30. Top 10 QB Prospects, Elongated Words, No Joins

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the PlayAction podcast. I am your host, Ryan, and I am joined here by Robby. Hello. And today we will be starting what is kind of like the draft circuit leading up to the 2024 National Football League Draft, which is, it's exciting. It's in just three weeks, I believe. So we are going to have this episode, three episodes before the draft. We're going to have this episode, which will be our Top 10 Quarterback Prospects. We're going to have another episode next week that is our Top 10 Wide Receiver Prospects. And then right before the draft, it'll be like a day or two before the draft, we upload it. It will be our mock draft, and it'll be a lot of fun to be able to predict the draft. So let's get right into it, actually. There is a little news at the top that we want to break down. Stephon Diggs was traded from the Buffalo Bills to Houston Texans. Massive, massive move. The Bills got a second-round pick next year in return, which is not a lot of value. So instant reactions for Josh Allen. He loses his major weapon, but Allen's been able to do it himself for a long time. They'll probably draft somebody. But C.J. Stroud gets a massive boost, and the Texans hype is real. What are your reactions on really the Texans' ceiling now that Stroud has these incredible pass catchers with Diggs, Tankdell, Nico Collins. They signed, oh my god, they signed a running back. They traded for Joe Mixon. They got Damian Pearsill, Dalton Schultz, all these pass catchers. They've got a great offensive line. What do you really think the ceiling is for C.J. Stroud here? I think the Texans are going to be unstoppable. I also think Allen will be able to keep the ship afloat over at the Bills, but it may be a little harder. I also feel like the Bills didn't have a very good year last year anyways, but. And yeah, I remember last year, or not last year, last episode, you said the Bills were a team that you thought could miss the playoffs this year, and then the Diggs news dropped. That really backs up your point. Yes. Yes. Yes. All right. Moving on to our top 10 quarterback prospects, I want to open it up here with an honorable mention. A quarterback that I have really, really liked for a long time as a prospect. I've always kind of valued him higher than consensus, Tieden Slobis, the quarterback out of BYU. He played for USC for a long time, had a great first two years there, really fell off his third year, Caleb Williams took over. Fourth year transfer to Pitt was very bad there, if I'm being real with you. And then with COVID year, he was able to have a fifth season where he played at BYU, and he played solid there, nothing crazy, did not get back to his first two years form, but was much better than year three and four. So overall, what are your thoughts on Tieden Slobis' game? I mean, I really like him as a passer. He does panic under pressure a little bit, but the arm strength is there, the athleticism is there. What are your thoughts? I think he's the model for a quarterback, like, just with, you know, more time, because he is very young, and you know, practice and experience, he definitely has loads of potential to be one of the greats. He's like perfect for it. Alright, Robbie, with the bold prediction that Tieden Slobis could, quote, be one of the greats. I don't know, I mean, I don't know about that, but, you know. The next Brock Purdy over here? Alright. But yeah, that's just a quick honorable mention for you, I really like Tieden Slobis. No bias here, not whatsoever, we just like him. No, big fans. No, one of our friends is actually a cousin of Tieden Slobis, so that's kind of cool. But, yeah, I like him as a prospect, but I actually gave him a D plus prospect grade. Ryan! I don't know, I might have been exaggerating. I think he's like, you know, 6'3", like 230 pounds, something, he's just like. I actually gave him a D prospect grade. But that's fine, that's better than a lot of people have, which is like an F. So that's alright, he could be a good backup quarterback in the National Football League. Coming in at number 10, we have a quarterback that a lot of people have in the 5'6", 7' range. I'm out of this prospect, and I will tell you why in a second. Spencer Rattler, the quarterback out of South Carolina, formerly of Oklahoma, at one point was the projected number one overall pick for all the athletic tools he had. Unfortunately, he fell off at Oklahoma, transferred to South Carolina, and had some solid years there. But Spencer Rattler, in my opinion, is just no. Just no. I also have a D prospect grade on him, the same grade I gave Tieden Slobis, but for very different reasons. He obviously, let's