Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
All right, and welcome into the Fantasy Pros NFL Draft Show.
Spring has seemingly sprung across the Eastern seaboard, which means
it's time to break down each position for the twenty
twenty six rookie class, starting with signal caller. I'm your host,
says Wilcock, and I'm joined by our QB here at
Fantasy Pros, Derek Brown. And also on the sticks with
(00:22):
us today is a man who I had the pleasure
of being trapped in the Dole's airport with just over
a month ago as we boarded and then onboarded a
bird to mobile. He's a Vikings and NFL Draft expert
four score North and the host of thor Toalks Purple.
He's thor Nystrom Thor What a pleasure chopping me up
today under a bit better circumstances, my friend.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Boys and Seth, it's like, you know, you go through
a traumatic experience, so someone like like Seth and I
didn't tell us when we're trying to get down to
the Senior Ball in late January, and then they canceled
our flight and then none of us could get our suitcases.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
So then then we were off to find her.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
You know, this is like midnight intil Yes, it was
like you know, the seventh Circle of Hell at that point.
Found found a way to get to a hotel around there,
and then of course you have to come back in
the morning. They didn't, of course, have any help at
the airport to reschedule your flights in the evening.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Why would they do that.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
So then you go back in the morning and I
see set down there at the leg you know, down
in the basement where with with the luggage thing. So
then we were both trying to figure out where is
our luggage, you know, with with the stafford. I hope
you ended up finding your luggage. I ended up finding
my luggage, and and and it's great to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Well, I'm glad to hear and Thor had the same shirt,
same pants on from the day before too. Didn't have
anything extra in the carry on, so I did apologize
about that.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Yeah, that's you know, going forward, there's gonna be I'm
gonna have a couple of replacement you know things just
you know, yeah, like in pockets in the backpack.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Go other security should be very very interesting when you
got like extra pairs of undies and socks like shoved
it in the carry on bag. But there's something to
be said boys for trauma bonding and body shots in
an airport.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
You know, yeah, that's true. It is true. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
We had a great time, absolutely, And today's program does
look like this, folks. We're gonna break down the top
nine quarterback prospects of this twenty twenty six class and
let you know what type of impact they could make
for Dynasty fantasy football leagues. We'll then round out the
program with some honorable mentions as well. And of course,
if you want to get all the Dynasty Fans football
content we have coming your way, be sure subscribe and
(02:24):
give a thumbs up to all the content we have
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sure you check out. If you just want NFL content
and you don't play fantasy, consider subscribing to the brand
new channel and audio feed, the Tailgate. That's our brand
new spot for just general NFL talks and happening. So
very very excited to roll that out here, Derek. And
(02:45):
also for fine people, if you want a chance to
win a sign, Colston lovelin Chicago bears a mini helmet
for absolutely free curzy our friends over at pristineauction dot com.
All you need to do is subscribe to the Fancy
pros dnasty YouTube channel right now, drop a comment below
and any videos and that's it. We will be announcing
a winner right here on the program. So make sure
you bring that bell so you can get payed when
(03:06):
new videos are up and to claim your prize if
you are that lucky winner. And boys, let's go ahead
and jump right into the quarterbacks. And I want to
start at the top with Fernando Mendoza coming out of IU,
the twenty twenty five Heisman Trophy winner, six foot five,
two hundred and twenty five pound nerd that just loves ball.
No social media besides LinkedIn for this guy, and i'd
argue the accuracy is borderline elite. Completed sixty eight point
(03:29):
five percent of his passes across his two seasons at
cal One in Indiana, fifteenth highs mark all time in
college football history. And while he's not outstanding with his legs,
I'd argue also mobile enough to score seven rushing touchdowns
this past season, including that game clinching score in the
College Football National Championship Game or It's hard to argue
that there was a better storyline than the Miami native
(03:51):
who is playing for his mother who's been bottling MS
got to hear them blast Fernando's The Hoosiers won their
first national championship in program history. But with that said,
how does that translate if it does to the NFL.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
He's got it like a Jared Gofflag game, like a
Matt Ryan type game. It's a big, strapping pocket passer
who excels within structure. That's that seems like something that
Clint Kubiak is you know, is going to be interested in.
And obviously we're gonna have that marriage with the Raiders there.
But I think Fernando Mendoza is a really good fit
for that. Sees the field well and as long as
it's you know, the instructure stuff, then he's really good.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
You're gonna get that ball out on time.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Throws a super catchable ball and he'll test the defense
down the field. It's not a howitzer, but he has
all the arm talent he needs for any throw. Last
year seven point nine percent off target rate on nine
point one airy yards per attempt. I think he's a
really good fit. Like I mentioned, and then to the
athleticism thing. The thing that I don't like about Mendo,
like the you know, one of the only things is
(04:46):
if you push him off his spot and then he's
you know, sort of you know, in the pocket trying
to drift to the right or whatever. That's where the
accuracy goes down and you occasionally will see al wonky
decision from him. But to your point about the athleticism,
the one thing that he has when the time is
running out is the shoot forward thing, and it is
sort of a get order the jail card for him.
(05:07):
Sometimes he doesn't have the you know, when it's the
off platform throwing. That's that's the thing that is not
the best. But he again to your point, he's a
better athlete than he's given credit for it sort of
north south and he can steal some.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Of those yards.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
But yeah, this is a is an ideal fit and
this is a very obvious first overall pick in the
NFL draft.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Derek, what are your thoughts here on Mendozo and breaking
down his film and where would you be taking him
in super Flex Dynasty rookie drafts.
Speaker 5 (05:32):
I mean, he's not going to fall past the one
oh two man. I love Mendoza.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
I think he's just a clean, clean evl, one of
the cleanest evails we've had over the last few years.
Where if you're comparing him even against last year's class,
like he's a better prospect than cam Ward, you could
put him right next to Jackson Dart seth thor you
know how much I love Jackson Dart.
Speaker 5 (05:51):
Last year I put Mendos over him.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
I'd say you can make a case to put him
over the over Jackson Dart. What I'd say would be
the differentiator between the type of quarterback that you like
and the skill set and the I think.
Speaker 5 (06:05):
Really it's the off script ability for me.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
And with Mendoza, that's where you don't want to ask
him to live in that world. But I think there's
something to be said where we live in this world
where since Patrick Mahomes hit the NFL, everybody just like
salivates over all of the highlight film and blah blah blah.
There's something to be said for just running the damn offense,
being accurate, keeping an offense on schedule, and hitting the
(06:29):
marks where you're supposed to hit him. And it's not
like he's not like he can't do some of the
offscript stuff, but you're gonna see him like basically run
circles and then throw like a forty yard bomb. No,
you're not gonna see that out of Mendoza, but he
can offer you some playmaking. So inside a structure he's
fantastic good. I mean, the arm talent is there. I mean,
really he wins with touch and ball placement and accuracy,
(06:51):
and as a thorer kind of alluded to, he can
give you a little bit of something as an opportunistic
scrambler with his legs. But again, not a guy even
despite this and coming in a surprising two thirty six
at the combine that you want to be using in
the design run game. So if you're looking for a
clean prospect, a pocket passer, and a guy that could
run the freaking offense, I mean, then you're gonna love Mendoza,
(07:14):
And I love him as a prospect man. Like I
think the one thing that really he showed a lot
of growth as we move through the twenty twenty five
season is the ability and the willingness to be more
aggressive into tight window throws. Like if you watched All
twenty two at the beginning of the year, it was
tons of space, really just kind of playing in not
saying game manager, but he wasn't really just pushing the envelope.
(07:38):
And you saw the as the confidence grew as they
moved through the last collegiate season, Mendoza was kind of
feeling himself man like he was willing to push the
ball into those tight windows and become more of a playmaker.
