JETS draft barkley..book it hahahah
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In fact... here's a quick offseason plan for each team that has an obvious QB need. I think each of these moves makes sense without making a colossal reach in the draft.
1) Kansas City - Trade/sign Matt Flynn. He's a perfect fit for Andy Reid's West Coast Offense and the new Chiefs GM John Dorsey was pat of the Packers FO that drafted Flynn. He's a fairly low-upside player, but Andy Reid has shown that he can get by with a low-upside QB who plays within the system and doesn't make a ton of mistakes. They'll probably draft somebody in the mid to late rounds as a potential developmental QB.
2) Jacksonville - New GM David Caldwell says that he believes Blaine Gabbert still deserves a chance to prove himself. That doesn't sound like a team that wants to spend another top 10 pick on a QB. They'll either draft a mid round QB or sign somebody off the scrap heap to compete with Gabbert and Henne for the future. Matt Moore could be a good option.
3) Philadelphia Eagles - Draft EJ Manuel at the top of the 2nd, sign Dennis Dixon in FA, or some other similar move. Kelly will go out and get an athletic QB to run his read option--no need to spend an early pick on a passer when you're going to win by running and throwing off play action.
4) Cleveland Browns - Trade for Ryan Mallett with the Patriots. If he beats Brandon Weeden outright I'd expect to see them try to get rid of him, so he would become another option on the FA market.
5) Arizona Cardinals - Trade for Nick Foles (good fit for Arians' offense) OR sign David Garrard (great fit for Arians' offense) and draft Tyler Bray or another similar big-armed passer in the 2nd
6) Buffalo Bills - Draft Geno Smith. He's a bit of a reach at #8 overall but not terribly so, and he fits Doug Marrone's system perfectly. Buddy Nix has openly said he's going to draft a QB this year and I believe it. The Bills are actually a really talented team particularly on offense, they just don't have a QB. Their OL is good, RBs are fantastic, and they have a #1 WR in Stevie Johnson. They also have plenty of money to add free agents.
7) New York Jets - Sign Kevin Kolb to a cheap deal after he's released by Arizona. He's young, sure to be cheap, and knows Morninwheg's offense. He could conceivably beat out Sanchez straight up in 2013. They could also draft Matt Barkley or Tyler Wilson in round 2.
Alex Smith is also going to land somewhere on this list, not too sure where, but the whole point of this exercise is to point out that NFL teams aren't stupid. There are plenty of viable QB options out there without wasting a 1st rounder on a guy you expect to start right away.
I don't think the Eagles will want to keep Vick just because of his contract. He seems like a good enough fit for Chip Kelly's offense, though, so maybe he would stick. That's definitely an option.
I threw Mallett in for the Browns because I've read a lot of reports that Cleveland's new GM Michael Lombardi hates Brandon Weeden and he's not a very good fit for their offense. Lombardi also has been really high on Mallett, who is a guy I think could be a starter in the league. Mallett could also fit in Arizona BTW. Good fit for Arians' offense.
I just think there are so many good QB options out there next year that I don't see a lot of NFL teams panicking and blowing high 1st round picks on guys like Nassib, Wilson, and Barkley. I know it happened in 2011, but that was a different year and Blaine Gabbert, Jake Locker, and Christian Ponder were all a hell of a lot better as prospects than Nassib, Wilson, and Barkley. WAY better.
Also... look at what actually happened as a result of that 2011 draft. Gabbert, Locker, and Ponder are all among the worst starting QBs in the league. Yet Andy Dalton and Colin Kaepernick were drafted in the 2nd, where they belong, and both of them are not only way better than Gabbert, Locker, and Ponder, but those 2 guys are so good partly because their teams drafted BPAs in the 1st (AJ Green and Aldon Smith).
The 2011 draft actually PROVES... that reaching for a QB instead of taking BPA hurts your team. And I don't think teams will bother going through that again, honestly.
I'm sure Dennis Dixon is also hoping for an opportunity from Kelly. It makes sense and is a low risk move for the Eagles. Dixon would be cheap, already knows Kelly's offense, and could compete right away.
It now looks like my boy Kaseen Greene may have crept up into the first round on the draft boards, I was hoping he'd be there by the time we're picking in the 2nd, looks unlikely now.
Depending on how you look at it, this could be good or bad for us.
It could be bad, in that guys like Kevin Minter are being pushed even higher up the board.
However, it could be good in that guys like Minter are being leap-frogged by Greene, which would push them down to us.
You're not mad. I also wondered how it was possible for Greene to be leap-frogged by Greene. He must have had a really great Senior Bowl.
I think he meant Minter being leap-frogged by Greene... which I don't see happening, frankly. I'm actually not super-nuts about Minter as a prospect, but I think he's more scheme versatile than Greene. He can play 4-3 Mike or 3-4 ILB and probably also 4-3 SAM. A lot of teams might see Greene as a 4-3 Will only or nickel LB only. I think Minter also shows very well on tape against top competition pretty consistently while Greene didn't really dominate any good teams at Rutgers.
At this point I would not be interested in a MLB at #31 or #32 unless the draft shakes out really weirdly. I think OL, FS, and even WR are all more likely picks than ILB. At this point I'm really feeling that the Ravens could strongly consider a WR like DeAndre Hopkins at that spot depending on who's there.
Why do people keep assuming Kelly NEEDS a running QB?
Everything I've heard about him says that he is more than capable of adapting his system to any type of QB (and other personnel).
He is going to keep Foles and Foles will likely be given every opportunity to be his starter.