just say the good things about Tieden, or not Tieden Slobis, Spencer Rattler. He's got some great athleticism, great athleticism. The arm talent is there. He can get it down the field when he needs to. Here are the problems. He panics, and I mean panics under pressure. This guy does not want to take a hit. He panics, scrambles around way too easily. It's like year one with the Ravens and the Marvs, just scrambled way too quickly, did not stay in the pocket long enough, it's a real, real problem. And if you look at him as a prospect, he just has accuracy issues. At times in college, college football, he plays at South Carolina, he plays a good team occasionally, but it's not like he's in some major, like he's not like he's playing Michigan, Ohio State, Bama every week, like that's not really what he's doing. So in still in college, the game moves too fast for him at times, that's a massive, massive issue, because it's 10 times faster in the NFL. So that's a major, major issue in his book. So what are your thoughts on Spencer Rattler, a lot of potential, I see why a lot of people like him. He's that high upside type play, a lot of people try to shoot for the stars with, but I don't see it. I don't see it with Spencer Rattler. I think he's a worse Desmond Ritter. I would not have him in my top 10, not gonna lie. He's just not the NFL material, like you were saying. I mean, right now, I always feel like with these prospects, they could always, you know, like they've got years ahead and like you're saying, year one Lamar, obviously, you love him now. So he grew, he got better. But if you ask me now, I'm no on Rattler. All right, moving to prospect number nine with a C-grade, Talia Tungavailoa out of Maryland. There is a little bias here. I am a big Maryland Terrapins fan, was very disappointed to see with the, I believe, 6-0 or 7-0 start we had in this season just to collapse. I was very happy to see that we only lost by a touchdown to both Ohio State and Michigan, I believe. Actually, I think Ohio State bordered on in the fourth quarter, but to Michigan, we only lost by a touchdown and they became the national champions. So it was like a field goal game at the end of the third quarter against Ohio State. But regardless, Talia Tungavailoa, there's a lot to like here as a prospect. I'm a big fan of his accuracy and how completely unlike Spencer Rattler, he really is willing to stand in the pocket. He can take a hit. He's very similar to his brother in many ways, Tua Tungavailoa, the quarterback for the Miami Dolphins, in that he stands in the pocket, he takes a hit, he delivers, throws when he needs to. In my opinion, he's actually more athletic than Tua. I think he can roll out and improvise and scramble better than Tua can. He's a more athletic player. Now, with all that being said, Talia struggles to get it down the field at times. He has the arm talent, of course, but his accuracy on deep balls is in question. Some people say his throwing motion is too slow and he doesn't get the ball out quick enough. So there are some knocks on him. I have a C- prospect grade. In fact, when I was doing my player comps, I literally put worse Tua down for my player comps for Talia Tungavailoa. He also is the Big Ten all-time leader in passing yards, so it totally doesn't have to do with the fact that he played six years in college. But Robby, what are your thoughts on Talia Tungavailoa? I think he is one who definitely, definitely could grow and just really hone his game in the NFL. I think he's going to be perfect, maybe not perfect now, but the deep ball thing is definitely an issue. But I would any day take him over Rattler. I think he's just got a lot of room to grow and he's very good now. And I think he's going to be really good. All right, moving to prospect number eight, Michael Pratt, the quarterback out of Tulane. I also have a C- grade on him, the same as Mr. Talia Tungavailoa. I went back and forth on who to put higher. Talia is more athletic, he's got a stronger arm, he's got, I think, slightly better pocket presence. But in my opinion, right now Talia could grow, but right now Michael Pratt is just more accurate. He can deliver throws really anywhere on the field accurately, that's the big thing with him. And that's why a lot of scouts really like him as maybe there's the big six in this class and maybe the guy after that. It's really between Michael Pratt and Spencer Rattler for a lot of people. And I prefer Michael Pratt, obviously, because of what I laid out about Spencer Rattler earlier. But overall, just a really accurate quarterback, comes from Tulane, so has not played especially great schools in college, but I still really like Michael Pratt. What are your thoughts on