And I think that that seeing that other side of
his game is going to help with the transition to
the NFL, where everything gets faster, coverages get tighter, and
(08:00):
the ability to be willing to do that is going
to serve him well. And as far as the Kubiak fit,
because everybody's going to talk about the under center of
the play action, the pure dropback stuff with Kubiak system
and Sam Darnald and he was used last year, we
also need to also talk about the fact that, like
Sam Darnald did operate from the shotgun on sixty three
(08:22):
percent of his dropbacks last year for Seattle. So you're
telling me, like juxtaposing Mendoza's skill set and coming from
college where a lot of these guys that's the world
they're living in is living in shotgun and not operating
a ton under center. I mean, Kubiak's probably gonna bump
that number up closer to sixty five, maybe touching like
(08:42):
high sixty percent in shotgun to accommodate Mendoza in his
acclamation to the NFL.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Yeah, I'm totally with you there, And like, I love
the intangibles for Mendoza. Just a guy who's been coached
by a hard NOS guy and Kurt Signetti and you know,
really turned the likes Elijah Surrah and more Cooper Junior
and Charlie Becker into household names. So really looking forward
to him. I think he is no doubt the clear
one oh one in this class when it comes to
(09:09):
overall players and quarterbacks as far as that's concerned.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
As well.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
Hear by himself an absolute tier by himself. Nobody else
is in the same tier as him in this class
for me.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Next up here is the six foot one, two hundred
and eleven pound signal caller at a Sweet Home, Alabama.
It was really a roller coaster twenty twenty five season
for Ty Simpson. He was a first time starter in
the offense of called by Ryan Grubbs here and really
led the SEC in both passing attempts and completions and
really had to right like this Alabama offense one of
(09:41):
the worst run games in the entire country. Jam Miller
banged up to begin the season, banged up when he
came back, was pretty ineffective as a whole. And that
really paved the way here for ty Simpson to have
thirty five hundred passing years twenty eight touchdowns. And it also,
you know, somewhat comes out recently here that he was
battling a severe your case of gastritis, which caused him
(10:03):
to lose significant weight during the season. Apparently thor he
was all the way down to one hundred and ninety
pounds in the Rose Bowl. Where are you at on
ty Simpson? Because Debro has certainly made it clear he's
not his quarterback too? Is he your quarterback too? And
can you you know, forgive some of those mistakes late
in the season now that you learn a little bit
more behind the curtain?
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Not really, I mean like, because this is a guy
who has average physical ability. Any any sort of factor
outside that begins to creter his game. That's something that
has to be brought up. Last year, this guy had
Ryan Williams out there, he had Jeremy Bernard, he he
had Isja Horton, you know on Alabama. Hey, yeah, Equavis,
(10:44):
he had plenty of weapons. So you know, I'm not gonna,
you know, absolve him for struggling down the stretch. And
in particular, it's your one year starting in college. You know,
in the first half of the season, he was he
was solid, he was he had some really good moments,
but down the stretch there and you know, I mean,
like they didn't have a running game either Alabama, so
defense it was a little bit easier, but you had
three NFL wide receivers. So I can't give you a
(11:06):
you know, sort of the benefit of the doubt for that.
Like I said, average sort of skill set. He's a
decent athlete, you know, for the quarterback position in the NFL.
I guess you would say that that's above average. It's
about average arm talent. It's a coaches kid. The mental
side of the game and the technique, that's the thing
that he's the best, you know, the best with. He's
very clearly comfortable in the pocket. Although at the end
of the season, you know, whether that was the defenders
(11:28):
could pin their ears back because you don't have the
run game, whether that was the gastro, you know, whatever
sort of issue them. Speaking as a guy who has
gastro issues, you know, I suppose I should have a
little bit more empathy for that, but you know, whatever
the case was, you know, obviously you saw that sort
of devolved there. You know, as far as his comfort,
comfortability with pressure, I saw at the end of the year,
like down the stretcher Deepra. I'll be curious your take,
(11:50):
but I like the mechanics of Simpson, you know, like
you see the thing of like progression here. You see
the really quick turn of his body. You know that
the eyes are staying with the lower it. When he's comfortable,
he'll go through those progressions for you. The platforms always
there for him. But at the end of the season,
he no longer seemed comfortable. And what I was seeing,
Debro was a guy where your biggest strength, it's sort
(12:13):
of like keeping your composure, your mechanics, and your technique,
always keeping fealty to them. A guy where now he
was starting to panic and he was speeding up his process.
So you not only lost your kind of composure, you
began to lose your mechanics as well, and all of
a sudden, a guy that doesn't have great physical ability.
The game was starting to devolve there not enough experience,
(12:34):
not enough physical ability for me to take.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
In round one.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
He might end up as my quarterback too, but hanging
on by kind of a thread there for me. I'm
not the Ty Simpson guy that some other people in
the media are.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
I'm just going to lead this off with it. You
can just count me out on Ty Simpson.
Speaker 5 (12:49):
I'm not in. I'm totally out. Like he's my QB
six of this class.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
I haven't buried like I Teber.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
I don't have a round one grade on him, man,
and I don't understand anybody that really man like I.
Just if a team wants to take a shot on
him in the second round of the NFL Draft, have
at it.
Speaker 5 (13:06):
But you draft him round one. No way, There's no way.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
If I wasn't, if I was consulting an NFL front office,
if I was a GM or anybody or a scout,
there's no way that I'm putting a round one grade
on him. No, we're telling a team advising them to
take him inside the top top thirty two, top forty,
top fifty, Like I think he's a late round two
if you really love him, or a round three quarterback.
I just I don't really see it, man, And I
want to be very clear. So like the All twenty
(13:32):
two that I reviewed was prior to the back injury
versus South Carolina, prior to like him losing a ton
of weight and stuff like that. So really the cleanest
kind of idea or proof of concept that we get
out of Ty Simpson. And I'm just not in man
like from a guy that needs to win from the
pocket because the athleticism is okay, it's not great. Again,
he's going to be a pocket passer in the NFL.
(13:52):
You're not getting a lot of equity out of his legs.
I didn't see enough intangibles from the pocket, Like are
the mechanics sound and repeat, Yes, but the accuracy can
be erratic, man, Like you'll see his ball placement just
kind of wax and way in sometimes like he'll durt
a throw, he'll miss or sail an easy check down
for a guy that also like gets credited as like, okay,
(14:14):
he's a smart player and a lot of line checks
and protections and stuff like that. I saw a pocket
passer that at times would hang on his first read
far too long and then kind of rush the rest
of the progression, or hang on his first read, put
the ball in harm's way and for another like for
a pocket quarterback. Also, he's not a guy that throws
(14:34):
with a ton of anticipation. He is very much an
extreme see it throw at quarterback, like wide receivers are
at the top of their stem breaking back to him
and declaring wide open and then he's like, oh, I'll
throw it to you ooo. And I'm like, none of
this age is well. And the reason that I like,
I worry about a lot of these things in processing
(14:55):
and being an anticipatory passer. When the game speeds up
at the NFL level, any kind of wartzier game show
themselves as bigger problems. And so I worry that, like
the best we saw out of Ty Simpson last year
and again the small starting sample that we get, Yeah,
the NFL is talking about they were coveting guys and
(15:16):
talking about how it's such a good thing, and we're
going back to yesteryear in long starting samples and reps
and time under center. So how does anybody feel good
about freaking Ty Simpson? Whenever he doesn't have this long
ledger of starts, and the starts we did get, a
lot of them are injury mart Or, he's losing weight
and he wasn't amazing even what he truly was supposedly healthy.
Speaker 5 (15:38):
Hell, no count me out on Ty Simpson.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Uh huh.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Then there's the whole question mark, like he didn't beat
out Jalen Milroe for a season, and then as Thorn mentioned,
like Ryan Williams kind of became a ghost this past season.
I don't know if it's because they were running him
more out of the slot. He got banged up early
with in concussion, never really looked the same. But there
are certainly question marks. But I do like that this
guy as far as like football, I you and Acumen,
I think he's the best of them really in this class,
(16:03):
right up there with Fernando. I think he's someone if
he did land in a good spot like the Rams,
I think he could be very valuable for fantasy managers.
But I just think at the end of the day now,
with them trading out and some of these other moves
we've been seeing in free agency, I just don't see
a first round pick maybe coming for Ty Simpson. Really
ultimately pushing his fancy value down.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
Derek to that point though, Seth and I hear when
I've heard the Rams landing spot, these are the landing
spots where it's like, to me, this is the not
the Anthony Richardson stuff.
