What to Look for From the Four Likely First-Round QBs at the NFL Combine
INDIANAPOLIS—Back half of the combine, franchise tag deadline looming, free agency coming, plenty to get to …
• The quarterbacks workout Saturday, and the four presumed first rounders—Alabama’s Bryce Young, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Kentucky’s Will Levis and Florida’s Anthony Richardson—will head into the day into uniquely different spots.
For Young, really, there was enough to lose by working out, which is probably why he won’t. For Stroud, this should be a showcase, given his strength and that he throws the prettiest ball in the draft. For Levis, there’s something to gain by throwing. For Richardson, there’s a lot to gain. And so we had an NFC assistant coach who’s studied the class to give us a little break down on what to look for with the four tomorrow afternoon.
Young: “It’s smart to not throw for him, he would not look great in this environment. His ball placement’s really good, he can spin it fine. But his arm is just ok strength-wise. He’s incredible in the areas Levis and Richardson struggle with—he knows how to throw the appropriate ball, with the right touch and timing. And in a combine environment, with no defenders out there, he might just look smaller and weaker than the other guys. So it’s good that he’s not throwing.”
Stroud: “He’s such a natural thrower. He makes throws easily with touch, he can layer balls over defenders from the pocket. I expect him to throw it really well, he should be right in his wheelhouse tomorrow, it should look clean. He plays with good footwork, the right base, he’s a prime candidate for a day like this. He should throw. He’ll definitely look great. … The questions with him are more that he had better wideouts than most of the NFL, and two first-round tackles, kind of like Mac [Jones] coming out of Bama, although he’s way more talented than Mac.
Levis: “He’s got a Jimmy [Garoppolo] type of uber quick release, and because of that, and the sort of locked motion he’s got, everything is a fastball. He struggles to throw with touch, but he can do it, it’s just not consistent. So I want to see touch on his ball, throw some corner routes with air underneath them, nine routes where he’s getting the ball to turn over. Can he throw with touch accurately consistently? His footwork should be great, so really you’re looking for him throwing the right kinds of ball consistently.”
Richardson: “Anthony’s gonna look like Cam. He’s gigantic, can throw the hell out of the ball. But like Will, the issue is throwing with touch, anticipation and the consistency in accuracy. He’s shown can be accurate, but as a total player, he’s not been an accurate passer. … He has the most to show—proper footwork, his base, throwing on time, his accuracy and ability to throw the right ball every time, in those areas, he can help himself a ton.”
• Work on the veteran market is chugging along and, at least on the surface, the Giants’ negotiation with Daniel Jones seems to be the furthest one along. The team’s offer is at between $35 million and $39 million per year as of now, per sources, and that would at least indicate there’s a deal to be done here for the 25-year-old former first rounder.
Getting Jones done would free the Giants up to use the franchise tag on Saquon Barkley, so being able to finalize something ahead of Tuesday’s tag deadline would be significant.
• That deal certainly could affect the Seahawks’ negotiation with Geno Smith, where the numbers haven’t quite paced with Jones’s. It’d probably be smart for Smith’s camp to slow play things a little to see what happens with his Giants counterpart.
• We mentioned this a few days ago, but the tailback tag number of $10.09 million is pretty reasonable, give that eight teams, a quarter of the league, have backs on their roster making $12 million per or more. So if you’ve got one as good as Barkley, or Las Vegas’s Josh Jacobs, or Dallas’s Tony Pollard, you can see where the tag represents a bargain for one year, and a nice leverage point off which a team can offer a long-term deal.
• Niners GM John Lynch conceded this week that the timing of Brock Purdy’s surgery on his injured right elbow could force the team’s hand on looking for a veteran to throw into the mix. I don’t, for what it’s worth, think that San Francisco’s going to break the bank. But I could absolutely see Lynch and Kyle Shanahan going in on someone like Baker Mayfield, who has experience in that type of offense and a boatload of starting experience. Keep an eye on that one.
Stroud may have been able to boost his draft stock with what he’s said during this week’s combine.
Darron Cummings/AP
• Points to Stroud for being so honest in his media availability. He showed accountability as a leader in saying he should have run more as a Buckeye, and awareness for where he needs to get better. He showed loyalty in saying he didn’t want to go to Chicago, because of what that would mean for his ex-teammate Justin Fields, who he considers a big brother. He explained the football stuff at a high level.
Will all that matter in where he’s drafted? It actually might. One knock on Stroud has concerned his maturity as a quarterback, and with all that playing the position entails. He showed a lot of it on Friday, and if teams are walking away from interviews with the same sort of impression that he’s growing as a person, it certainly could impact his stock.
• We’ll all be watching for Young’s weight on Saturday (he weighs in early in the morning). Teams will also be interested to see where USC star receiver Jordan Addison is in that department. Listed at 6’0” and 175 pounds last year, the 2021 Biletnikoff Award winner has a chance to be the first receiver taken, but there are fair questions to ask about how he’ll physically stand up to the rigors of an NFL season, especially after injuries cost him three games last year.
• Count Michigan CB DJ Turner as a big winner on Friday. He clocked a 4.26 40-yard dash and has some big fans in the scouting community. It wasn’t close to a consensus, but there were evaluators that told me in the fall they felt like he could wind up being a top-50 pick, and that seems pretty realistic now.
• And … we’ll see you Monday for the post-combine MMQB extravaganza.
