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There’s Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield , and questions about the Heisman winner’s size and stature. A lot of teams would love UCLA’s Josh Rosen for his skills and strength, but wonder if he’s a good fit in the locker room and with their organization.
Wyoming’s Josh Allen has enviable size, but faces questions about his regression last season. USC’s Sam Darnold has to answer queries about his ball security and why he’s not throwing at the NFL combine this weekend like the other prospects.
Louisville’s Lamar Jackson , the 2016 Heisman winner, needs to prove he’s a better pro prospect throwing the ball than catching it. And teams wonder if Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph can transition to the pro offense after operating exclusively out of the shotgun.
No inquiry is out of bounds.
”Absolutely. They’re investing a lot of money in these guys they’re drafting, so they can ask any question,” Mayfield said. ”This whole process is about finding out what’s wrong with you. It’s pointing out flaws, seeing if they can look past them, seeing if they can work with it. So, anything they ask is fair game.”
Teams are asking themselves whether these guys can be the next Carson Wentz, who ignited the Philadelphia Eagles‘ Super Bowl run in just his second season before getting hurt and rooting on Nick Foles from the sideline.
Or whether they’re the next Paxton Lynch, the 2016 first-round flop whose inability to grasp the complexities of the pro game has Broncos GM John Elway once again among those searching for answers at the position.
Elway has found it difficult to land a franchise quarterback from the college ranks like he did in free agency with Peyton Manning six years ago. Elway could go after a veteran again in free agency such as Kirk Cousins. But the Broncos own the fifth pick in the draft and this group of quarterbacks is unusually deep and top-heavy.
”There is a possibility of some really good quarterbacks coming out of this draft,” Elway said.
Maybe not like his own class in 1983 http://www.saintsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-marcus-davenport-jersey , which produced three Hall of Famers in himself, Dan Marino and Jim Kelly, but this year’s crop of quarterbacks is filled with intrigue and promise.
And plenty of questions.
Among them:
TALL ORDER
Is Mayfield too short? He measured in just over 6 feet tall with a hand size of 9\ inches.
”Height doesn’t matter,” Mayfield insisted. ”You see guys like Tyrod Taylor, (Drew) Brees, Russell Wilson. They’ve proven that it doesn’t matter. If you want to say anything else, I’ve got three years of tape you can watch. I think I have fewer batted balls than all the other guys here, and I’m pretty sure I’m shorter than them, too.”
Elway, for one, isn’t concerned, about Mayfield’s measurements, saying, ”I think that (stigma) has been broken.”
Nor is Elway turned off by Mayfield’s crossing the line at times Jason Sanders Color Rush Jersey , such as when he grabbed his crotch and swore at the Kansas sideline after the Jayhawks wouldn’t shake his hand last fall.
”A lot of times you get tied up in the emotions of the situation and where he is. I like to see a guy with that kind of passion,” Elway said.
HOT WATER
Rosen’s time in Westwood was defined as much by his proclivity for creating headlines away from the field.
A viral photo showed a hot tub he brought into his dorm room. Another photo showed Rosen playing golf and wearing a headband that disparaged then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Questions have arisen about how well Rosen will get along with his new teammates in the NFL, but two Bruins here at the combine vouched for their QB.
”I don’t really have anything negative to say about him,” said tackle Kolton Miller.
Neither does center Scott Quessenberry, who labeled as unfair the negative rap of Rosen ”because of the type of guy that he is and the type of stand-up human being that he is, and the type of pro that he’s going to be.
”He’s a great dude, I love hanging around him and being with him, and whoever gets him is extremely lucky,” Quessenberry said. ”They’re getting a once-in-a-millennium talent.”
CATCH AND THROW
Some teams envision the dual-threat Jackson as a wide receiver even though he never caught a single pass at Louisville, where he threw for 9,043 yards and 69 touchdowns, ran for 4,132 yards and 50 TDs in 38 games.