him, Robbie? How do you feel about his under pressure, you know, how we were talking about, I'm not going to attempt to say his name, I'm notoriously bad at saying these players' names on this show, but the last one, how you're saying he doesn't panic under pressure and he always takes a hit, he's rolling the pocket, you know, he knows what he's doing. How do you compare that to Michael Pratt in those situations? I think both, that's where their game excels, when they're in the pocket. I would still take Talia in that situation, but I think Pratt doesn't have those deep ball accuracy concerns that Talia has. So it's a toss up, I took Pratt in this scenario, even with my Maryland bias. I would put Pratt above Talia, yeah, but I think they're both very good, but I do think he definitely just solves the deep ball problem that Talia shows. Yeah, when we were doing our rankings, Robbie, these three that we've had so far, we actually had the exact same. Spencer Rattler at 10, you did not have Keaton Slovis as your honorable mention, you did not have an honorable mention, so I don't know who it would have been, but 8 was Michael Pratt, 9 was Talia Tugnavailoa, and 10 was Spencer Rattler, and I thought Rattler being that low would be my bold pick, obviously Robbie agrees with me, so yeah. Moving on to prospect number 7, we have a bit of a surprise here, Michael Penix Jr. out of Washington, Michael Penix, I gave a C plus grade, he's great and accurate to the sideline, okay, he makes all the throws outside the numbers, he's tough, he stands in there, he's not afraid to stay in the pocket, and he's very athletic, he has good arm strength. Problem, he doesn't use his athleticism, he stands in the pocket, he's scared to run, it's a major problem, he doesn't improvise, he's a true pocket passer when he doesn't need to be, he struggles at throws inside the numbers, he has a massive injury history, but most people are high on Michael Penix, including you Robbie, who had him ranked at number 4, what do you really see in the guy? I just think, I think he'll loosen up as he joins the NFL, and I do think that everything good you were saying about him is very good, and I think it's all he really needs, and I mean, I just think he's, yeah, he's good, I mean he's not my favorite, that's why he's 4 and not 1, but I wouldn't have him at 7, I might not be as high on him as some other people are though. Alright, moving on to quarterback prospect number 6, we have Jordan Travis, the quarterback out of Florida State, you have him at 7 Robbie, I have him at 6, I'm very very high on Jordan Travis, obviously much higher than consensus, a lot of people have him, quarterback 9 is usually his average, they have him below the big 6, below Spencer Adler, and below Michael Pratt, but I really like him, I think he's obviously very mobile, he's an athletic freak, he's got great arm strength, has accuracy problems in medium passes, can really put it in there deep, misses short throws occasionally, I don't think that's an issue, that's something very easy to clean up from an NFL coach, and he makes the throws down the field, he's not scared to take a hit, he can improvise well, he doesn't scramble, he doesn't scramble too quickly, he knows when to throw it away, he's got that massive football IQ, he broke his leg in college last year after being the Heisman favorite, kind of ending Florida State's season effectively, so that was brutal, but apparently he's having great strides in recovery, the season is the expectation, so I'm not really factoring that in as an issue, but Jordan Travis out of Florida State, you have him at 7, only one spot lower than me, so you're still decently high on him, what do you really like about him? I like everything you were saying, I don't understand why people wouldn't have him at 7 or higher, thinking about it now, I'm probably higher on him than I was then, I'd probably put him maybe, at least where you have him, I don't understand why people are overlooking him, I think he's great, he's just great, and he doesn't have many problems, but as you were saying, any of the problems that he might have, occasionally, could easily be evened out by one of the NFL coaches, I think he's going to do great. And that's one of the big things in these processes, athletically, and as a prospect, Jordan Travis and Spencer Rattler are pretty similar, but the reason I have Jordan Travis at 6 and Spencer Rattler at 10, and I have a C plus grade on Jordan Travis, and a D grade, or actually I have a B minus grade on Jordan Travis, and a D grade on Spencer Rattler, is because there are some things that are easy for NFL coaches to fix, and some things that are very difficult. And a lot of things that are very difficult