In all of our biggest decisions, we want to find something or someone with no blemishes. Whether it's a significant other, a daycare, or the person folding your burrito at Chipotle, you want to avoid red flags at all costs.
In the NFL, this is the quarterback. They're the face of your franchise, and so much of the team's success rides on whether or not they can chuck the ball efficiently. We can't afford to have any leaking barbacoa juice when it comes to this position.
But if you're picking your team's signal-caller via the 2019 NFL draft, you'd better be willing to accept some causes for concern.
Throughout the 2019 draft class, there are players with some tantalizing traits. Kyler Murray creates plays with both his arm and his feet, Dwayne Haskins can put the ball in a bucket from down the street, and Drew Lock has an overly juiced T-shirt cannon for a right arm. Most players here have something to offer.
But they've all got at least one big red flag.
The task currently ahead of NFL talent evaluators is to decide whether or not those shortcomings are enough to outweigh the positives. If not, then these guys could be worth a first-round pick. If those questions are just too much to stomach, it could lead to teams kicking the can another year down the road and waiting on Tua Tagovailoa and Jake Fromm.
Today, we're going to run through each of these prospects and rank them through the lens of their statistical profiles. It means trying to sort through which players can overcome the question marks surrounding them and which are just too risky for comfort early in the draft.
As of right now, seven quarterbacks have a prospect grade of 75 or higher on ESPN, and the sentiment of scouts does matter (as we'll discuss in a second). So, we're going to focus on just those seven for now in Haskins, Murray, Lock, Daniel Jones, Jarrett Stidham, Ryan Finley, and Will Grier.
When viewing these players through the lens of their collegiate resumes, who grades out best? And who is truly worthy of a top-end selection? Let's take a look.