NFL Draft: Making the Case for Georgia's Jake Fromm to Go in First Round

Carson Palmer, Eli Manning, Phillip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers, Alex Smith, Jared Goff, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson.

All quarterbacks that were first-round draft picks. All players who sat their rookie year. It wasn't long ago when quarterbacks weren't just thrown to the wolves their first year in the NFL. Often times, they were drafted behind already proven quarterbacks.

Aaron Rodgers was drafted to sit behind some guy by the name of Brett Favre. Eli Manning sat behind a guy by the name of Kurt Warner for 11 games. Rivers played behind Drew Brees. Fast forward to 2017 and Patrick Mahomes was sitting behind Alex Smith in his final season in Kansas City.

Is it common these days? No. In fact, it's more likely than not that top-end first-round draft picks are trusted into Week 1 starting roles. However, when looking at the successes of Jackson and Mahomes as of late, it's still shown as a beneficial move to sit QBs and allow them to learn.

But you're only afforded that grace period of a year on the bench if you're afforded the additional fifth year on the rookie contract, something that only comes from being a first-round draft pick.

So, it's not out of this world to believe a team could love Jake Fromm enough to draft him in the first round of tonight's NFL Draft.

All it takes is one:

Is Jake Fromm a prototypical first-round NFL talent? Not in my opinion. Too much of the evaluation surrounding Jake Fromm has become about his whit and not his physical capabilities. Now, that's not to say he can't win on the next level with his brain, but I digress.

However, there could be a team that believes Jake Fromm is worthy of a high draft pick. If a team like Tennessee thinks Fromm is the future of their offense in two years after they get out from underneath the monstrous contract they gave Tannehill, they are going to need that extra year on Fromm's deal anyways. And he just might not be there at pick No. 61 when they have another stab at him.

Or how about a team like New England, who we know Fromm would be an ideal scheme fit for Josh McDaniel's complex offensive system. Is the 23rd overall pick a tad high for Fromm? Yes. But with three third-round picks in this year's draft, they could likely convince teams like the Seahawks, Ravens, Packers, and Chiefs to move back.

Few are closer to Jake Fromm than his former high school football coach, Von Lassiter and he's told us here at the Bulldog Maven that he expects Fromm to be drafted MUCH higher than the media has led on. Then there's the NFL Network's Ian Rappoport saying that several NFL QB coaches around the league actually favor Jake Fromm over other quarterbacks. It only takes one.

Trading up could cost you less this year

The days of the Redskins trading two future first-round picks, and a second-round pick to move up 12 spots in the 2012 NFL Draft in order to draft Robert Griffin III are over. Every team not interested in a quarterback is interested in trading down, and teams around the league are beginning to hold them hostage.

Simply put, the leverage in the trade discussion has dramatically shifted towards the teams wanting to move up, especially at the back end of the first round. In the 2017 NFL Draft, six of the final eight picks in the first round were traded away.

In 2018, three of the final eight were traded away. In 2019, 11 of the final 13 picks were traded away.

Bottom line, if you've got a guy your scouting department likes, you trade up. And vice versa, if your scouting department doesn't like what's available for the draft capital that it's going to cost, you move down and acquire more assets.

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