The 2018 XFL Mock Draft - Quarterbacks

Last week, Jonah shot me a text that he would like to have a Fantasy XFL Draft. I kind of hemmed and hawed at the idea, as I really didn’t want to go through that pointless of an exercise. Then I realized that I really wasn’t doing anything more important with my life, and it would be hilarious when I selected LeBron James with my first pick and OJ Simpson with my second pick. Unfortunately, Jonah clarified that they would have to realistically be able to play in the league and not currently playing another professional sport. That screwed up my entire draft plan, but I did my best to recover.

Admittedly, both Jonah and I did minimal research before the draft and did all of our analysis during the draft. This meant that there was little rhyme or reason to any picks past the first two rounds. So instead of breaking this down round by round, we are going to go by position groups. We also only did a two-team league, because I cannot imagine finding enough nerds to have a 12 or 16 team XFL mock draft. We did do a whole 53-man roster, so you could imagine these guys being spread around across the league. Today, we start with the quarterbacks.

Quarterbacks
Team Jonah: Colin Kaepernick, Zach Mettenberger, Ryan Nassib

Team Joe: Johnny Manziel, Robert Griffin III, Rex Grossman

Joe: Although the picks usually didn’t matter, we did both select quarterbacks with our first pick. Jonah went with the obvious choice of Colin Kaepernick, so then I panicked and went with Johnny Manziel as my number one quarterback. Although Manziel was a pariah in the NFL, he will most certainly be a fan favorite in the XFL, as this league is all about attitude. 

But Manziel is definitely not guaranteed the starting spot. I brought in some great competition as I have RG3 who is likely a more athletic version of Johnny Football and would likely be considered the favorite for the starting position, although he will inevitably get injured so it won’t be hard for Manziel to see playing time.

On top of that, I have Rex Grossman. The wily veteran who just loves to sling it deep. He is the veteran presence that can let them know what it takes to make it to a Super Bowl.

Maybe the greatest thing about these quarterbacks is that I might have three of the highest selling jerseys in the entire XFL. Manziel’s jersey could say “Johnny Football,” “J Football,” or just straight, “Football.” Griffin has “RG3” on the back of his, but my top selling jersey will inevitably be Rex Grossman’s “Sex Cannon” jersey. Sure to be a hit with the kiddos.

Jonah: Believe it or not, I took this draft very seriously.  My original idea was that I could build a roster of players that would win a few games in the NFL with nothing but available players.  Then I realized the XFL was coming back so I could just build an XFL roster that would be as talented as the lower half of the NFL.  With that, Kaep was the obvious first pick in terms of football skill and marketability.  The guy could start for 5-10 teams in the NFL so he’s a no brainer, and you either love him or you hate him.  Either way people want to watch him succeed or fail.

Mettenberger is a favorite of mine.  I watched him play as a rookie in Tennessee and he was pretty average, but a rookie playing average on a terrible team is pretty good.  I’m very confused why he hasn’t gotten another shot.

My original XFL lineup included another quarterback who should be starting in the NFL, Matt Barkley.  He was signed by the Cardinals so Mettenberger moved up to backup and Nassib got a spot on my squad.  Nassib is talented, strong armed but short for a quarterback.  Another guy I’m surprised doesn’t have a roster spot somewhere in the NFL because at least he has potential to be good instead of the potential to not be terrible like some of the quarterbacks who keep getting paid.

Joe: One thing I worry about with Jonah’s team is that he’s likely going to have to depend on Mettenberger and Nassib as Kaepernick will inevitably be fired in a grand public display if he chooses to kneel during the national anthem. And buddy, you’re going to have to trade a whole lot if you want to get the Sex Cannon on your squad. 

Jonah: I love Mettenberger and Nassib has potential, plus there’s plenty of quarterbacks out there like your boy Ricky Stanzi or my boy Nathan Enderle, or everyone’s boy John David Booty.  As for your quarterbacks, Manziel and Griffin should still be in the NFL, well Griffin at least and Manziel has the ability.  I really hope Rex Grossman finds his way onto an XFL roster because I will bet you that against XFL competition he throws more picks than TDs.

Joe: That wraps up the quarterback talk. We should have something on running backs later this week.

A New Era of Quarterback Development

One of the hot stories in the NFL has been how well the rookies have performed this year. There was a similar story last year as people were rightfully impressed with what players like Cam Newton and Andy Dalton did last year. There is no denying it; these guys have far exceeded my expectations in their rookie year. 

But I don't think this means that we're in some golden age for quarterbacks. I think that the NFL has just done a much better job with quarterback development. One huge cause is the rise of passing in college football. It was only about 15 years ago when Nebraska was kicking the shit out of people using the option with players like Eric Crouch and Tommie Frazier (Note: If a Nebraska fan is reading this, it was 15 years ago, get over yourselves). College offenses have become much more complicated, and it has no doubt helped quarterback development. 

