DMN Print: Top Quarterbacks

Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty (14) scrambles away from the pressure in the third quarter during the 2015 Goodyear Cotton Bowl between the Baylor University Bears and the Michigan State University Spartans at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Thursday, January 1, 2015. (Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News)

Once you get past two potential top picks at the quarterback position, this QB-starved league sees the crop fall off the cliff in a real hurry. Despite needing QB prospects to draft and develop, most observers expect fewer than 10 QBs to be taken at any point of this year’s draft. And in the Top 100, even with QBs being historically over-drafted due to the position scarcity, there may not even be five.

Bob Sturm's top five

Rk., player	College	Height	Weight	Noteworthy
1. Marcus Mariota	Oregon	6-4	222	Safer pick than Winston, will require system fit
2. Jameis Winston	Fla.State	6-4	231	Gun slinger mentality will need maturation process
3. Bryce Petty	Baylor	6-3	230	Has all tools needed to make jump
4. Brett Hundley	UCLA	6-3	226	Has the arm, needs pocket presence
5. Garrett Grayson	Colorado St.	6-2	213	A fringe prospect needs durability

Spotlight Player

Jameis Winston, Florida State

Winston looks like the definition of today’s QB who can stand tall, withstand pressure, and often shed off tacklers with great ease. In a league where Ben Roethlisberger has succeeded, you can clearly see this in Winston. His arm is big and confident with darts thrown all over the grid. His fastball is his favorite pitch and he guns the ball into traffic and gets away with it often enough. His best attributes are those QB characteristics that are subjective like “rises to the occasion” and “knows how to win”. He is as confident as it gets and wants the ball in his hands in the critical junctures of games. He is capable of the back shoulder fades that are so key in the modern. His highlight tape demonstrates his quality and his ceiling that many seem focused on.

He also is reckless and fires “rush of blood to the head” instinct throws into traffic that become turnovers and game killers. He will throw off his back foot into a crowd of defenders that are rookie throws and totaled 18 interceptions this season – only Matt Ryan and Colt McCoy have thrown 18 or more in this decade and gone on to play in the NFL for any amount of time. A player where people talk constantly about his off-field conduct, I have many concerns about what the game tape shows, despite the fact that he won almost every game he ever played in. With every back foot interception into traffic that he throws, I was less and less interested in handing the keys over to him for the next decade

The Best

Marcus Mariota, Oregon

Mariota is an impressive play-making QB who is best complimented by his size and wheels. He runs with 4.5 speed and he also has the ability to make the throws needed to be the possibility of a Kaepernick - but with a far better throwing game or maybe even a Russell Wilson, but with a 6’4, 225 pound frame. Scheme will be vital, but in the right spot I feel that this quiet leader is more likely to achieve “solid starter” status than any other QB in this draft.

Sleeper

Garrett Grayson, Colorado State

To find a sleeper, we must leave the four names that have been mentioned all year at the top and dig through the rest, where the options have been limited. But, Grayson certainly has potential with two very productive seasons where he threw for nearly 8,000 yards in a pro-style offense. He has had issues with health and has rather ordinary measureables, but has characteristics that appeal with toughness, competitiveness, and moments in a tight game where he looks the part as a guy who may have something to offer the NFL.

Best of Texas

Bryce Petty, Baylor

Petty has plenty to offer although his stock has slid in the last year due to concerns about Baylor’s system. But, he is intelligent, ambitious, and has the tools with a very good arm and a big body. He produces, stays out of trouble, and delivers the ball when and where he needs to do so. He is not the perfect prospect and he has some hurdles to overcome, but most of it is just questioning whether he can learn more difficult systems. He is eager and willing to do that so I think he is easily the 3rd best QB in this class.