are the mental things. Scared to take a hit, game too fast, scrambles too quickly, those are things very difficult for guys to fix. Short accuracy concerns, injury risk, I mean not really injury risk, but short accuracy, throw power, like that's stuff that NFL coaches can fix pretty quickly, and like you look at Josh Allen. He was at Wyoming, a small school, he completed like 50% of his passes there. I think he had the lowest completion percentage of starting quarterbacks in the league his rookie year, and look at him now. He's one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the league, and because coaches have worked with him to refine that. So those are some of the things that are very easy for coaches to fix, while Spencer Rattler's problems are much more difficult for coaches to fix. Yeah, yeah. Couldn't have said it better myself. Moving to quarterback numero 5, we have the one, the only, Drake May. Drake. Yeah, Drake. This is a big shocker. Rob, you have him as your quarterback 2 in the class. I have him at quarterback 5. I'm super low compared to consensus on Drake May. Wow, I just like died there mid-consensus. Why would you not put him at like 2? I don't understand. I just don't understand. Because I have major concerns. I see a lot of Zach Wilson at Drake May. That's why. And I love Zach Wilson as a prospect. I have him as my quarterback 2 that draft. A lot like a lot of people. Wow, I just died in draft too. A lot of people thought a lot about Zach Wilson, or think a lot about Drake May, like I did about Zach Wilson. That he could be the next great player in this league. His upside's tremendous. He has incredible deep accuracy. He can improvise. That kind of stuff that a lot of people said about Zach Wilson, I think is true about Drake May. He has brilliant plays where he rolls out scrambles, makes incredible decisions, just launches a 40-yard crossbody pass down the field with perfect accuracy. Tez Walker for the touchdown. That was about to be a huge butt. Butts. That was a pretty large butt. Okay. As Robbie predicted, the very next play after that type of play, randomly misses a 2-yard outrout to some random receiver, and it's intercepted for a pixel. Are you saying he made one mistake? Oh, well then yeah, he should be down there. Oh my gosh. I know he didn't make one mistake, because the next play would be some incredible play, and then the next play he would throw another interception. It was that type of stuff. Head-scratching decisions. He had the most plays that were interception-worthy, that the defender either dropped it or something happened where the play wasn't intercepted, in all of college football last year. So, Drake May concerns me as a prospect. I haven't met number 5. I know you're very high on him, Robbie. Give me your thoughts. You're being picky, Robbie. I mean, that's not even true, though. You watch his film. It's the most frustrating Zach Wilson stuff I've ever seen. I understand what you're saying, but, I mean, weren't you saying he wasn't always like that? How long has this been? He was, this entire career. And I know what a lot of people are saying, Josh Allen was like this in college, too. But Josh Allen is the only time in NFL history where a quarterback has been like this in college, and it's worked. Not everyone is Josh Allen. For every Josh Allen, there's 10 Zach Wilsons. Yeah. I see what you're saying. I think it could really go either way. I'm just betting a little more on the possibility that he will be another Josh Allen, or at least something akin to him, maybe not completely matching Josh Allen, because he's a beast. But I would definitely say it's bound to happen, that he would, you know, Josh Allen it. I mean, I know it's very, that's why I like a lot of people like Spencer Rattler, it's very difficult to pass up on the upside. But, there's so much downside, there's so much risk. That was the Zach Wilson thing, and I fell for it last time, I'm not falling for it this time with Drake May. Coming in at number four, who Robbie has at number five, J.J. McCarthy. J.J. He couldn't do that for everybody. Last time you were like, Drake. This time you're like, J.J. J.J. McCarthy, the quarterback out of Michigan. Michigan. Sorry, keep going. Who I have at number four, you have at number five. And for J.J. McCarthy, I mean, there's a lot to dislike about his college production. His stats were not great, because he was on a run-first Jim Harbaugh offense that knew if they ran the ball and played great defense, they would win the national championship, which they did. But, there's also a lot to like, which is why I gave him a B plus prospect grade, because um, he has very accurate, he has a great arm, he's decently mobile, even though