Speaker 5 (16:32):
But like, if you go back to the.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
Idea of Okay Richardson coming into the NFL, he didn't
have a lot of starts. He was very green coming
into the NFL, and he needs to play. Why in
the ever love and hell do we want him to
go to any place where he's going to sit and
he's not going to play, Because if the guy needs
reps and he needs to play to really get his
legs under him, how is he going to do that?
If he's in trench behind a definitive starter, He's not
(16:57):
going to get the practice reps. He's not going to
get the reps in the season. So at the end
of like whenever any team that takes him and shoves
him behind a veteran starter for the next year to
two or to three years, if that happens, so you're
two or three years down the road and a guy
that needed reps and needed starts to really get his
(17:19):
legs under the NFL. He hasn't gotten any of that,
but then he gets pushed into the limelight later in
his career. It just it doesn't. I just don't see
it working out, man, Like I don't see it making
you know. Fine, So I'm out.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Let's go to quarterback three. Here it's Garrett Nussmeyer out
of LSU. Of course, this is the son of Doug
nuss Meyer, who had a cup of coffee in the
NFL as a quarterback, also now the Saints OC. Garrett
himself is a former four star recruit who was projected
to be the top overall pick a year ago by
many analysts, and that comes after a season of four
(17:52):
thousand plus passing yards twenty nine touchdowns. However, this was
just a season of turmoil for the Tigers as a
whole headcat coach Brian Kelly fired after eight games. Nuss
look banged up for the majority of it with injury,
ends up sitting out after nine games, and finished the
season with under two thousand yards, just twelve touchdowns to
five I in D's He's six one two h five,
(18:13):
so a bit undersize and was prone to turnovers really
throughout his career, but then Derek just has this great, great,
you know, sensational pre draft process where he wins the
Senior Bowl MVP. Where is Nuss coming for you? As
we're roughly, you know, seven or so weeks away from
the draft touching down in Pittsburgh's North.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
Shore, He's my QB three of the process right now.
And I'll be very clear, everybody after Mendoza, all these guys,
pick your flavor, like you can make a case. All
these guys come into the NFL with warts, whether that's injuries,
short starting ledgers, small schools, all.
Speaker 5 (18:47):
That kind of stuff.
Speaker 4 (18:48):
So none of these guys after Mendoza should be expected
to start in twenty twenty six, right at all. These
are all developmental guys. Maybe they turn into starters within
the next two to three years and such, But none
of these guys should be expected or that should be
the expectation, even if any of them go in the
second round or third round of the NFL Draft. But
(19:08):
with nusmier Man, I love that throughout the process it
has come out in the wash how hurt he was
and how much the oblique was an issue, because Seth,
I mean just thora I think I texted you about
this too man like in freaking January, I'm like, this
dude's not healthy. In twenty twenty five, you could see
it all and all over his film, all over his
(19:31):
filmlaying no dude. And this is multiple different layers. Whether
we want to talk about the oblique injury, we want
to talk about the Osh goood Slater syndrome or disease
excuse me, where he has the chronic knee issue and
that that also is a red flag on his ledger
because none of us know whether that's going to cut
his NFL career short, what the medicals look like. I
(19:52):
think that we're going to find out about the knee issue.
The NFL is going to tell us very very loudly,
with the investment of draft capital or not. He's a
guy that you could see maybe going the second or
third under the NFL draft. If he falls out of
the freaking NFL draft, I wouldn't be surprised at all,
because we just do not know the medicals now the oblique,
I think what you're seeing from him performing well immobile
(20:15):
that is definitively because of the oblique is healed. Because
if you watch his twenty twenty five film and you
compare that side by side of twenty twenty four. His
mechanics are an absolute freaking wreck. In twenty twenty five,
he looked like a guy that basically like if you
were to take a player or anybody that has whether
it's a hernia or an abdominal injury or something like that,
and basically they're guarding their entire mix midsection and Nusmeyer
(20:38):
is dropping back and he's literally he cannot torque, he
cannot follow through on any throw. He's short arming everything.
And if you were to tell me we get the
twenty twenty four version of Nussmeyer in the NFL, can
he be a league average starter like Mike comp for
him as Andy Dalton? Can you win with a guy
like this?
Speaker 2 (20:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (20:58):
I would be fine with that. But I don't know
if we ever see that version of Nusmeyer again on
a football field, because even in twenty twenty four, like
his numbers were, okay, they're not amazing, Like amongst all
FBS quarterbacks one hundred and fifty dropbacks, he was still
only forty six in yards per attempt, fiftieth and big
time throw rate and seventy second. It had just a
(21:19):
complete your rate and we're talking about. That was the
best version of Garrett Nusmeyer. Now, does he have good
film in twenty twenty four where he's able to like,
he's got easy velocity, good arm strength, he can make
every single throw. He's got some dots on his freaking film.
He gets through progressions. Sure, but I don't know if
we ever see that that version of him ever again
(21:39):
on a football field. If people don't want to believe
me as far as the film takes, go to the analytics.
They tell you that he was immensely hurt. From twenty
twenty four to twenty twenty five, the deep ball rate
for Nusmeyer dropped from sixteen point four to ten point
four percent, the screen rate in that offense jump from
twelve percent to twenty percent, and the play action rate,
(22:01):
so iie turning around and play faking. The play action
rate drop from twenty seven percent to twenty two percent.
So if you don't believe me, and you don't believe
the film, look at the damn numbers because they tell
they paint the picture perfectly too.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Thor what's your take on nuss here? Because he certainly
didn't have like the quite the cast of characters we've
seen LSU have in the past. You know, had Kyrien
Lacy rip and of course we had Kan Durham who
turned into a really good receiving back. But besides that,
it's like the Andersons, he had, you know, a couple
of different speedsters out there this year and like Barrian Brown,
but nothing like of the substance that we've seen LSU
(22:37):
in the past. So how does that factor in your
evaluation and what is your evaluation of nuts?
Speaker 3 (22:42):
For me QB six, I've had to lower a little
bit what I perceived as his potential ceiling. And then
you also, of course have to elevate the risk factor
there with the impending news of word does the NFL
end up coming in on that knee condition? But the
fact that you have a degenerative condition, that's a thing.
It's a thing that caused Carson Strong to go from
(23:03):
in his draft process heading in projected late first round pick,
early Day two pick to undrafted and ushered over the
NFL immediately that this is not something to play around
with and it's not something.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
That we can pooh pooh.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
In his draft process last year, and to his credit,
tough kid, coach's son, you know, like you were sort
of mentioning, this is a go down on my sword
kind of a guy.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
But I'll never forget it.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
Late late August this past year, there was all these
rumors on Twitter that Garrett Nessmeyer had torn his ACL
and was going to miss the season, and Brian Kelly
went up in front of the reporters and is like, no, no, no,
he did not tear his ACL. It's a knee condition
he always has and this is just maintenance with it,
and so like like the only way that you would
(23:47):
use he has a degenerative knee condition is like a oh,
it's better news than you think.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
He's not going to miss the entire season.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
It's like, oh boy, he did not look good with
that bass under him at the beginning of the season.
And then he starts modifying the way he's throwing that
causes him to pick up the you know, the issue
with the core issue there. Then all of a sudden
he was even worse. They should have yanked him off,
you know, Garret Olsmeier should have been protected from himself
last year. But to Debro's point, in twenty twenty four especially,
(24:14):
you saw some really good pocket work with him. The
way that I see obviously you have the the size stuff,
you know, I mean his wingspans only like an inch
inch and a half above Diego Pavia. He actually has
smaller hands in Diego Pavia Garrett Nospier does. But you know,
like and the athleticism is not great for him, and
then he's also a durability concern, but like the upside
(24:34):
there I think would.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Be really really really good.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
QB two will not embarrass himself when he's on the field.
Low level starter if you have to start him for
a little bit, but with that risk threshold or that
you know, with his profile of what what is that
neat condition, what are the shot that it could cut
off his career early like it ended up doing for
Carson Strong. So that that's why I ended up coming
in with him at at QB six and for me
(24:59):
like a kind of a mid rounder type guy.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
Yeah, and I'm fine with all of that thor like
I think, like again, going back to it, I think
the draft capital is gonna tell us everything we need
to know about the medicals, so like post if he
drops to round four, round five, I.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
Find out before though specific we never did with Carson Shrunk.
