Its OK to reach for a QB

[AU-panther]

Pretty much every thread that talks about us picking in the top 10 someone makes the point "should we pass on a better ranked non-QB? to reach for a QB"  Especially if someone like Sewell is there.

More times than not you have to.  Unless you have the #1 pick and there is a great QB prospect such as Payton Manning you pretty much always reach for a QB.  Even last year with Burrow you could make the argument that Chase Young was the better, safer prospect.  When Cam was drafted Von Miller probably had a higher grade on most teams draft boards.

QBs always get over drafted, I'm sure teams had players ranked ahead of Mahomes where he was picked.  Trask and Jones will probably go higher than they should this year.

If you need a QB you have to go get them, even if you have to trade up some.  Overall I hate trading up, but for a QB it actually makes the gamble worthwhile because the reward is so high. 

I'm not saying you draft someone like Trask or Jones at 8, but if you have a high grade on Lance or Wilson you take them at 4 even if a higher graded player such as Sewell is there.

Think about this, what player would have won us more games this year?

Mahomes or Ronnie Stanley

Rodgers or Joe Thomas

Watson or Jordan Gross

Its not even close which would have helped us more.

Are the non-QBs more likely to work out, of course, but sooner or later you have to take the gamble.  The reward of the QB is so much higher you don't have to be right as much.  I could pick a QB in the first round each of the next two year and if I'm right 50% of the time I'm better off than the team that went LT and LB each of those year even if both of those picks hit if that team doesn't have a good QB.

The irony of all of this is that most of these discussions center around the scenario if Sewell is there, but left tackle prospects are probably the second most over drafted position.  There will almost always be a higher ranged non-tackle on your board, sooner or later you just have to commit to drafting one.

On a side note, last years OT class was really strong and we were in a good position to take one, could have possible even traded down a few spots to draft one.  Hopefully we don't regret it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[LinvilleGorge]

There is no "reaching" on a franchise QB. If you need a QB and you think there's a franchise QB prospect available, draft him. If you're limited at the QB position, you're limited as a football team. There's no other position you can say that about. There are lots of ways to build a great roster, but the one commonality (especially in today's NFL) is a good QB. Stout D with a three yards and a cloud of dust offense just doesn't work in today's offensively biased league. They want high flying high scoring offenses because that's what the casual viewer wants to see. They'll keep tweaking the rules to get it. Accept it and adapt or play 1980s style football and be mad about losing.

[top dawg]

TLDR. Just kidding, I looked it over! But this is really what you said in a nutshell:

Potential franchise QBs are the priority for franchise-QB-needy teams!

And sometimes they may get priority for teams that are looking down the road (e.g., Green Bay)!

[WarHeel]

Glad we reached for Clausen, Grier, and co.

[t96]

16 minutes ago, top dawg said:

TLDR. Just kidding, I looked it over! But this is really what you said in a nutshell:

Potential franchise QBs are the priority for franchise-QB-needy teams!

And sometimes they may get priority for teams that are looking down the road (e.g., Green Bay)!

People trashed the Packers for taking Love but I think that was a tremendous pick and they extended their window a decade+ with that move. You can never invest too much in the QB position.

[LinvilleGorge]

2 minutes ago, t96 said:

People trashed the Packers for taking Love but I think that was a tremendous pick and they extended their window a decade+ with that move. You can never invest too much in the QB position.

And look at Rodgers this year. Even if Love is a bust, if it took spending a late 1st on a QB to rekindle the fire under Rodgers and get him back to playing MVP level football then it was still well worth it.

[raleigh-panther]

5 minutes ago, WarHeel said:

Glad we reached for Clausen, Grier, and co.

Come on man

[LinvilleGorge]

8 minutes ago, WarHeel said:

Glad we reached for Clausen, Grier, and co.

I mean, it's Hurney drafts. If it wasn't Clausen at Grier it would've almost certainly been some other busts regardless of position.

 

[Khyber53]

Yep, hitting a great QB can set a team up for a decade of wins.

Swinging for and missing with a "franchise" QB can hurt you for a few years.

The worst thing, though, is ending up with a situation like Detroit or San Diego did. Phillip Rivers and Matthew Stafford are both excellent QBs able to make every throw, run a whole offense and have productive careers. And like Steve Bartowski did with the Falcons in the 1970s and '80s, they languished on terrible teams year after year, setting meaningless passing records and sniffing the playoffs once every five or six years. Guys like that get grabbed by teams that didn't build identities, that didn't build anything meant to last and did nothing but have a carousel of coaches and bad decisions.

