philba101

This is hilarious. I was just reading an article that everyone inside the Panthers loves C.J. Stroud and have signed off on him. But, if it was up to coach Frank Reich, the pick would be Richardson. “If it’s up to Frank Reich, yes,” he replied. “I think what’s gone on or, what I’ve been told, is that everybody in the room is really heavily leaning towards C.J. Stroud. C.J. Stroud did well at the combine, he did well at the pro day and I’m told that the interviews with C.J. Stroud—he’s knocked them out of the park. And he’s very genuine, he’s been very forthright and he’s a likable guy. I’m told that everybody in the building is heavily leaning—if not, checked off the box on C.J. Stroud. “I’m told that Frank Reich, if he had his way, would go with Anthony Richardson because of the upside, because of what Anthony Richardson could be two or three years down the road. It’s just a matter of how much of a fight is Frank Reich gonna put up in that war room to say, ‘Hey, listen, I want Anthony Richardson.’ I think right now, there’s probably less than a 20-percent chance it’s Anthony Richardson and all signs are pointing towards C.J. Stroud.” https://www.yahoo.com/sports/panthers-hc-frank-reich-reportedly-175025979.html So the Panthers love everyone! Is this all a smokescreen because they really want to take Will Levis?

I agree. I am not going to be too happy if Ballard let's the Titans jump us. Maybe he thinks he is going to get the QB of his choice at #4 no matter what happens.

I feel like teams like the Titans, Raiders, or Seahawks could try to jump the Colts and move to #3 to take Anthony Richardson if he is still available. All three teams have QB's in place and could develop Richardson over time as needed. This would explain why all three are hosting the top 5 QB's. The latest Lance Zuerlein draft had Richardson falling to the Patriots at #14.

Houston is another situation that maybe doesn't have the pressure the Colts do. The Texans have a new coach, they are still rebuilding after trading Deshaun Watson. The Texans could play Davis Mills until Richardson learns the offense and is ready to take over. So taking a player with a high upside like Richardson may payoff for them in the long-run if they don't feel the need to rush his development.

The NFL Channel has been airing its annual Path to the Draft Show which started this week and runs up until draft day. On the show last night they were talking about how Reich had tall QB's his whole time at Indy with Rivers, Wentz, and Ryan. That is what he likes, but one of the analysts also felt that Reich is a consensus type of coach as well. If everybody loves Young then he can easily get onboard with that. We already heard that Reich was blown away by Young's football IQ when Carolina did their private sit-down with him. So, if Young goes #1 to the Panthers, the big question is, do the Texans take Stroud at #2, another player, or trade out. A trade out would leave the same uncertainty for the Colts. If the Texans pick a non-QB, then Colts would have their choice of the three if they move to pick three. If they stay at #4 as I suspect they will, they will take Levis regardless of who is available.

Report: Bryce Young had highest grade for a QB on S2 Cognition test: I have heard that Reich was blown-away by Young's football IQ when they had him in the classroom. Josh Allen was off the charts on it. [Patrick] Mahomes tested off the charts on it. Last year in the entire quarterback class, Brock Purdy had the highest number, had the highest grade on it. This year, it’s Bryce Young.” Daniel Jeremiah accidentally leaked that Bryce Young scored highest in class on the S2 Cognition test. S2 measures how quickly athletes process information. Notable elite scorers: Justin Fields, Joe Burrow, Drew Brees, and Josh Allen. https://www.yahoo.com/sports/report-bryce-young-had-highest-225834228.html

Yes, it has been easy for the Titans to keep tabs on him playing at Tennessee for part of the year this season.

Hendon Hooker will work out for the Packers and Titans this week. This is the second meeting between Hooker and the Titans. Hooker is seen to be a good option for the Titans particularly if he is not quite ready to play when the season starts. Ryan Tannehill is in the final year of his contract. Hooker could sit behind Tannehill for a year if needed and would be available once Tannehill's future is decided. The Titans are currently slated to pick at #11 in this draft. Hooker is scheduled to workout for several more teams. If the Colts are interested in Hooker, I don't think they can assume he slides to the second round.

Interesting stat from NFL.com this morning: There's never been a draft in which four quarterbacks were selected among the first nine overall picks. Could we be seeing history or is one of those four guys going to slide beyond #9?

That's the big risk, there is no guarantee you will be in that top two. I think the Colts might just have to bite the bullet and trust the coach that they hired to develop a QB who is good and not elite talent. Stroud is my favorite of the top 4 this year but he seems the safe pick and he will not be available at #4. Young is dynamic but I am not convinced his body will hold up over the years. Not completely sold on Levis so maybe Richardson will be the guy.

