NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock spoke for two hours on a conference call Wednesday, which means he dispensed an awful lot of NFL Draft knowledge — especially on the quarterbacks. As you might have heard, the Redskins are in the market to upgrade that position. I won’t waste your time with any more of my words.
Here is Mayock on:
Matt Flynn vs. Robert Griffin III: “The whole Matt Flynn thing is interesting to me. When you look at the history of quarterbacks who have been backup guys who have played a few games and moved on and paid a lot of money, there’s been mixed results there. The bottom line to me is the league has a minimal amount of tape on Matt Flynn and the league didn’t think highly of him coming out of college. Is he the guy we’ve seen in those couple starts where he’s been phenomenal or is it the residue of [Green Bay’s talent]. … The other side of the coin, you’re bringing up one of the most gifted kids in the last several years of the draft. Is there a downside to Robert Griffin? Yes there is. … But that’s an exciting proposition to build your franchise around maybe the most exciting young player in this year’s draft. There’s risk involved on both sides. With Flynn you’re saying we think we know what we’re getting and it’s more of a conventional style NFL attack vs. with Griffin grab a hold of your pants we’re going for a ride. It might be special on the other hand it might not.”
Whether or not there’s a potential franchise QB after Andrew Luck and Griffin: “It’s interesting after last year we had [Christian] Ponder and [Jake Locker] go in the first 12 picks and we were all surprised. The same thing could happen with Ryan Tannehill this year. He’s coming off a foot injury and won’t throw at the combine. He’s got everything you want. He has size, he has arm strength. He’s a real good athlete. He’s a big, strong fast kid with a really good arm. What I don’t like is that he waits for routes to develop before he throws the ball. He lacks anticipation and because of that he throws late into coverage and makes mistakes. That’s not atypical for a lot of young quarterbacks in college football. He hasn’t started as many games as I’d like to see for a typical first-round quarterback. You’d like to see a minimum of 24 starting assignments in college. But he’ll be a first-round guy.”
Brandon Weeden: “There are two negatives. One is his age. He’s 28 years old and you have to decide how much a negative that is. And he struggles when he has to reset in the pocket. He has to quicken up the process in the pocket: his feet, arm, decision-making. Everything. He’s more of a second-round pick.”
Questions he has about Griffin: “I love everything about the kid. The question I have is he doesn’t throw with anticipation, mostly because he doesn’t have to. In that offense there is minimal footwork and they spread it out so wide and he has talented receivers and he has great touch and accuracy. He has arm strength and athletic ability. He’s tough. But he doesn’t anticipate throws. Will he develop that? You won’t find that [answer] at the combine. You’ll find it throughout the process when you meet with the kid and break it down and ask him what he sees or doesn’t see [on film]. That’s part of the learning process, how much a quarterback knows and how quickly he picks up your system.
“He’ll stay in and take hits. We all know he can run also. He initially looks to get the ball down the field. His eyes are down the field. He can make plays with his eyes and arm as opposed to his legs.”
How ready Weeden is to play now: “I like him. I saw him throw last summer at the Manning Academy. He’s really accurate when he sets his feet. He’s a timing and rhythmic guy. His accuracy is tied into those things. He has to be on time and in a good rhythm and when that happens he’s really good. However, when he has to hurry and reset his feet he loses some of that great accuracy and he’s not nifty in the pocket. That means he’s a guy you have to develop a little bit. He has to speed the process up, making decisions more quickly and reset his feet to get the ball out. But he’s 28. Do you have time to wait? … He’s the kind of guy if you had to throw him in there he’d take a beating but he’d develop.”
Who Weeden reminds him of: “One guy I’d say no to is Chris Weinke. He’s much more developed than that and a better quarterback than that.”
Kirk Cousins: “What I like about him I can put the tape on him and see his skills translating at the next level. He has good feet. He’s a good athlete. I like his delivery and posture. He has a good arm, not a great arm. I though he had trouble moving to his left or throwing to his left. But he’s one of those guys that does everything well, but doesn’t have one elite skill. He’s a natural backup quarterback whose upside could be three to four years down the road; he could be a T.J. Yates or better… I have a fourth round grade on him.”
More on Griffin: “I thought coaches around the NFL did a better job than ever with rookie quarterbacks than they’ve ever done. They adapted some of their offenses to suit what the rookie quarterbacks did best. Look at Cam Newton, look at Andy Dalton, look at Ponder. They gave those kids chances to make plays and get comfortable. [Griffin] is too explosive and too much of a playmaker to sit there and have him read the triangle that the West Coast offense is.”
If it’s fair to compare Griffin to Newton: “No, not to me. It makes no sense at all. The similarities are that they’re both playmakers. That part of it is fair. RGIII is a more natural thrower, even though Cam was also. RGIII looks down the field and throws more routes and we don’t have any of the off-the-field issues we do with Cam.”
Russell Wilson: “I saw him play as a freshman in person at North Carolina and saw him beat a good team without a lot of help and I remember thinking, This kid gets it. He scrambled but he wasn’t just a scrambler. He had a better arm than people think. I’m intrigued by the kid. I’m anxious to watch the process develop because he won a whole lot of games. His arm strength is better than people think. He’s under 6-feet which is the first red flag and he’s more comfortable as he moves around the pocket than if he just sits there. He’s the kind of guy I’d love to have as a backup. He’s smart, he’s instinctive. If the starter is hurt he could lead you for three, four, five games. He’s a kid I like and I want to try to figure him out.”
Kellen Moore: “He looks like he’s 11 years old; a baby-faced assassin. What he does better than any other quarterback in the draft is he anticipates and throws receivers open. That’s something a lot of quarterbacks don’t get until four or five years in the NFL. Part of it is he doesn’t have a big arm. He’s a winner and his anticipation skills at that position are tremendous.”
To subscribe to my free weekly email report, click here.