Right now, we've got some feel good vibes from Rhule and Co. but who knows if they really are building a good team. The record doesn't look like it, even if there are a bunch of close games and a feeling this team is coming together. I'm glad we didn't shoot for drafting a high pick QB right away because we really, really needed to correct a soft defense, but up until the Detroit game, I was beginning to think we'd need to draft defense heavily again this year. Now, maybe we can look to the offense. 

QB? Maybe, because what we've got isn't doing the trick. But the guy produced two 1,000 yard receivers and we saw Curtis Samuel come alive as well. We saw a perennial bubble player become a solid running back when called off the bench. And we still can't win because our o-line is so bad that our "star" offensive line guy's best trait is that he doesn't give up too many sacks (I mean, that's good, but there should be more). We also had a number of games this year where our defense never caused the other team to punt, or give up a sack where we still lost by a single score. As lackluster as our QB was, these problems might point that we have needs elsewhere that if they aren't fixed, it won't matter if we draft the second coming of Joe Montana in the first.

We'll probably go QB. I just hope the timing is right and that Rhule's plans are playing out like he expects. 

[Moo Daeng]

9 minutes ago, t96 said:

People trashed the Packers for taking Love but I think that was a tremendous pick and they extended their window a decade+ with that move. You can never invest too much in the QB position.

We don't know if he can play and likely won't for years

[Pimpdaddy]

Reaching for a QB in the first round has long and everlasting consequences... you better be damn sure the qb skills will fit what you are trying to do..otherwise... a wasted pick..and same situation the following year...thus QB purgatory...

[Adb6368]

15 minutes ago, WarHeel said:

Glad we reached for Clausen, Grier, and co.

Drafting a qb in the top half of the first round is completely different than drafting a qb anywhere else in the draft. This is not comparable

[top dawg]

7 minutes ago, raleigh-panther said:

Come on man

LOL!

I guess you can reach for a second or third rounder...

I just think Pickles was a bad pick, but he was projected to go in round two by many! I don't think Grier was such a reach as much as he was a project. But neither one was day one material! That's where most franchise QBs come from!

[Peon Awesome]

2 hours ago, Khyber53 said:

Yep, hitting a great QB can set a team up for a decade of wins.

Swinging for and missing with a "franchise" QB can hurt you for a few years.

The worst thing, though, is ending up with a situation like Detroit or San Diego did. Phillip Rivers and Matthew Stafford are both excellent QBs able to make every throw, run a whole offense and have productive careers. And like Steve Bartowski did with the Falcons in the 1970s and '80s, they languished on terrible teams year after year, setting meaningless passing records and sniffing the playoffs once every five or six years. Guys like that get grabbed by teams that didn't build identities, that didn't build anything meant to last and did nothing but have a carousel of coaches and bad decisions.

Right now, we've got some feel good vibes from Rhule and Co. but who knows if they really are building a good team. The record doesn't look like it, even if there are a bunch of close games and a feeling this team is coming together. I'm glad we didn't shoot for drafting a high pick QB right away because we really, really needed to correct a soft defense, but up until the Detroit game, I was beginning to think we'd need to draft defense heavily again this year. Now, maybe we can look to the offense. 

QB? Maybe, because what we've got isn't doing the trick. But the guy produced two 1,000 yard receivers and we saw Curtis Samuel come alive as well. We saw a perennial bubble player become a solid running back when called off the bench. And we still can't win because our o-line is so bad that our "star" offensive line guy's best trait is that he doesn't give up too many sacks (I mean, that's good, but there should be more). We also had a number of games this year where our defense never caused the other team to punt, or give up a sack where we still lost by a single score. As lackluster as our QB was, these problems might point that we have needs elsewhere that if they aren't fixed, it won't matter if we draft the second coming of Joe Montana in the first.

We'll probably go QB. I just hope the timing is right and that Rhule's plans are playing out like he expects. 

This is a really great point. I think it's the main reason I am loathe to trade up for a qb. Our cupboards are bare enough, we can't afford to lose multiple picks that could help us form a complete team. I'm still for drafting a qb, but we can't rest our laurels that a new QB is going to swoop in and completely change our fortunes, even if they end up being huge upgrades over Bridgewater.