It is a good final question. I am not convinced that QB is in this draft.

I get what you are saying but you only have to plant wrong one time to blow an achilles. If I was an agent I think I would limit my top prospect to a certain amount of workouts. If teams want to see the player then they will have to make it to one of the workouts. Now, if teams want to have private meetings they can do that all day, but not unlimited physical workouts. Andrew Vorhees, the All-American OL from USC blew his ACL out at this year's draft combine. I always hate it when that happens to players just coming out of college. It can change the trajectory of their entire career.

I agree, I don't know if Irsay has privately given a mandate to Ballard and Steichen, but it is clear he wants to draft and grow our own young QB. Irsay's recent comments at the NFL owners meeting: “We’re looking for the future guy, and we want the guy that can be there for the next 10 years. After Philip’s (Rivers) year, I wanted to go young. I was, ‘Let’s go young. Let’s grow our own. It’s time,'” Irsay said at the NFL owners meetings Monday. “It was great having Philip the one year and he was very successful and exceeded our expectations, but [we] knew it was a short-term thing. I really wanted to go young and drafting our own and finding our own that way.’’ He wanted this 2 year's ago!

I find all the private workouts strange for the top QB prospects. If I am someone like a Stroud or Young I think I would want to limit those sessions. Players like them have a couple good years of football on film for scouts and executives to see. Stroud did the combine and pro day and Young did his pro-day. If you are in a QB workout with your 8th team and blow an achilles, I don't hardly think it would be worth it. I can understand if Levis and Richardson want to take more workouts to prove that they deserve to be a top 4 pick, but at a point the risk could outweigh the rewards.

You are right. It seems weird to spend a top-30 visit on O'Connell when they could have easily scouted him in-state anytime over the past two years.

It will be interesting to see which QB's the Colts host in their top-30 visits.

Thanks, for some reason I thought they could host limited amounts of players at their own facility.

It was announced today that the Colts will workout Kentucky QB Will Levis this Thursday. I noticed that they will be working him out in Lexington instead of at their own facility. The Colts have also worked out Stroud and Young in Southern California. I wonder why we are not bringing QB's to our facility, maybe that is yet to come?

The Titans are definitely lurking....4 teams had private meetings with Stroud surrounding his pro-day, the Titans were one of them. New GM Carthon attended the pro days for Stroud, Young and Levis last week, Vrabel joined him for the private meeting with Stroud and at Kentucky. The Titans were also the first team to meet privately with Hendon Hooker. Maybe not a shock because Hooker is in-state.

Peter King was floating the idea today that the Texans may not necessarily take a QB at #2. Although it is likely that they do, he said this about the Texans GM. Nick Caserio (who is known to be a conservative GM) has stated that if he doesn't love his choice at #2, he is not going to force it; he could select a blue-chipper like Anderson, or trade back. Here are some more reasons (some from King) why the Texans might wait to draft a QB. 1. They drafted Davis Mills two years ago who played decent in his rookie season. Davis regressed a little this past year but did finish the season under center after briefly losing his starting job. Mills didn't exactly play on a team loaded with weapons. 2. The Texans have the #12 pick which they could use to select a QB if one of the top 4 players slide. 3. The Texans have 11 other draft picks in this year's draft which they could use to move up or down as needed to get a QB later than #2 4. The Texans already have two 1st-rounders next year. If they trade #2 they could definitely add a third 1st-rounder next year, plus many more picks this year or next as well. If the Texans finish in the bottom quarter of the league as they did this year, they will be in prime position to land one of the top expected franchise QB's coming out next year.

Then Josh McCown, (The Panthers new QB coach) told CJ Stroud last week at his Pro Day that he looked forward to playing pickup basketball games with him when he lives in Charlotte. Stroud replied, I can't wait to take your money. Does this sound like Anthony Richardson? What reason do the Panthers have to smokescreen at this point? They get their pick of all the QB's available. The likelihood (and cost) of another team trading to #1 is probably pretty remote at this point. Especially when we know the Colts won't be doing that.

I have been seeing this too. If Levis falls out of the first then you could take him at #35. Of course there is no way to predict that will happen so you could be left without a QB with that strategy.

Lamar's representative suggested last week that Lamar was done with the Ravens and is no longer demanding a guaranteed contract, the first part was true as we found out about the trade request from Lamar this week. Not sure if the second part is true as well.

What scares you about Stroud? I thought he was the safest bet of the four after watching his tape.

I guess we will find out if either him or Levis don't go in the top 4.