for the big play at every level of the field. If defenses cover us deep, we'd destroy them underneath; if they attempt to take away the short stuff, we simply bombard them over the top. We'd have a dangerously potent offense, one that's capable of erasing deficits in a hurry which would constantly keep pressure on opposing offenses, even when they have a lead. It could be an improved version of Philly's Vick led offense.

IMO this type of offense would also be a TREMENDOUS compliment to our attacking, swarming defense and would allow them to make more plays and create turnovers even when we're trailing games. It'd be the perfect symbiotic relationship. The defense's pressure would allow more opportunities for the offense, and the offense's quick strike capability would allow more opportunities for the defense b/c opposing offenses would need to build a larger lead than normal in order to enter "conservative mode".

RG3 let's us accomplish this b/c he provides the best deep ball thrower in the draft..... and we also get a highly athletic, gifted scrambler who could pick up a ton of yardage with his feet. That combined threat puts defenses in a precarious situation. Who do they defend with RG3 on the field when you already have to defend Bush, Marshall, Gates, Bess, Clay, and perhaps another speed WR (like Kendall Wright or even DeSean Jackson) and a vertical threat #1 TE (like Koby Fleener)??? If they try to take away the deep pass, he can either beat you with his legs or scramble to get a guy open and then let that player beat you. If you put a spy on him or try to take away his legs, it leaves you more vulnerable to the big play up top b/c of his deadly down field passing (which he can hit both in the pocket and on the run). And IMO Daboll is a suitable OC to tie this all together. I think he's creative enough to know how to utilize this type of talent and maximize everyone's potential together.

With RG3, our current personnel, some key additions, and Daboll, I truly believe that opposing defenses would nearly always be on their toes in a reactionary state, which would allow us to dictate the action (even when trailing games b/c of our quick strike ability). However, with Barkley, IMO opposing defenses would be more capable of trying to dictate the game (especially during a deficit) b/c he's not a mobile threat at the NFL level and his deep ball at the NFL level is much less dangerous than RG3's.

 

What rookie QB can you trot out there from day 1 w/o worrying about him being a liability?

It's not really Sparano's job to develop a QB, but he does seem like the kind of coach whom players respond favorably to.
IMO Dan Henning's QB-unfriendly offense, his inability to adapt to his QB's strengths, and his controlling ways were the biggest culprits for us not developing QBs.

Daboll & his creative offense seem more conducive toward developing a mobile, inexperienced QB with a natural arm, and I really don't see Tony presently interfering with or hindering Matt Moore's development to give the impression that he'd interfere with Tannehill.
IMO Tannehill & RG3 would be great for Daboll to help develop, and I believe he'd be a sound OC capable of designing plays to initially exploit their strengths while minimizing weaknesses.


Even Barkley will need developing, so if Sparano will be an "interfering" coach, it will affect any QB we draft b/c Barkley is definitely not entering the league as Drew Brees or Tom Brady. Heck, Brees needed a few years to develop despite being similarly coached up and polished IIRC.

 

You can trot out plenty of QB's in today's NFL. Cam Newton proves that coming from a spread option offense in college. But Tannehill went from a QB in high school, to a Wide Receiver in College (pretty good one at that), back to QB for the past season and a half. I'm not sure you can start him as a rookie without getting bad results.

Hate to break it to you, but this conservative offensive philosophy is as much Sparano as anybody. Dan Henning isn't the OC anymore and we're still as conservative as when he was here. We still sit on small leads. Still play for FG's. Still play not to lose. That has an effect on developing QB's.

 

we are win now mode. unless you want to waste the next three years developing another QB, Tannehill, Jones and Griffin have to be off the table. All have potential but are development prospects. The only ones who can come in and contribute right away are Luck, Barkley and Weedon and since Weedon is collecting social security and Luck and Barkley will never make it down to us, QB should be off the table for us as well. Play making WR, Pass rushing OLB, mauling ROT, game changer FS and Pro Bowl RB is all we should be trying to find. If we find two of those five, we make the playoffs, three we're in the AFC Championship and four we're in the super bowl....even with Henne or Moore as our QB

 

ballsy take.

 

I'd like to add 2 or 3 of those 5 to help win now AND add Griffin or Tannehill to build for the future.
Henne or Moore could still win with that like you stated, while Griffin or Tannehill could take over when they're ready.

I want my cake and eat it, too.

If we draft well and make a solid FA addition, there shouldn't be a reason why we couldn't tie up a 1st round pick in a highly talented developmental QB. However, if we have no confidence in our mid to late round drafting ability, then I'd place more credence in getting an impact player in the 1st round who could contribute immediately.

On the flip side, if an elite defensive player or playmaking WR is available at at our first pick (and RG3 is off the board), I'd consider taking them over Tannehill to help us win now since our current group seems to have something special going on and I'd want to capitalize on that while it's intact and before the chemistry is possibly altered.

 

Not sure how they have Manual so high, but I'd be surprised if Weeden went in the 1st two rounds, and it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't go in the 3rd either.

 

I think this years Qb class should give us a great shot at getting our franchise Qb, we need to have the guts to take a chance this year. No excuses if we don't get legit Qb talent this year we have a worthless front office. If a trade is necessary then make it.

 

From a talent perspective, I have him fourth. I can see him dropping because of his age and ceiling concerns.

In that case, I'd like us to take Griffin/Barkley and possibly double up on QB if he makes the third round.

 

From what I've seen, Barkley is the best QB behind Luck. He has it all. He has arm strength, accuracy, field awareness, leadership and intelligence. Barkley is going to be a stud.