Speaker 5 (25:15):
No, you're You're absolutely right.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
So for me, I'm gonna let Draft Capital kind of
tell the tale, so like I could drop him from
QB three all the way to QB six or even
further depending on how that all looks, because yeah, we
do have the cautionary of tale of Carson Strong. And
the other thing I'll throw in here real fast for
we move on is Brian Kelly is such a freaking joke.
I think I didn't think I didn't want to, but
(25:37):
I also I'm old enough to remember the quote where
he came out and he's like, it's just a little
bit of tendonitis. We all got ten and ititis, And
I'm like, you're such an idiot.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Let's also like not just fact rout that they did,
like they had Michael van Buren behind him, like they
had other quarterbacks they could play for sure, So it's
just a just a bad move man. And I'm pretty
sure Michael van Buren ended up in the portal too
after well obviously they were gonna with the regime change,
but he wasn't staying loyal after that. So before we
keep it moving, a real quick reminder that our Dynasty
(26:07):
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with no waiting between picks. You can customize your league
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today at fantasypros dot com Slash simulator. Gentlemen, let's jump
into the next group of quarterbacks.
Speaker 5 (26:36):
Here.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
We'll move a little bit quicker because not as much
fantasy relevance for most of these players most likely, And
it starts with Drew Aller out of Penn State and
back in my neck of the woods here. This was
an Ohio native that was a five star prospect, top
ranked quarterback prospect in the twenty twenty two class. Town
of Happy Valley just erupted when we landed this guy.
And he's the prototypical size you want in an NFL
(26:56):
quarterback six five to twenty eight, and he brings two
and a half years of starting experience to the table.
Highlighted by that twenty twenty three season, where he led
the Big Ten in passing touchdowns as just a sophomore,
twenty five of them to just two picks, and then
offensive coordinator Andy Kotlinikki he takes over in twenty twenty
four the play calling duties. Aller ends up leading the
Ninny Lions to the CFP semi Finals. This last season,
(27:20):
though things hit the fan right Penn State fires James
Franklin after three straight losses. That final game was a
loss against Northwestern where Aler suffered a season ending ankle injury.
So thor, how do you grade this roller coaster college
career of Aler? And how do you think it translates
to the next level?
Speaker 2 (27:38):
I rank him QB four right now.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
My comp for him is, you know, you'll appreciate this
as a Penn Stake guy, as Will.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Levis, but with Dreillard.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
Yeah, the physical ability there, Like is he the fourth
best quarterback right now?
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Like right this moment.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
If it was like school yard pick, We're gonna play
a football tournament right this second, I wouldn't be taking
QB four. But in terms of the ceiling in a
bad quarterback class, the hypothetical, you know, ceiling in a
bad quarterback class.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
That's That's where I'm at right now.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
With him obviously very you know, six foot five and
a quarter to twenty eight, and he has the big arm.
He's also young for this this class. Just turned twenty two.
Will around the draft, I suppose, you know, and played
early at Penn State. You know, he's got a big
arm and a solid athlete too in that that big frame.
They have gotten him on the GPS at over twenty
(28:29):
miles an hour, And it's so fascinating thinking about him
like in this class and and how disastrous those first
you know, four or five game I guess it was
five games in the fall before he suffers the injury.
You compare that to last year. Dame Brugler had reported
right after the last draft that if Drew Alar had
entered into it, So I'm talking to twenty twenty five
draft ye Dame Brugler reporter, he probably would have been
(28:50):
the second overall pick to the in this class just
on the you know, the the physical tools whatever. He's
going to be a total dart throw developmental guy. But
because there's so few quarterbacks in this class that have
howitz or arms and have you know, intriguing sort of
upsides that. That's why I'm I'm I'm putting him there
just on the chance that that light bulb goes on.
(29:12):
You know, you think of twenty twenty four. Twenty twenty
four he was actually legitimately good. That was the one
year in college where Allard looked pretty good. You look
into the stats that year and a lot of that
did come from you know, Miraji uh from manufactured touches
to Tyler Warren. However, I think this gives you a
little bit of a roadmap to how could we try
to develop Dre for the NFL. The thing that Allar
(29:36):
is the worst at, it's the timing stuff. You know,
debro is talking about the all time he has to
be wide open, you have to confirm it and then
throw it. That's Drew Aler. He's not going to throw
it to you unless you're wide open whatever. And so
he's typically behind. And that's why you know, you see
some of these different interceptions right like because even though
he has the talent, he's not beating defenses with his
head right now, and you might not ever see that.
(29:58):
But if you can manu facture the efficiency for him,
the player, like Tyler Warren or a clever sort of
you know, game plan at the next level, you're gonna
need a really good player to do this. If you
can do that for him, the other stuff is what
he has the physical ability to do. The ripping it
down the field. Guy's got the arm of like Paul Bunyan.
It's just just an easy rip at seventy yards downfield,
(30:20):
has an absolute bazooka for an arm and then that
athleticism where you could try to get stuff of like
you know, QB draws and maybe we get some RPO
stuff going on.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
This is a very incomplete sort of package.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
This is a you know, incomplete evaluation and prospect at
this time. He's of course coming off the injury, but
because of the physical gifts with him, I had to
put him QB four. And that's where I'm at with
a lot right now.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Okay, all right, Derek, where are you at here? On
aller After this past season, which was super disappointing just
because it felt like he finally had the tools around him.
He got Trevor Penya late in the signing window, coming
down from Syracuse to Vonta. Ross comes up from the
G five to two and ends up youon just disappointing
on his back, and we got Ethan Grunke Andmeya for
six or seven games to round it out.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
I did.
Speaker 4 (31:06):
There's just certain guys. I guess I'm just a hater
of this class. Like Drew lor Is my QB nine
right now. I think he is emphatically when he is
the poster child for developmental quarterback. If you look at
him as a ball of clay, as a player that
like you can break him down to the studs and
then try to rebuild his entire game, Fine, have at it.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Okay, that's not.
Speaker 4 (31:29):
A player that good lord, There's no way in hell
I would ever tell anybody to take him to the
first round of the NFL draft.
Speaker 5 (31:35):
No way, no way.
Speaker 4 (31:36):
I don't even the top end of his film. It's
all first read a lot of like like thors talking
about not fraudulent production, but like a lot of layup stuff.
And for I mean we're talking about layop.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
Twenty twenty four for sure.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
Yeah, because Warren, it was a lot, a whole lot
of as touches, we're within nine yards of line of scrimmage,
and then he just broke tackles and was running in
that all goes on, you know, hollurs up, resume.
Speaker 6 (32:02):
Wait.
Speaker 4 (32:03):
You and I always joke, we've we've had this joke
since Pookin'akua's class, and we said pookin' aku was the
reason Jaron Hall got drafted. Tyler Warren is the reason
that Drew A Lar will be drafted. I mean, we
just would just keep the correlation here, man, Like I
just the problem with with the Lar And this is
really like just kind of how my quarterback ev ow
(32:23):
process has changed. I know that everybody wants to talk
about Okay, Josh Allen and blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah.
Speaker 5 (32:29):
We have enough.
Speaker 4 (32:30):
Also, other sides of the coin of players that were
Accuracy is a trait. Accuracy and muscle memory are things.
It is very rare, if not like just total outlier
standards to expect somebody to improve their accuracy, especially by
leaps and bounds at the NFL level. And I just
don't see it with Lar man like seventy second, fifty
(32:53):
second and adjust a completion rate over the last two years.
