2014 Senior Bowl: As Expected, Rumor Mill Getting Sour for Quarterbacks

Jan 20, 2014; Fairhope, AL, USA; South Squad quarterback David Fales of San Jose State (12) , quarterback Derek Carr of Fresno State (4) and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo of Eastern Illinois (10) run through drills during practice at Fairhope Municipal Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Leading up to every offseason, everybody loves a handful of college quarterbacks. Once a few are weeded out by returning to school, the crop that’s left gets seriously dissected.

As is typically the case, you can oftentimes ween it down two three or four guys who are legitimate franchise QB options, and then a couple of others who people feel like could sneak into that discussion.

The rest end up getting picked in the mid-rounds.

Drafts like the 2012 NFL Draft are really rare, where you had guys like Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, Ryan Tannehill, and Russell Wilson all picked in the same year. Classes like that don’t come around but once every generation, but in this the Twitter universe, most people expect immediate gratification, and hold QB classes to that incredibly high standard.

So, as you might expect, the rumor mill at the Senior Bowl is starting to sour on the quarterback position, which was considered in early January to have potentially four guys picked in the top 10.

Now, rumor has it that only teams that are ‘desperate’ will pick a quarterback in the top 10 out of this class, and it’s probably not who you’d expect.

The guy that scouts think could be the highest picked QB right now is Blake Bortles, the UCF product who had a sensational junior season and has put himself on the NFL map. Bortles should be a top 10 pick based on the number of teams in that range that need quarterbacks, but otherwise, things could get interesting.

Personally, I don’t see any less than three quarterbacks going in the top 10. The demand is simply too high, though teams in the top 10 could very well trade down and wind up picking QBs outside the top 10 selections.

Teams like Cleveland, Jacksonville, Houston, Oakland, Minnesota all need a quarterback and it would be foolish to not take a guy that you think could impact your franchise. Obviously free agency/trades will dictate certain things, but when you get down to it, there are some talented players in this draft.

Teams are obviously sorting through everyone’s red flags, and that’s the flavor of the day right now. Johnny Manziel’s off-field antics, Teddy Bridgewater’s weight (reportedly too low), Bortles being a one-year-wonder, or Derek Carr flaming out like his brother did.

These things are all routine, and they happen every year. You have to take the good and the bad with every young quarterback prospect, but teams have important decisions to make about the future of their franchise and no one is really sticking out right now.

That’s not a good sign.