The San Francisco 49ers have a lot of decisions to make with the No. 2 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, and the quarterback position is viewed by many as a strong possibility. Mock drafts have focused on Mitch Trubisky, with some mentions of DeShaun Watson.
On Friday, NFL Media analyst Daniel Jeremiah had some interesting thoughts about what he is hearing regarding the top prospects at the quarterback position. Jeremiah seems to have good contacts willing to offer at least unattributed commentary on draft prospects. And none are particularly high on Mitch Trubisky or DeShone Kizer.
I couldn't find a scout or executive who was excited about DeShone Kizer or Mitch Trubisky. When you're talking to teams that already have an established signal-caller, there's no reason for them to feed me false information. In fact, it would benefit them if these quarterbacks went early, dropping talented players at other positions into their lap. I'm sure one or more of these quarterback prospects will get hot and gather some steam as we head toward the draft. Will it be one of the three mentioned above or will we see another name emerge? Buckle up. This is going to be an interesting ride.
Jeremiah wrote that teams are split on DeShaun Watson. He said some personnel executives see him as a “good late first- or early second-round pick,” and others think, “he is a long-term project who should be a middle-round pick.”
At least one and probably two quarterbacks will be drafted in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. I would be surprised if we did not see Trubisky and Watson going in the first, and potentially in the top ten. Teams have surprised us in the past, so a third QB would not be entirely crazy. The quarterback position is critical to successful franchises, but that also means we often see draft prospects overrated because they play that position. And there is little doubt we’ll see it again this year.
All of this means it will make for a long three months between now and the 2017 NFL Draft. Criticism and hype are going to be flying fast and furious.