You even look at Big Time throw rate, mean, dude
was one hundred and thirty third last year. We're it's
just they put more on his plate in twenty twenty five,
ask him to do more stuff as far as like
full field half field reads, and he struggled the pacing
of that. He would either hang on it too long,
all of his mechanics. You'd see lapses in his footwork,
(33:16):
the accuracy on a per drop back basis. Like for
Drew a Lar to become like even the standard of
league average of NFL quarterback, he has got to raise
the floor of what he's doing on a drop back
to drop back basis. I said the same thing about
basically Will Levis when he hit the NFL, and as
a prospect, the consistency has to improve or he'll never
(33:39):
even be a league average starter or even a league
average backup. So for me with a Lar, like I
look at him as a QB three prospect, like a
developmental guy. He probably goes higher because the NFL drafts
a lot on traits, then I think he should. Whereas
like again, I just think in this day and age,
we get too tied to the highlight reel stuff of
(34:00):
certain quarterbacks and we overlook like you don't live in
that world. Every single snap throughout the entirety of games?
Is it okay? And is it great that can you
can reach back for some of this stuff and lean
on the raw in tangibles for five to seven plays
in a game? What about all the other crap and
you hitting a guy on a freaking ten yard comeback
and not sailing it into the damn stands?
Speaker 5 (34:22):
So no, miss me with the laar.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
No okay, let's move forward before I get anywhere. Ptsd
and is another veteran college quarterback with a really up
and down career. Miami's Carson peck here four star recruit,
is a part of that twenty twenty class. So he
was riding the pine for three years before taking over
the Georgia Bulldogs offense in twenty twenty three and thrown
(34:45):
to the likes of Brock Bowers and Lad McConkie, actually
led the SEC in passing yards that season. However, he
just regressed substantially in twenty twenty four. Torres ucl in
his throwing arm in the twenty twenty four SEC Championship game,
then transfers down Miami for one reason or another, We'll
leave it at that, and then finishes second in the
country and completion percentage leads the Hurricanes to the title
(35:07):
game and really just a sensational season for him. So
I've been really back and forth on the outlook of
Beck throughout his collegiate career. What do you make of
it and what kind of trajectory do you see from
him at the next level?
Speaker 3 (35:21):
For me, this is quarterback eight and a bad quarterback class.
Georgia didn't want him back last fall, and so that's
why he ends up matriculating to Miami because the NFL
wasn't really high on him Las last last year at
this time either. So that's why he ends up taking
the bag at Miami. You have one more year and
you see the same stuff that you saw before. I mean,
(35:42):
he's he's big, and he can make confident decisions within
two two and a half seconds after the snap within
ten yards of the line of scrimmage. So if you
want to have and he's not a good athlete, so
if you want to have kind of a putt putt
kind of offense in the NFL, that you're gonna have
to do that with him. You start stretching him beyond
ten yards, things start wavering, he starts losing his confidence.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
The arm talent is not.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
Huge there either. That's where you start seeing the field
flipping on him. The more aggressive you have to go with.
But and this is the pocket pass. There's a guy
who's confined in the pocket. So for for me at least,
there's there's one thing we know that he can do.
And so when you think about, like for the next
level as far as a backup, if it's a team
where it's the putt putts, like the Steelers, right, that's
what all year it was just.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
Putt putt right?
Speaker 3 (36:27):
Really, okay, snap putt, snap putt, you know, run after
the catch whatever. I mean, we're just gonna put it
on your hands there, We're and put it right on
the tee for you, you know, four yards pass the
line of scrimmage. That's what Carson Beck can do. That's
about all he can do. And at least at Georgia
he was not well liked. I know that, you know,
sort of the narrative on that, and and he it
(36:47):
seems like he put a lot of effort into this
of like I'm gonna try to have my Miami teammates
like me more. And you know that's maybe he succeeded
with that. They didn't love him at Georgia and for
the NFL draft. For me, this guy was just be
you know, if it's a team like the Steelers at
the very end or a team like that, but that
would be it. But like for me, this is not
a guy that I would be using a draft pick
(37:09):
on personally.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
Okay, what about you, Derek, Any interest here in a
guy who his season was really propped up this past
year by one Malachai Tony, who will get to talk
about in a couple of seasons that was just maybe
one of the best college football receivers I've ever seen
as a true freshman.
Speaker 4 (37:25):
Yeah, I think Thorn and I are just kind of
flipped on a lare and Beck. And I'm not going
to tell you that I'm incredibly high on Carson Beck,
like I've got him as my KB five of the class.
But draft capital is also going to impact that, Like
I think everything like Thorn and I are in concert
with how we kind of see Carson Beck. Like you
want to talk about the hall field stuff and the
locker room stuff. I mean I've heard a lot of
(37:45):
the similar like rumblings about like getting along with his teammates,
his bravado and stuff. Some of that, Moxie also shows
up and like I think you're looking at like thor
you'll you'll appreciate this like the dollar dollar dollar store version,
like kind of like some of the Kirk Cousin stuff
where it's like you got a lot of mocks. He
to try to fit balls in like really tight windows
(38:06):
and making some throws that you think you can make,
but your body's telling you you don't really have the
raw talent to do those throws. And that's really what
Carson Beck is like at his best, Like he probably
settles in and as like a serviceable NFL backup quarterback
because you know what you're getting, like the deep all
accuracy can wax and Wayne. When he's on, it looks
really good. When he's off, I mean, dude, like wide
(38:28):
receivers are getting airmailed or waiting on deep balls and stuff.
He's at his best when he's able to like three
step drop ball out of his hands. He's got really
good accuracy as far as short and intermedia, like he
can layer some freaking second level throws, but when you
ask him to play outside of that become like basically
the playoff script or he leans too hard into I
(38:50):
can do all these freaking things, and it's like, bro,
you're you're writing a lot of checks that your arm, talent,
your athletic ability can't cash. That's where he gets into trouble.
And a lot of this is like I think, like
at his best, you're looking at probably a better version
of Will Levis or what people wanted Will Levis to
kind of be. But again, we're all encapsulating and talking
(39:13):
about the same kind of player where there's a lot
of volatility, there's a lot of moxie, and there's not
a whole lot of stuff to back up that.
Speaker 5 (39:19):
Bravado.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
Okay, let's go on to quarterback six here. Taylor Green
at Arkansas really the true athlete of this quarterback class
at six six, two hundred and twenty four pounds, three
star recruit, but does have four years of starting experience
across Boise State and then Arkansas, compiled nearly ten thousand
passing yards fifty nine touchdowns in his career, also just
a superb runner, right, putting up an additional twenty four
(39:43):
hundred career rushing yards thirty five touchdowns during that span
as well. The issue here is that you had a
career record of twenty seven and twenty six as a starter,
including two and ten as a senior, which resulted in
the firing of Sam Pittman after five games. He then
tore it up at the Combine, though bro Anthony and
Richardson's record for the best broad and vertical jump in
(40:03):
Combine history and then the second fastest quarterback ever to
run the forty at the Combine to only Mike Vick's
four point three three second time in two thousand and one.
Nine point nine relative athletics score coming from our friends
over at math Bomb there the second best raz since
nineteen eighty seven. So Thor, I don't think it's a
very you know, lengthy runway. I think it's a very
(40:24):
narrow one that Green ever sees NFL starter experience. But
I think he's the kind of guy you want for
fantasy at least because of the rushing upside.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
What do you think I would agree with that?
Speaker 3 (40:35):
This is my quarterback five in the class and close
with with Aler there, so you know, KEP four keep five.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
Green definitely could finish my my.
Speaker 3 (40:44):
KEB four As far as a quarterback the there's work
to do for sure, but I'll bring you guys back
in his story. You know, this is two plus years
ago when Taylor Green had played a couple of years
at Boise State and you know, and with Ashen Genty,
of course, and they were both considering transferring and Arkansas
(41:07):
got really close to getting Ashton Genty as well, and
at the lest you know gent, he decides them to
go back to Boise State play out his last year
and then tailor you know, the two years at Arkansas.
But there was an agent that asked Green, you know,
during leading up to an IL process, if he would consider,
you know, like like during this process, would you consider,
you know, with some of these big, powerful schools shifting
(41:28):
to tight end, you know, big slot guy, and then
you have two years to develop their potentially go into
your draft class, is this just freak athlete if you
can prove something there. They told that that agent not
the camp of Green. He's a quarterback and they have
gotten their wish here of seeing him in the SEC
for two years. You have seen a little bit of development,
but you still got a long way to go. As
(41:50):
a thrower averages over three seconds to throw. He uses
the athleticism too much to get out of danger there
in the SEC because he knows he can just escape
away and start running away.