you don't see it much. He's actually really fast. That's the biggest takeaway I had from watching his film. I expected some pocket pastor. He is fast. Like, he can move, he outran like a DB on like a massive scramble, so there's a lot to like about J.J. McCarthy. I don't think he should be picked at number three overall or wherever mock drafts are saying he's going to go now, but I really like him. I do think draft position-wise, he will fall kind of like Will Levis did last year, but I do really like him. Robbie, what are your thoughts? I honestly didn't know what to do with McCarthy. I just kind of, I knew he had to be somewhere on the list, and I don't feel super strongly either way about him. That's why I have him at five probably. I agree with most of what you're saying. I think he does have a really good upside with the speed. I think that's great. It's unique. Not everyone has that, but it's not going to save him every time, and I mean, we'll see what happens with him. I'm not quite as high on him as you are, but I mean, he's not your number one either, so I just, we'll see. I don't know. He's good. He's okay. All right, moving on to my number three quarterback prospect, who you have at number six, Bo Nix. Bo. We're going to have problems with these elongated names. I'm cutting off the last name. How's it elongated? I'm going to walk up to you next time I see you, and I'm just going to go, Robbie. You're going to think I'm stupid, but who even were we talking about? Bo Nix. Out of Oregon, a lot of people like you. Do not like him because it was a screen-based, gimmicky-style college offense in Oregon, but I thought there was a lot to like. He's older. He's played six years in college, so he's 24, or he will be 24 by the time the season starts, but I think he's very accurate. He's got a great arm. He's mobile. I think he can be a slightly worse Joe Burrow with his upside. I think he is a lot like Joe Burrow. I don't think he'll have the clutch factor that Joe Burrow has because that's something you can't teach. That's just Joe Burrow being awesome, which hurts me to say as a Ravens fan, but I think he could be a slightly worse Joe Burrow. I had a phrase for it, and I lost it. Joe Cool without the Cool or something I had. I don't remember what it was. Burrow without the clutch. I don't know. I had something. I'll get back to you if I think of it, but it's something like that. Now, his downside is he can be like a Davis Mills type thing. He has downside, but what are your thoughts on Bo Nix and why you are light consensus in putting him around the 5'6", right? I don't know if this is why other people have him lower, but I just feel like two years isn't that much, but at the same time, I think if he was going to really... I don't know. He could have joined two years ago, and maybe I'd be a little higher on him, but I guess it's not too late. He's just some of the other... The five above him, except for JJ McCarthy, who I just put there, I feel pretty strongly about my top four, and I don't know. I mean, Bo, I just think he's... I don't know. You're right. He's good. I just think... I don't know. He's old, you know? Anything you saw in his game individually that you did not like, like any specific tendencies he has that you didn't like and don't think will translate well to the NFL? I think he isn't quite fast enough. Okay, but Joe Burrow isn't fast. Yeah. I mean, he actually is decently fast. He's not Lamar, but... I feel like a lot of what you were saying was just decent for a bonus, you know? And I feel the same way, but I wouldn't put him... Would you have a three? Yes. Yeah, decent... I mean, like McCarthy, I believe it was, you were saying, you know, a lot of these issues will get evened out when he joins by a coach. Why do you keep saying joins? Well, you said that for a lot of people. Why do you keep saying joins? It's like a... Joins? I don't know. It's like his little pet peeve that's annoying me. It's declares, or like gets drafted, or like anything. My bad, my bad, my bad. You want to re-record the episode without me saying joins? I think we can keep going, but no more joins. All right, well, when he gets drafted into the NFL, I feel like the longer you play letting these issues slide, which has been six years for Bo Nix, they're just going to get cemented into his play style. Yeah, I see your point. He was very bad at LSU, but then he went to Oregon, got it figured out. I just don't think he's put a three. He's not terrible. I mean, six, better than... Not six. Well, below six, it's better than Rattler. All right, moving to number two on my board, number three on your board, so we both like him. Yeah. Jaden Daniels, the quarterback at LSU. Jaden! No. This is the