“I thought I did a good job at quarterback, I thought I did Saquon Barkley Color Rush Jersey ,” Jackson said with a chuckle Friday while dismissing the notion he’ll run routes with receivers Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium or even operate the wildcat as a pro.
”No sir. I’m a quarterback,” he said.
While Darnold has chosen not to throw at the combine because he’d rather show off his arm with his own receivers at USC’s upcoming pro day, Jackson said he’ll be slinging it around Saturday but won’t run the 40-yard dash or the other drills designed to measure quickness.
”Film speaks for itself as far as showing off my speed and showing I can make people miss,” Jackson said. ”I’ve just got to show off my arm – because that’s where they’re doubting me.”
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The ball had just been whacked out of Tom Brady’s right hand at the worst possible moment for the New England Patriots, giving the Philadelphia Eagles the ball just before the two-minute warning.
Brady sat on the turf, resting his arms on his knees with a pose of resignation. Once he reached the sideline and plopped down on the bench, he lowered his head and stared down for several seconds .
This was surely not the end of his unparalleled and sure-bet-for-the-Hall-of-Fame career, but at age 40 there’s no guarantee this wasn’t the last time he played in a Super Bowl.
”It’s a team sport. The Eagles played a better game today,” Brady said. ”They deserve to win. That’s why we’re not the champs.”
The fumble, forced by Brandon Graham and picked up by Derek Barnett, put the Eagles in position for a field goal that pushed their lead to eight points. Brady and the Patriots had one last possession, but his final heave from midfield was batted down to give the Eagles their first Super Bowl trophy with a 41-33 victory and drop Brady’s career record in the title game to 5-3.
The all-time leader with eight career postseason fourth-quarter comebacks, Brady wasn’t able to notch a ninth.
”We obviously didn’t make enough plays in the red zone and turned the ball over one time,” offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said. ”If we have a turnover that leads to some points for them Ryan Jensen Color Rush Jersey , and you fail to score a couple of touchdowns in the first part of the game, generally speaking against a really good team, it usually comes back to bite you.”
Brady already owns a healthy share of the NFL record book, but there’s a new entry that he and all of New England would prefer to erase. Brady became the first quarterback in NFL history to lose a game, in the regular season or the playoffs, despite passing for 500 or more yards, three or more touchdowns and no interceptions.
”You always hope you come out on the winning end of the shootout,” Brady said. ”We didn’t win it today.”
Brady finished 28 for 48 for 505 yards and three scores and a 115.4 passer rating. He has two of the three 400-yard passing games in Super Bowl history, with his 466 yards in last season’s overtime win over Atlanta and Kurt Warner’s 414 yards for the St. Louis Rams in a victory over the Tennessee Titans 18 years ago.
”I’ve played in eight of them, and they’re all good games. Today, we had our opportunities,” Brady said. ”Never really got control of the game. Never really played on our terms. Just didn’t make plays when we needed to.”
This was the second time Brady was voted the NFL’s Most Valuable Player and lost in the Super Bowl, a contrast he also experienced 10 years ago.
In fact, the past nine winners of the Associated Press MVP award to reach the big game have lost. The others were Kurt Warner (2001) http://www.cowboysauthorizedshops.com/authentic-michael-gallup-jersey , Rich Gannon (2002), Shaun Alexander (2005), Peyton Manning (2009 and 2013), Cam Newton (2015) and Matt Ryan (2016).
Brady led the league in 2017 with 4,577 passing yards, despite losing standout wide receiver Julian Edelman to a knee injury, so he sure hasn’t been slowing down. There’ve been reports of friction between Brady, coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft, but any potential dysfunction didn’t deter him. He was all smiles during his interview sessions during the week, wondering with seeming sincere curiosity why there’s been so much media fixation on when he’ll ever retire. This one, though, had to hurt.
”No one is going to feel sorry for us,” Brady said. ”We’ll evaluate like we always do. I’m sure everyone is pretty tired after a long year. That’s football.”
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