Speaker 2 (42:00):
That ain't gonna work in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (42:02):
But all this being said, and even though I think
there's maybe a twenty twenty five percent shot that he
hits a quarterback, I'm still going to argue to you
that he is worth a Day two pick and that
his floor, despite what I just said, is way higher
than people give it credit for. Because here's my tail
and Green plan for the team that drafts him. You
got a four year rookie contract, right, you have a
(42:24):
historic freak of an athlete here at the quarterback position,
and a guy where people in football have already thought
about him. If it doesn't work a quarterback, what could
that look like as the big select the Logan Thomas guy, right,
like the convert from quarterback. Here would be my plan,
and this is what I would tell Tailor coming in
into the building. We're gonna give you half that contract.
We're gonna give you two years to develop as a quarterback,
(42:46):
full two years, no matter what. And if after that
there is no path that we see to see you
getting on the field at quarterback, We're gonna use the
last two years of your rookie contract converting you into
a fascinating sort of matchup nightmare guy out of the slot,
the big slot kind of a guy, six foot six,
(43:07):
the two hundred thirty pounds right now, you could easily
put more weight onto that frame. He's a broad shouldered,
you know, long lever kind of a guy. You could
easily get that guy up to two hundred and forty
two hundred and forty five pounds whatever. And then you
have that four to three speed, you have the forty
three in vertical whatever. So that's what I would do.
I'm giving you two years to develop as a quarterback.
If you turn into a guy that can start in
(43:28):
the NFL a quarterback, awesome, perfect, We have returned a.
Speaker 2 (43:31):
Whole bunch of value.
Speaker 3 (43:32):
If not, we got two years to try to convert
you into the big slot matchup nightmare guy. So we
have another path to get value out, you know, out
of you as well. For me, those two things in conjunction,
it raises the floor he needs to go on day two.
Speaker 1 (43:44):
In my opinion, Derek, where are you at here on
this signal caller that really could potentially be a difference
maker at the next level if he found that way
forward as Thord demonstrate there. It might just not be
a conventional way.
Speaker 4 (43:58):
Yeah, I mean I think like you can make a
case for him however high you want to draft him.
Man Like, I think day two is totally fine. Like really,
it's it's traits and upside and whatever team wants to
sit here and take that step. I'm totally fine with it. Now,
if you were to tell me we're also living in
a world where he falls to round five, I also
wouldn't be very surprised. And that's just like the microcosm
of this class and the athleticism.
Speaker 5 (44:21):
Is ridiculous, it's unteachable.
Speaker 4 (44:23):
Like but also again we're talking about the the rough
Edges as a passeror like he was ninety six then
to just a completion rate ninety six then big time
throw rate. He was eighty third into just a completion
rate on deep passing last year, and you see all
this show up on his film. Man Like, he's even
more like a more raw version of Jalen Milroe last
year where it's like all the upside, the rushing talent,
(44:44):
like all that stuff is there, but he's even more
raw as a passer, Like he just looks like that
the overall accuracy kind of waxes him skinny.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
Anthony Richardson that totally.
Speaker 5 (44:56):
Fine, totally fine.
Speaker 4 (44:57):
I mean, like we're all living in the.
Speaker 2 (45:00):
Yeah, yeah, I.
Speaker 4 (45:00):
Mean it's the problem is is that it's not only
just his overall accuracy that can be spotty and stuff.
Speaker 5 (45:05):
It's the fact of.
Speaker 4 (45:06):
Like he looks like he's like when you're talking about
processing and stuff like that, like he's a tick behind
on a lot of different plays, like getting through progressions.
So you know, if you could build, like stick him
into a ball control offense and you're just asking him
to pull the Daniel Jones playbook of first read, run
or check down to ease him in, and you just
lean on his legs and his athleticism and a run
(45:28):
centric offense. Fine, but outside of that, everything else is
just a projection. And he's a trades guy that you're
gonna draft.
Speaker 1 (45:36):
Okay, And before we keep it moving, four quarterbacks seven
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Speaker 1 (47:08):
Gentlemen, I'm gonna give us a three pack of quarterbacks here,
and I think we can just talked about them largely
as a group, and it starts here with Cole Payton,
quarterback out of North Dakota State. If you like the
Dole threats, if you like FCS quarterbacks with one year
of starting experience, then Cole Payton definitely your guy. Compiled
over twenty seven hundred yard sixteen touchdowns through the year
(47:28):
this past year nearly eight hundred rushing yards thirteen touchdowns
on the ground as well. Was a Wildcat quarterback his
junior year, then missed a year, red shirted, came back
then for this senior year, and then really just rose
up draft boards here at the combine six two two
thirty two nine point nine to seven razz fourth best
all time since nineteen eighty seven. And then we have
(47:49):
Kad Klubnick as well, coming out of Clemson and very
much like Drew Aller, he was a top five star
quarterback coming in here for that Clemson twenty twenty two
class that we've talked so hi about. And then the
Texas native has three years of starting experience, including that
twenty twenty four season where he was third in the
country in passing touchdowns, led Clems into the ACC Championship
(48:09):
game into the College Football Playoff as well. However, really
regressed this past season through just sixteen touchdowns, finished with
a seven to six record with the preseason top five
ranked team. And then there's Diego Pavia as well out
of Vanderbilt, goal threat quarterback that really brought Vandy back
to its first ten win season in program history this
past season underhead coach Clark Lee. Pavia finished second in
(48:31):
the Heisman voting with thirty five hundred passing yards, twenty
nine passing touchdowns and also great with his legs nine
hundred rushing yards ten touchdowns on the ground. Sec Offensive
Player of the Year. And this follows some real good
history of having a winning season at Vandy, which is
hard to do in twenty twenty four. And then also
he was named the Conference USA Offensive Player the Year
while playing at New Mexico in twenty twenty three, So
(48:53):
concerns with him. It lies in the size right five
nine seven eighths and two hundred and seven pounds and
pretty abrasive person now as well, so Thor pick apart,
He's last three when it comes to Diego, Pavia, Caid Club,
Nick and Cole Payton. Where are they in your rankings
and do you have any interest in them from a
fantasy lens.
Speaker 3 (49:10):
I absolutely do on one of them. The other two
you can miss me with him. But the guy that
I love is culpay in this class, the North Dakota
State quarterback. I've been banging the drum for. I just
love this kid's game around here. So I live in
Minneapolis and I have so many friends that went to
NDSU and one of the friends is in particular in India,
an all time NDISU Homer, and he kept bugging me
(49:33):
in September.
Speaker 2 (49:33):
Of you have to watch this guy. You have to
watch this guy. No one's talking about him. He's good.
Speaker 3 (49:37):
And I put it out for a couple of weeks
and then he just wore me down. And so there
was a day where I watched all the snaps that
could Peyton it taken. It was late September this past fall,
and it's like, oh my god, he's actually legitimately good.
You have a big leftander here, six foot three, two
hundred and thirty pounds, who's a great athlete. You know,
you were talking about the athletic test there four five,
(49:58):
six forty forty invert the over ten on the broad,
et cetera. But also this guy's a really good downfield thrower,
really really good touchdown the field.
Speaker 2 (50:08):
He has legitimate arm talent.
Speaker 3 (50:10):
My comp for him it's Tim Tebow with arm talent
and without the sound bites because basically in a left
handed quarterback, it's the exact same physical package there. You
know that the six two and a half, you know,
just under six three, two hundred thirty pounds and very
similar athleticism there. But col Payton can actually hurt you
down the field. He's also though one of the you
know we now we've mentioned several, but he's one of
those guys that needs to see you open. That's something
(50:32):
the Cole Payton's not very experienced, right, and so that's
something that they're gonna have to work with them on.
You have to give them a year at least and
maybe a year plus of development at the quarterback position,
then try to work with that. But he's another guy
because of the physical dimensions. If he somehow didn't work
at quarterback, people have tossed out the Taysom Hill. You know,
you could do something like that, you know, a big
athlete there. So he's the one that I really like.