quarterback a lot of people are comparing to Lamar Jackson, or Michael Vick, or somebody like that, because he is the true dual threat. He can run just as well as he passes. The Heisman winner last year at LSU. He's accurate, he's got great arm strength, he can run like lightning, he improvises, he's got a great mental game. So there's so much to like about Jaden Daniels. The only knock on him is those Arizona State years, pretty much before this year. This is the year he broke out, he was a very late breakout, even though he is only 22 years old. Or 23 years old, I'm sorry. But Jaden Daniels, I still believe, this year was legit. A lot of people say he had two fantastic wide receivers this year, that we will be talking about very highly on the next episode, the top 10 wide receiver rankings, in Malik Nabors and Brian Thomas. But I still really like, I think this last year was legit. You don't just win a Heisman off of a fluke. So I think it was legit for Jaden Daniels, and I think he's going to be a star in the league. I think his years at Arizona State were just, you know, flunk. I think every college player has those, and I really can't hold it against him. I mean, his breakout last year was just incredible. He really clicked, and all of his potential just caught up to him last year. And he can only get stronger in the NFL, I believe. I think he's great. And thinking about it now, I've said this a couple times, I might have changed my rankings around a little bit. I might have them even higher now. I'd have to, I'd have to move a lot of people. And I mean, three is good, but he's very talented, in my opinion. I'm excited to see what he does after this last year. Yeah, all right. Number one on both of our boards, though. How could he not be? Everyone has him at number one. Caleb Williams, the quarterback out of USC. Caleb! Has been marked down as the number one overall pick for years now. Was the Heisman last year. He's the guy that everyone's comping to Mahomes. I think that could be his upside. Mahomes, it wasn't Burrow and Bo Nix. It was this guy. My upside comp, best case scenario, I put down Mahomes without the magic. That was the comp. Because Mahomes is Mahomes. He has his things that he just kind of does. But on a talent and like actual good football player perspective, this guy could be Mahomes without the magic. So he's just incredible. He can run, he can pass, he can improvise. He's accurate everywhere. He's got incredible arm strength. There's nothing wrong with him. The only concern was that he holds on to the ball too long. Because last year, his offensive line was horrible at USC. So he took a bit of a step back. But I think as long as he goes to a good situation, which is going to be Chicago, he's going to be a Chicago Bear with the number one overall pick for sure. And they have a great offensive line. And they have DJ Moran, Keenan Allen, Cole Komet, maybe Roma Dunze or Malik Neighbors if they draft that him. So I think they signed DeAndre Swift. Oh my god, Chicago is going to be mean this year. Chicago is going to be able to make a run on the Lions and the Packers in controlling that division. And the Vikings are just sorry. Sam Darnold. Do you know any Vikings fans at all? I know six Vikings fans. Wow, I have never come across one yet. Well, they're all at Pep. They're all at Pep. Pep was a school I went to earlier in my life. But they're all there. I'm telling you, they're all hiding there. I can hardly even remember when he went to Pep. But it happened at one point, apparently. It did. Just a disclaimer, I'm not there right now, even though Robbie's trying desperately to say like, make it sound like I am. Anyways, no, you guys don't care. Um, Caleb Williams, he's incredible. We don't have anything else to say about it. He's just he's just insane. He's going to be insane in the NFL. With Caleb Williams, you don't say, you just sit and watch in disbelief. We say he's the best prospect since Trevor Lawrence, but he's better. He's a better prospect than Trevor Lawrence. He's the best prospect ever after quarterback position, in my opinion. So it's not funny. It would be if he made it to the NFL, not joined. What if he got drafted and he just completely bombed like after all this? Yeah, that would not be fun. It wouldn't be fun, but it's like, oh, he's the best prospect ever. He's the best quarterback prospect ever. Yeah. But that is going to wrap us up here today on the play action podcast. Time goes fast when you are talking about these wonderful, beautiful prospects. And next week we will be back with our top 10 wide receiver prospect episode. Have a fantastic week and a fun April leading up to this draft. It's draft season, baby. It is. That is true. Goodbye. Bye.