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Former New York Giants Vice President of Player Evaluation Marc Ross, appearing Thursday on NFL Live, made abundantly clear which quarterback is his favorite in the 2018 NFL Draft class.
“I would take my shot with Baker (Mayfield),” Ross said.
“Baker is my favorite guy of these guys. To me Baker, he has it. When you look at the franchise winning quarterbacks in the NFL the things that Baker does he’s a winner, he’s super productive, he dominated at the highest level, not just in his conference but against Georgia and Ohio State with tons of NFL players on the defense. He has a great command, great poise and great feel.”
Ross also call Mayfield a “big-time play-maker,” but admitted that “of course” his height is a concern.
“He’ll have that to overcome but the other things that he does, the intangibles off the field, the leadership, the toughness. I just think he’s a special type of player.” Ross said.
Ross also offered his thoughts on the other top quarterbacks in the class. He took issue with the notion some have suggested that Lamar Jackson should be a wide receiver, and took issue with the idea that Josh Allen will improve his accurary as a pro.
On Josh Allen
“Josh Allen to me has a problem with his feel for the game. His pocket poise, his accuracy and all those are key components of being successful in the NFL. He did it at a very low level of competition against some bad defenses, so for him not to have dominant performances is a big worry.
“Accuracy is one of those things, when you see guys that were not accurate in college they may get a little bit better but not tremendously better. Through footwork and through mechanics you can get better at it. But him, he just doesn’t have those traits that compensate for not having the accuracy and the lack of feel for the game. He had a lot of bad film work.”
On Sam Darnold
“He’s got play-making ability like few do. He’s got excellent football character, but he does have the turnovers, both interceptions and fumbles so he’s got to definitely work and that and that will be hard to overcome for him but he’s the type of guy that will do it. He needs to just be more poised in the pocket, he gets a little too jumpy in there. With his play-making ability he tries to do too much with that as well.”
On Josh Rosen
“If you look at Josh Rosen 7-on-7 this guy’s a perfect 7-on-7 quarterback. But besides that it gets messy in there. He’s shown he takes a lot of sacks and he’s been injured both years, so that’s a concern for a pocket passer who’s been injured. But if you just want a guy to get up there and throw it and sling it he’s your guy.”
“The leadership questions off the field there may be some of those issues that crop up throughout the draft process so that will have to be well investigated by the teams.”
On Lamar Jackson
“I love Lamar Jackson. I think it’s unfair to him to just try to throw him away as a wide receiver. I don’t think that’s inspired thinking.
“He’s gotten better and better each year. He does sit in the pocket, he can read defenses, he’s very poised, he can deliver on time. … He’s not running some dink and dunk system, he runs pro concepts.
“I think everything gets overshadowed because he is just such a dynamic athlete and runner, one of a kind besides [Michael] Vick. He has developed tremendously and he’s going to keep getting better as a passer.”
Final thoughts
Take Ross’s views for what you think they are worth. I know some of you will simply toss them aside because Dave Gettleman fired him. Ross, though, does have years of study invested in these guys and has had access to more information and film than any of us. His opinions shouldn’t simply be discounted because he lost his job.