With Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert headlining the 2020 quarterback draft cla s, we're bound to witne s another multi-quarterback race for the No. 1 overall pick throughout draft season, just like we were just two years ago before sky-rocketed to the top spot. More NFL Knowing what we do about the 2018 cla s after their rookie seasons in the and everything to date regarding the 2019 rookies and the 2020 cla s as it gets set to embark on another collegiate season, let's rank the signal-callers from 2018, 2019, and 2020 together. 1. Baker Mayfield, Mayfield had flashes early on as the Browns starter, then was a blast down the stretch. He eclipsed the 125 QB rating mark in four of his last seven starts, although those outings came against the 24th ( ), 25th ( ) and 29th ( ) ranked teams in , such a stretch is super impre sive for any quarterback, much le s a rookie.I had Mayfield as my QB5 in the famed 2018 cla s of signal-callers. E sentially, my reasoning for the "low" ranking centered around a thought that he wouldn't ever be in as amazing of a situation as the one he was in at Oklahoma with a brick wall offensive line and a myriad of pa s-catchers much
Steven Wright Jersey more talented than their competition. I saw more than . After a few games to acclimate to the speed of the NFL, Mayfield was fearle s as a pa ser, routinely giving his wideouts and tight ends a chance to make a play on the football. He typically threw with pinpoint accuracy, and mostly knew where to go with the football. The coaching change from Hue Jackson to Freddie Kitchens was a godsend for Mayfield, as the latter incorporated considerably more safety-stre sing vertical routes, familiar throws for his quarterback after his illustrious tenure in Oklahoma's Air Raid
Babe Ruth Jersey system.The indecisive, late throws popped up from time to time, as they do with every rookie. Two first-half picks in the season finale in Baltimore were prime examples of that. With Mayfield, it turned out that his vast experience pa sing the football with the Sooners prepared him outstandingly to throw darts all over the football field in his first NFL season, and he landed on a team with a sturdy offensive line and a burgeoning group of pa s-catchers that now includes Jr. Goodne s. Without question, Mayfield is considerably closer to proving me wrong than right, but he'll need to build on a strong rookie season to live up to the unusually ma sive expectations in Cleveland during his second NFL campaign.2. Tua Tagovailoa, AlabamaTagovailoa reminds me a lot of Mayfield in college. Smaller, athletic, pocket-pa sing quarterback who wants to stretch the field any chance he gets and can get through progre sions as well as occasionally throwing with anticipation. The college situations are almost identical too. They have similar weakne ses. Both can prematurely transform into a running back inside the pocket, lock onto a target for a split-second too long and fail to recognize zone defenders. But the strengths for the two far outweigh the weakne ses.Tagovailoa completed 69% of his pa ses at a ridiculous 11.2 yards-per-attempt average with 43 touchdowns and just six interceptions in 2018. Mayfield's second-to-last season at Oklahoma? 70.9% completion, 11.1 yards per attempt, 40 touchdowns, eight picks.The main difference between the two ... Mayfield has a stronger arm. The ball jumps out of his hand more noticeably than Tagovailoa. But I'm deep into nit-picking territory now. After a somewhat disastrous national title game, the Crimson Tide actually will be out to prove something in 2019 and have a microscopic chip on their shoulder for, e sentially, the first time in more than a decade under Nick Saban. 3. Justin Herbert, OregonAnother comparison for you, as Herbert is eerily similar to . Here's how. He's capable of making the most jaw-dropping throws you'll ever see to any level of the field, inside or outside the pocket. He's also capable of looking completely out of sorts for an entire game that features brutal
Brock Holt Jersey decisions and an a sortment of turnovers.In between the transcendent highs and ghastly lows, Herbert provides steady quarterback play from inside the pocket, and he's a plus athlete at 6-foot-6 and 235-ish pounds with a clean delivery and live arm.The lo s in Pullman to Washington State last year was vintage Herbert, as the Ducks got into a 27-0 deficit by halftime. He was really bad in the first half, downfield mi ses and failure to recognize oncoming pre sure led to offensive stagnancy. In the second half, Herbert legitimately looked like at Stanford in 2011,
Carl Yastrzemski Jersey despite a few more misfires deep. Oregon charged back to make it 27-20 by midway through the fourth quarter. The pocket presence was excellent, the anticipation throws to the intermediate level had plenty of velocity and accuracy. The scrambling was effective and only a last resort. Herbert had bad outings against San Jose State but shredded a strong Utah defense and ended with a pedestrian showing against Michigan State in a bowl game win. If the brilliant pocket movement he flashed as a junior becomes more customary in 2019 and his downfield touch improves, Herbert has the natural talent in his legs and arm to be the No. 1 overall pick. 4. Sam Darnold, Much of what I wrote above about Herbert is true of Darnold. Incredibly high highs and stunning, what-the-heck-was-that lows. My QB4 in the 2018 cla s had a bumpy roller coaster of a rookie season that tapered off into a relatively smooth ride over the final six games for the Jets.Why was he my QB4, you ask? The propensity to put the ball into precarious spots, his long release and ball security i sues worried me. The high-degree-of-difficult throws always intrigued me. Early on, as a 21-year-old starter, Darnold looked out of place in most situations. He had five games with a completion percentage of 50 or lower in his opening eight contests, yet in two other games, he managed a quarterback rating over 110.Like at USC, Darnold provided ridiculously accurate to ses on long throws over and between coverage just about every game for the Jets, and those plays became more frequent as the season progre sed. The final six games in which he took a big step forward was undoubtedly encouraging and more impre sive on film than in the stat book. In those games, Darnold completed 61.5% of his pa ses at 7.07 yards per attempt and a 82.4 rating with six touchdowns and five picks.Age is on his side. He won't be 22 until June, which means the Jets' starter in 2019 is only two months older than No. 1 overall pick , and the former already has a year of NFL experience under his belt. 5. , Who would've thought an injury mid-season to Allen would've been the best thing for him during his rookie season? From an emergency relief appearance in Week 1 to the time he was injured
J.D. Martinez Jersey against the in Week 6, he looked like the cannon-armed, overly antsy, inaccurate quarterback many thought he was as a prospect coming out of Wyomin
