1. Quinn Ewers, QB, TEX, 6'2 195LBS- Floor: Jimmy Garoppolo, Ceiling: Kirk Cousins- Quinn is playing for a pro style offense at Texas under offensive mastermind Steve Sarkisian. Ewers has had a few injuries in college, but I don't see them affecting his pro career. When trying to figure out how good a college QB prospect is a few things must be taken into account, the quality of the roster around the QB, quality of opponents, and is the QB in a system or is he making the reads himself. On the talent around him front, Ewers has had a trove of good players from Bijan Robinson, Xavier Worthy, and Ja'Tavion Sanders. Ewers also holds some pretty impressive outings against Alabama, and has looked good in defeat against Oklahoma. Ewers also is asked to make pro reads and be able to identity pre snap defenses especially with a whole host of pre snap motion. He shows a tremendous amount of poise in pressure situations, and really takes what the defense gives him by opting to check down, or live to fight another day and throw the ball away. When Ewers wants to unload he has a decent deep ball and for the most part has the accuracy you would want from an NFL QB as well as an NFL arm. In the world of short form content and highlight reels, Ewers is rarely going to give you an absolutely immaculate play or insane throw, but he is a steady and calm presence and makes the right play often. I really like his NFL traits and his intangibles that will make him a reliable NFL starter from day one.
2. Shadeur Sanders, QB, COL, 6'2, 216lbs- Floor, Teddy Bridgewater (pre-injury), Ceiling, Andy Dalton, So I think the scout community and just fans alike will have varying rankings on Shadeur. If it was the first 2 weeks of the season we might have had him as Deshaun Watson as a comp which is where I initially had Sanders slated, but I went with a more safe pick of Dalton. Shadeur's talent and grade is more between the ears to me. His late quarter comebacks, albeit against lesser teams are memorable, and if you watched the games you have no doubt when the ball is in his hands. Colorado is shrouded in controversy from coach Prime, to their record and turnover on their roster. Shadeur despite his last name is an above average athlete, and I think his combine numbers might surprise alot of people, I might change his comps if he can get a decent 40 number to a maybe RG3 like player. Shadeur unlike RG3 likes to rely on his arm not his legs, but I think he has a good rushing game if he really needed to get a few yards when the pocket collapses. Shadeur can also read defenses at an advanced level, and puts on the work to get better. I think he can really do damage on the NFL behind a good offensive line and multiple NFL calibre wide outs.
3. Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU, 6'4 210lbs- Floor, Robert Griffin III(Rookie year). Ceiling, Deshaun Watson. If I was writing this last year, Jayden might not have even garnered a 5th round grade. After his Heiasman calibre season Jayden now carries a top 5 overall grade. His comparables are both slight of foot, and out of those 2 Jayden might have the highest upside in the rushing game (Deshaun had a decent college rushing career). While everyone is most obsessed with his fantasy relevant rushing ability here is something to take note of: Burrow threw 44 touchdown passes and completed 78.3% of his passes during the regular season, while Daniels threw 40 touchdown passes and connected with receivers on 72.2% of his throws(comparing both Heisman seasons). Daniels has found himself in some good company throwing the ball. The hope for his NFL career given his slight frame, is that he can look to throw first and breakout to extend plays and make a throw, as opposed to just immediately leaving the pocket and just rushing. A number of experts think that he will crush the combine which might add to the hysteria behind Daniels. He also didn't necessarily have the run game, nor the wide receiver talent that Burrow had. His accuracy increased dramatically year of year, we just hope that he can process the game at the next level. If he is still average at pre snap defensive reading, or being able throw an NFL receiver open he can still rely on his legs to let broken plays develop, therefore raising his floor.
4. Caleb Williams, USC, 6'1 , 215lbs, Floor: Baker Mayfield, Ceiling: Diet Patrick Mahomes. Let it be known, I don't think Caleb is as good as Patrick Mahomes. The league is a copy cat league, and with Mahomes Mlmeteoric rise anyone that resembles his play style will immediately have NFL scouts salivating at the next chance. It would be naive for me to say that I projected Pat Mahomes out of college to be what he is today, but let's try and prognosticate Caleb now. Caleb has elite improvisational skill, which is his biggest comp to Pat. When a play breaks down he can twist and contort his body to bend the defense to his will and flick, flip, or throw the football to an open man. He can also read coverages and when a play breaks down scamper for a first down unscathed. His size is comparable to Baker and Mahomes as well, and he throws a pretty accurate ball. My biggest fear, and why I'm not as high on him is the poise aspect. He had a much better college squad then Mahomes and really disappeared against top talent. Notre Dame : 199 yards 1TD, 3INT, Utah 256 yards 0TD, and Oregon 291 yards 1TD. I feel like for such a generation prospect we need to see him show up in big moments especially with his coach and roster. Mahomes didn't necessarily have this cast in college, and in the NFL has really shown up when it matters most. Caleb has alot of tools to give himself a servicable NFL career, but I don't see generational prospect/ cut case with him.
5. Bo Nix, QB, ORE, 6'2, 217lbs - Floor: Case Keenum. Ceiling: Colt McCoy- Of any of the quarterbacks getting any critical acclaim I think Bo is the biggest product of a system instead of individual performance. Not withstanding I think he could be a servicable quarterback on the NFL, he's very mobile, and has somewhat accurate throws, but Oregon had very QB friendly offense. Bo has some prett deceptive speed, but is pretty locked in when he scrambles, it's normally a scamper to the pylon, and isn't the greatest on the move passes after the pocket breaks down. Bo will need an offense catered to his strengths, and might have difficult with NFL passes and NFL windows for WR. He has trouble looking off safeties, and might have issues at first trusting his WRs with 50/50 balls.
6. Drake Maye, UNC, QB, 6'4 229lbs, Floor, Drew Lock, Ceiling, Jacoby Brissett - Out of all the QBs I think Drake is getting the most hype, and might yield the worst results of the top QBs in this class. Coaches at the next level love measurables, he's 6'4 230lbs and has a cannon. If you watch the tape you will notice almost every receiver in his highlight film is wide open with absolutely no one around him. If a coach thinks they can take Drake and turn him into a Josh Allen or a Herbert then they might take him on, but I don't think he carries the intangibles those guys have/had in college. He also showed slight regression this year as opposed to last without a significant roster turnover you'd expect in college. If Drake ends up on the level of a Josh Allen, because he fits the body type similar to Allen it's going to take alot of work, he's not going to come out like Herbert did right away, so for fantasy purposes we really need to hope he goes to a stable organization that will give him time.
-Quinn Ewers is coming back to Texas.
Photo credit Photo: Colin Hass-Hill
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