February 17, 2016
Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
Will Jeff Fisher use Philly's second round pick to steal a quarterback away from the Eagles?
Will Sam Bradford be back with the Eagles in 2016? It's certainly not out out of the question, but it's looking more likely that he'll be on another team. Before the Eagles move on completely from Sleevie Wonder with the idea that they are going to find their quarterback of the future in the draft, they better be pretty sure someone worth taking will be there.
The three top quarterback prospects early in the draft process are California's Jared Goff, North Dakota State's Carson Wentz, and Memphis' Paxton Lynch. Over the next two and a half months, those three guys will be dissected every which way possible, but for now, they represent the group likely to be taken somewhere around the top 15 picks of the draft.
A few weeks ago, we looked at the teams drafting ahead of the Eagles, and their likelihoods of picking a quarterback. Today, we'll take a look at the teams looming behind them, and who could potentially try to trade up ahead of the Eagles.
14) Oakland Raiders: In his first two years with the Raiders, Derek Carr has thrown for 53 TDs and 25 INTs.
Threat level: None.
15) Los Angeles Rams: The Rams have a good, young roster, but no quarterback. Last year they acquired the Eagles' second-round pick by trading away Bradford, and therefore will have all the ammunition they need to move up to get a quarterback if they like one in this draft.
Threat level: Extremely high.
16) Detroit Lions: Matthew Stafford is a very talented franchise quarterback.
Threat level: None.
17) Atlanta Falcons: Matt Ryan didn't have his best season in 2015 by a long shot, but he's not going anywhere.
Threat level: None.
18) Indianapolis Colts: Next.
Threat level: None.
19) Buffalo Bills: Tyrod Taylor had a great first season as a full-time NFL starter, but he is a quarterback you have to build a specific scheme around to accentuate his strengths. As we've seen in the past, opposing defenses catch up very quickly to offensive schemes that heavily utilize the quarterback in the run game, as evidenced by the declines of Robert Griffin III and Colin Kaepernick.
Still, Taylor was 7th in the NFL last year in QB rating (99.4), and he threw for 20 TDs vs 6 INTs, with a YPA of 8.0. The Bills have been aggressive in the past in moving up in the draft. For example, they made a drastic move up to draft Sammy Watkins in 2014. However, I can't imagine them expending what would be necessary to move into the top 12.
Threat level: Low.
20) New York Jets: Ryan Fitzpatrick had arguably his best year as a pro in 2015, and really seemed to develop rapport with Brandon Marshall, Eric Decker, and offensive coordinator Chan Gailey. Fitzpatrick is a free agent this offseason and the Jets appear interested in bringing him back. Personally, I think they'd be idiotic to think of Fitzpatrick as a long-term solution at quarterback, and in my view, they should be looking to aggressively target a top quarterback in this draft. However, like the 2014 Eagles, the Jets won 10 games and still missed the playoffs, making them the non-playoff qualifier with the lowest first round draft pick. It'll be difficult to move up high enough to a spot above where the Eagles are at 13 without having to give away too much in the way of other resources, so the Jets may be stuck in QB limbo for another year.
Threat level: Moderate to low.
21) Washington Redskins: The Redskins and Kirk Cousins' camp are currently playing games, but there's little doubt (in my mind anyway) that Cousins will be returning to Washington this season with a new deal, or at worst, under the franchise tag. And even if somehow Cousins escapes and plays for some other team, are the Redskins really going to make a massive trade up for another QB the same year they let former trade up disaster Robert Griffin III go?
Threat level: Very low.
22) Houston Texans: The Texans are clearly going to be targeting a quarterback this offseason after watching Brian Hoyer struggle through an awful four interception performance in the playoffs last season. Houston has also been noted as a logical landing spot for Bradford, and many have connected former Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien with Christian Hackenberg, which makes some sense. But certainly, the Texans could find one of the other quarterback options to be attractive fits, and they could opt to try to make an aggressive move up the board.
Threat level: Moderate.
23-30) The Vikings, Bengals, Steelers, Seahawks, Packers, Chiefs, Cardinals, and Panthers will not be trading up above the 13th spot to draft a quarterback.
31) Denver Broncos: The Broncos just won a Super Bowl on the strength of an outstanding defense, while getting play from Peyton Manning not typically good enough to win it all. The Broncos have a decision to make on Brock Osweiler, who is scheduled to become a free agent. Is he their long-term quarterback, and how much will it cost to retain him? Will Manning be back?
The Broncos' urgency to expend massive resources to move from 31 to the top of the draft will be very low, but we'll just note them because of their unsettled quarterback position.
Threat level: Very low.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @JimmyKempski
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