(50:54):
Top three quarterback in this class for me. And when
I mentioned before Simpson might not hold on to KB two,
the reason for that would be col Payton and my
rankings has overtaken him the last two kid Klubnick. I
have him QB seven in this class. It's just kind
of a man, you know, in a bad quarterback class
at least, it's like, you know, you know what club
Nick is like. It's just like a little guy that
(51:15):
scrambles around when he's in rhythm. That that's where you'll see,
you know, throws a nice little spiral.
Speaker 2 (51:22):
It's catchable. I like him in the RPO game.
Speaker 3 (51:24):
You know, like they've clearly worked on him a lot
with like the speed of that and then the speed
of the decision. So he's like in those concepts he's
good at like having one eye on, you know, here
on the guy and then one eye on his first
read and then making that sort of quick decision, really
quick with the hands, really quick decisions. But the thing
with the guy like that is you have to be
unimpeachable with your decisions because it's a it's a smaller quarterback.
(51:47):
He does not have a howitzer arm, and he's an
okay athlete, like like a decent athlete. He can move
around a little bit, but it's not like a guy
that's gonna hurt you outside the pocket running downfield or whatever.
So you have to not any unforced airs. See too
many unforced airs with Kaate Klubnick. There was in this
past season. In particular, there was one play against LSU
(52:08):
early on this season that sort of set the tone
for this. I hadn't seen Kate Klupbnick before miss a
wide open guy like super duper egregiously that there was
a play there. I remember all season the dude out
there on the right and wide open and Klubnick throws
it like six feet over his head. Easiest interced I
don't know the LGI. It might have been Halsey, I'm
not sure, but there was a safety behind easiest interception.
(52:30):
He'll have all season. But you would see Klubnick whether
it was making a wonky decision, he misread the coverage,
whether the accuracy was a little errant even in a
clean pocket like was the case there. I saw too
much of that for a guy that doesn't have a
ton of physical ability. So that's why I had to
drop him down to QB seven and then Diego Pavia.
If that guy was six foot four, you'd be talking
(52:51):
about probably a top ten pick here. But you know,
five foot ten or five foot nine, whatever it is,
you have the advanced age, The frame is super duper small.
He does he can scramble around though, and he has
accuracy out to ten twelve yards. So in terms of
an offense like that. And then while you know, publicly
we get turned off by some of the personality stuff,
he definitely should not have said this stuff of like,
(53:12):
you know, f the Heisman voters, you know, like he
was saying like after he didn't win the Heisman, but
his teammates do like him, and you have to say
that for him. Now, if you're a backup quarterback, you're
a QB three, you're a practice squad guy, maybe in
your first year trying to hang on an NFL roster.
Diego take it for me. They're not gonna let you
say that stuff and stay on the roster. You're not
the superstar guy anymore. So you're gonna have to watch
(53:33):
what you say publicly. But it is a guy who
was like behind closed doors, you know that that kind
of a thing. You just need to watch the stuff
that you say to the media a little bit. But
he is interesting because he is accurate. It's a big
time competitor, and it is a guy that can scramble around.
So QB nine for me with a you know, projection
of potentially a long term backup there.
Speaker 1 (53:52):
All right, Derek Cole Payton, Kid klub Nick and Diego Pavia,
where do you rank him after reviewing all the film?
Speaker 4 (53:58):
Well? Well, well, well Cole Payton a top three quarterback
for somebody else in his class who would have known? Yeah,
call Peyton due that he's my QB two of this class.
And it's it's traits, it's upside, it's athleticism and it's
the dude has a freaking cannon and he's accurate as hell.
(54:19):
Man Like, there are concerns. I've talked about it at nauseum.
There are concerns with the jump in the competition. There
are concerns with see it, throw it, their concerns with
you know, there were a lot of r pos, a
lot of boot acts.
Speaker 1 (54:30):
One year Starter is the biggest as Oh yeah, but you're.
Speaker 4 (54:33):
Not worried about that.
Speaker 1 (54:34):
With Tys Simpson, Huh, he's playing SEC at least he.
Speaker 4 (54:38):
Is he really playing in the SEC? Or is he
trying to play in the SEC? I can argue the latter,
but regardless, dude, talent is talent. And we talked about
previous years of like the Trey, Lances, Carson Wentz, Josh Allen,
all these guys coming out of smaller programs and stuff,
and the NFL was willing to make those bets. They're
not doing it with col Peyton, but I think they should.
(55:00):
And so I'm not asking him to start this year.
I want him to sit. I want him to tackle
made to the NFL game. But he has all the
intangibles and he does all the things that you want
an NFL starting quarterback to do, and he has the
rushing talent. On top of all that he has, he'll
flash some anticipatory passing. Is he more of a seat
throw at pass or absolutely? Is there a lot of
boot action and RPOs and some gimmicky stuff in that
(55:21):
offense for North Kota State. Absolutely, But again we're talking
about him versus an entire class of question marks, underperformance,
short kings and everything in between. No, I'm massively like
you're telling me if I was running an NFL front
office and stuff like that, And Diego Pavia and col
Peyton are on the freaking board ten times out of ten,
(55:42):
Cole Peyton over Diego Pavia and it is not even
freaking close for me. So love Cole Peyton as far
as club nick Man. My worries about him is what
you saw from Clemson from twenty twenty four to twenty
twenty five. They put more on his plate and he
struggled in the sense of it went from a first
read like predetermined to get the ball out three step
(56:04):
and really everything is designed for you type of offense
to where they're asking him to do full field reads,
halffield reads and his pacing and progression struggled, like you
saw a quarterback that struggled, and it threw off everything
else about his game because he struggled with that part
of the game. Now, are there other things that you
have to worry about? Does he have the biggest arm
(56:25):
in the world?
Speaker 5 (56:25):
No?
Speaker 4 (56:26):
Can he make all the NFL throws? Yes, if you get.
Speaker 5 (56:28):
Him back like.
Speaker 4 (56:31):
K club Nick is right now currently my QB four
of this class. But again it's a sliding scale of
what do you like and what do you value? And
for club Nick, if you were to tell me if
you can get him back to the twenty twenty four
version of himself and the rushing equity, like he's got
the wheels to be a guy that can give you
four hundred yards on the ground in the NFL, just
based off the speed and the mobility. But again I
(56:54):
don't know if we ever get back to that. And
again the processing is a problem. Again when you get
to the NFL then some more complex with the defenses
you're gonna see and how fast the NFL game is.
Can he ever overcome that and become a league average starter?
We shall see. That is the worry with kay Klubnick
and everything they put on his plate from twenty twenty
four to twenty twenty five and really the crux of
(57:16):
the problems that he had. And Diego Pavia just no,
I have no interest at all. He's my QB eleven
in this class. I think his size in general is
just damning. It takes him out of He's not a
legitimate NFL quarterback. I know what he did in college.
I understand all of that, but he doesn't have a
huge arm. You're looking at a guy that literally has
(57:39):
to jump past to get the damn ball over the
offensive line, and the arm strength issues show up whenever
he is forced to throw on the move. Oh wait,
he's a dual threat quarterback and he's gonna do that
a lot. So you're gonna see that show up even
more in the NFL and over the last three seasons. Yes,
the height is a problem. This dude had twenty six
freaking passes, bat it down at the damn line of scrimmage.
(58:02):
We're not making him taller, dude, So at five to nine,
that is just not the size that is requisite to
be an NFL quarterback. It's just not. And we've seen
all of these guys in the NFL to very struggle
or succeed to a varying degree depending on the offense
that they were in. We all found out Russ couldn't
cook because Russ couldn't see the middle of the field.
(58:23):
Kyler Murray has had these issues. Bryce Young, you have
to work around that. And these are like the top
shelf versions of this type of quarterback.
Speaker 1 (58:31):
Diego No, yeah, it's never good. My parents always told
me when you have to start using fractions and when
describing your height, right, So yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (58:42):
People are being generous to call you five ten.
Speaker 1 (58:44):
It's a problem. Yeah, exactly. Let's go ahead and get
out of here with just some honorable mentions. Thor what
is one name at the quarterback position that no one
is talking about? That maybe we should just keep on
our radar, at least for fancy football managers.
Speaker 2 (58:58):
Baby.