The other big key has been that offensive coordinators are adjusting their schemes to more closely align with what they were successful with during college. It has created new schemes in the NFL, because the NFL is following college football's lead on innovation. That was definitely not the case until very recently, but college coaches have more freedom to experiment and fail, where NFL coaches have every decision questioned.

But just because these guys are doing so well in their rookie year does not mean that they are going to become superstars. I feel like Andrew Luck is the only guy who I would be shocked if he did not somehow become a superstar quarterback. Everybody else has question marks in my mind. I will openly admit that I have loved Andrew Luck since the beginning of his sophomore year, and I do mean that in a slightly gay way, because watching him pick apart defenses does give me a chub on occasions.

I am not completely sold on RGIII. And the reason has to do with Cam Newton's step back this year. These two are far, far different quarterbacks, but they do both rely on their running abilities to gain yards and open up passing opportunities. RGIII does it with pure speed, and Newton does it with power and a good amount of speed. But the one thing they have in common is that they are in a scheme that is new to most NFL defenses. It is something that they are not running up against with other teams. 

It's a lot like going up against Georgia Tech in college. Their spread option causes opponents a lot of issues, not because of the talent on the field as much as how different it is to face than any other college offense. It takes a while to get used to all of that misdirection, and it can really throw off defenses. But when Iowa played them in the Orange Bowl a few years ago, their offense got overwhelmed as the Hawkeyes had enough time to prepare for their offense and dominated.

Obviously, NFL defenses are not going to have six consecutive bye weeks to prepare for a team, but, for the most part, there are better coaches in the NFL than college. They are going to find things to pick up on and strategies to counteract what is working for the Redskins. I think RGIII is good enough to counter the counter, because his accuracy is far better than Newton's, but I could see there being an issue. It's very likely he becomes a great quarterback, but I wouldn't be shocked if he was more in the top 15 starters than the top 5. 

With Ryan Tannehill, Russell Wilson, and Brandon Weeden, they have shown flashes of being good quarterbacks (Weeden less than the other two), but they are also quarterbacks who have benefited from their coaches designing offenses to emphasize their strengths. When I type that sentence, it is really amazing that teams were not doing this before, but teams more tried to find quarterbacks who would fit in their system than making a system that fit them. Out of these three guys, I would say that Tannehill has the best shot of being a top 10 quarterback, and I give him a 25% chance of doing that. That sounds bad, but it is really tough to become a top 10 quarterback these days. Outside of Blaine Gabbert, there are not many bad quarterbacks in the NFL. I mean, a guy like Joe Flacco goes to the playoffs every year, and you could make the argument that he is not one of the top 20 quarterbacks in the league. 

It's too early to get super excited about what is happening with these guys. They are having better rookie years than their predecessors, but they are in a different era than those guys. The second year is the new rookie year, where if guys are succeeding in year two, it is time to be impressed...except for with Andrew Luck, because he's the greatest.

Andrew Luck Is a Better Prospect Than Peyton Manning Was

As Prospects, Andrew Luck Is Better Than Peyton Manning

I know what many of you are thinking right now, “DURR, this is stupid, there is no way you can say that Andrew Luck is better than one of the five best quarterbacks of all time, DURR.” I understand your opinion. To clarify, I am not saying he will be a better quarterback, but that he is a better prospect. If you put these two in the same draft, there is no way that Peyton Manning is selected before Andrew Luck.

There is absolutely nothing that Peyton Manning showed in college that would put him ahead of Andrew Luck. Luck is basically just a more athletic Manning. I am trying to think of all the ways that Manning could be considered better than Luck, and there just isn’t one.

Arm strength is Manning’s best shot, but I’d call it a wash. Neither guy has a rocket, but they both have very good arms, and I do not see a discernible difference between the two.

Reading defenses is not something that I could give either guy an edge, because both do a great job before and during the play.

Having the ability to throw every ball on the route tree is something that both could do.

They both have great footwork.

They were both excellent at playfakes.

And then we look at athleticism, and Luck has a decent advantage. The guy is an all-around athlete, and Manning, although he was much more athletic in college, is not on the same level as Luck. 

On top of that, both had a player come out of nowhere and have a great final year before the draft. Manning was challenged by Ryan Leaf for the number one spot in the draft. Meanwhile, as great was Robert Griffin III was, nobody ever seriously considered taking him over Andrew Luck at the number one spot. I feel like RGIII is at least the prospect that Ryan Leaf was (and in my mind, much better), but Luck was never challenged as the best player in the draft.

Luck is the better prospect. Manning, until his neck injury, reached his full potential. That is incredibly rare. If Luck is able to do the same, he will be even better than Peyton Manning.