Speaker 3 (58:58):
I was originally gonna do Joe from Tennessee because he
entered the class late. He had his fight with the
NCAA and it didn't go as well for him as
it went for Trinidadh Chamus.
Speaker 2 (59:08):
So he's a late add to this class.
Speaker 3 (59:10):
And potentially draftable there, so you know, but I had
to go with someone else. I'm gonna go even deeper
for a sleeper and a guy that in my rankings
I actually have right next to Joey Aguilar, and that
is Jack Strand, a D two quarterback from right up
the road north of me Minnesota State Moorhead. Six foot four,
two hundred and forty pounds on this guy and a
(59:32):
crazy prolific thrower in D two last year had like
forty five touchdown passes.
Speaker 2 (59:38):
I've watched his kids film a little bit. This is
a guy.
Speaker 3 (59:42):
He is very comfortable in the pocket, like very comfortable
in the pocket, and he's got a big arm where
he can spin it that Now you're playing D two
in Minnesota, right, so that that stuff is granted. But
this is a poor quarterback class and you have here
a big, strapping pocket passing quarterback who has the arm
town and appears to manage the pocket pretty well. Indeed
(01:00:03):
two now, obviously it would be an enormous step up,
and this would be sort of a multi year developmental
guy initially, maybe even on your practice squad. But he
has tools in a quarterback class where you have very
few tools. And I'm intrigued with the pocket passing game
of this Jack Strand kid. So you know, whether it's
a seventh thrown dart throw or whether it's a highly
(01:00:24):
competed for type UDFA guy. This guy's physical ability is
above a lot of other guys in this class.
Speaker 2 (01:00:30):
So I'm intrigued.
Speaker 4 (01:00:31):
Hey, Tyson Bagen, I wasna Tyson bejor before he was
Tyson Beagent.
Speaker 1 (01:00:35):
I love It's right, that's right, Okay, Yeah, Tyson Beagen
actually ended IEP. That's that's where I went to school
and ended all our college football playoff run a few
years in a row out there at Shepard. So no
love loss though for Beagent. Derek, go ahead, and who
is your honorable mention? I wish it was mine, but
you got to first.
Speaker 4 (01:00:55):
Yeah, we can handle here, Haynes game man. I mean
that the athleticism is all the duel thread ability. The
thing with Haines King is he is like there are
limiting factors to his game. He does not have the
strongest arm in the world, but he is incredibly accurate man.
So what you saw with him at Georgia Tech is
an incredible game manager. Where it was a lot of
(01:01:15):
the quick hitting stuff underneath the times where he actually
showed some of the aggressiveness and the off script stuff.
I'm like, bro, you need to unveil that more man like.
He does have the touch and the ball placement. Now again,
there are limitations with the arm strength, and this could
easily be the second coming of Eastern Stick. I will
(01:01:36):
absolutely own this. But if you were to tell me
we're three or four years down the road and this
is like the new like turbo version that can actually
run a lot version of Rock Party, I also wouldn't
be surprised. So please San Francisco forty nine ers draft
Hanes King.
Speaker 1 (01:01:52):
Yeah, man, you can't stop Haines King on a quarterback
power from five out. This guy was just unbelievabast man
anytime touchdowns for days is what we were betting on him.
Speaker 2 (01:02:01):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (01:02:02):
For me, just if we're gonna go down like the
FCS pipeline, let's just throw out Mark Ronowski from Iowa somewhere.
Go Hawks, Go, Let's go. I'm not sure if he's
gonna get drafted because he wasn't invited to the combine,
which was a crime to me. Kaylen Black also says hello,
but to me, like, I think he's a name fantasy
(01:02:23):
manager should know just for the rushing upside alone started
for four years at South Dakota State, won two national championships. There,
won the Walter Payton Award, which is the FCS Heisman,
became the all time winningest quarterback in college football history
at all levels. He then transfers to Iowa, where you
know you're never gonna be good passing the ball in Iowa.
You know, Cade McNamara showed us that a couple of
(01:02:45):
years ago. Like it just doesn't work these days, but
it still had sixteen rushing touchdowns playing against Big ten competition,
led the Hawkeyes to nine to four records. So like
he could be an absolute nothing burger. But if we're
thrown out Division two FCS first year starters, give me
a guy who's played more football than all of them.
Here in Mark Gronowski. I've been my quarterback eleven in
this class.
Speaker 3 (01:03:05):
Hawk up, baby, this guy is tougher than a two
dollars stakh Mark this this is one tough son of
a gun. You know a lot of this season, you
know behind that that Iowa offensive line, but without a
lot of weapons. It was a lot of Mark Gronowski
grinding and if nothing else like that, there's some elements
of it. Do you guys remember back in the day.
(01:03:27):
This was like back closer to my my undergrad time.
But like Oklahoma had the quarterback Blake Bell, the bell
Dozer that there's a little bit of Bell Dozer with h.
Gronowski and that physical physicality in the in the short
yard situations. The reading the defense thing is what he
needs to work on. He has a little bit of
arm talent. You'll see him get the ball down the
(01:03:48):
field like that's no problem. He's a little bit slow
on on the reading that the defense kind of a deal.
Now part of it. You're not gonna trust your Iowa
receivers as much. I grant you that. But between being
a good athlete in the big size, he a very
very tough runner. You might be able to try like
an h backy type thing. If it doesn't work out,
(01:04:09):
have a short yardage guy, you know, the wildcat whatever.
But but you have this specific thing to work on
with him. And he is like a dogged worker that
they like him in the building kind of a guy.
So he is interesting in a bad quarterback class.
Speaker 4 (01:04:22):
Two dollars steak in this economy, Thor.
Speaker 2 (01:04:24):
Man, that's right, baby, that's right.
Speaker 1 (01:04:26):
So Thor you're an Iowa fan, I thought you're in Minnesota.
Speaker 4 (01:04:28):
Look over his left shoulder right now.
Speaker 1 (01:04:32):
Right next to Minnesota.
Speaker 4 (01:04:33):
Hey, you don't have to look for and he's not
gonna stand up, so you can't see the dress sweats.
Speaker 2 (01:04:37):
Well, well that is true. I can't do that.
Speaker 3 (01:04:40):
I you know, I've lived in Minnesota most of my life,
with the exception of the I was gonna say four
but it's actually five years. It's an undergrad of Kansas
and then the three years I spent in Iowa City
in grad school there. So those two schools took over
the hierarchy from the Gophers. But you know, I still
respect the goofs I after that.
Speaker 1 (01:04:56):
Okay, all right, well that's gonna do it for us
on this episode of the Fantasy Pros NFL Draft Show,
Thor thanks so much for joining us and bringing all
your commentary and analysis. Can you please let the listeners
know where we can best find and support your work
moving forward and what you have going on that we
should be on the lookout for.
Speaker 2 (01:05:13):
Thanks for having me boys. Always good talking to you guys.
Speaker 3 (01:05:16):
You can find me on Twitter at thor Ku and
then I do work for Score North now in the
Twin Cities area. Five times a week doing Viking centric
shows in the spring. A lot of draft focus on
those shows. But it's called Thor Talks Purple on YouTube.
And then we also have a channel called Football Takes.
We're all my NFL draft analysis all spring will be
(01:05:36):
on that. So the mock draft, the position rankings, you know,
leading up to the thor five hundred.
Speaker 1 (01:05:40):
Okay, all right, well I'm looking forward to that for
us here at Fantasy Pros. Please don't forget to smash
that like bund If you enjoyed this episode, also don't
forget subscribe both the Fantasy Pros Dynasty YouTube channel and
the new Tailgate YouTube channel as well. Be sure check
out the site for all the great ratting content and
the tools Fanacypros dot com. Our most recent NFL mock draft,
which I think can kind of go in the garbage
(01:06:01):
at this point. Derek and ECR Rookie Rankings, Dynasty Rookie
Mock Draft Stimulator all there for you to take it
an advantage of, and if you want to put your
best foot forward this season, that's the place to check
it out. Thank you so much for watching. For Thor
Nystrom and Derek Brown, I'm Seth, We'll cock take care
of y'all.
Speaker 7 (01:06:19):
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Speaker 1 (01:06:22):
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