2018 NFL Draft: The QB Who Could Be a Surprise 1st Rounder
By Erik Lambert
The 2018 NFL draft, like every draft in the Super Bowl era, will be driven by what happens at the quarterback position. This is known and accepted.
Most experts have come to an agreement of sorts that the 1st round of this draft will likely see four or five quarterbacks taken. The bulk of them going in the top 10-15. Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen and Baker Mayfield are the four who are locks for that range with Louisville’s Lamar Jackson being the wild card that people haven’t been able to pin down. It’s generally accepted that no other name should be considered as a possibility for the top 32.
Except that’s not quite the case anymore. Ever so quietly one name seems to have crept his way up boards, garnering interest from several teams who are picking in the latter half of the 1st round. Teams like the Chargers, Bills, and Patriots. All of whom have vacant or old quarterback positions. Who is this dark horse? Fittingly it’s a cowboy. Oklahoma State standout Mason Rudolph was written off as a Day 2 lock, but he’s battling to change that.
Pretty quietly, Mason Rudolph's calendar has filled up, with teams like the #Patriots and #Bills. More from Up to the Minute Live.... pic.twitter.com/pJv0jGMRnl
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 6, 2018
Mason Rudolph has a chance to be Brandon Weeden of 2018 NFL draft
If the scenario plays out that way, it would be some of the most poetic draft plot twisting in recent memory. The last time a quarterback that everybody expected to go on Day 2 or later was back in 2012 when Brandon Weeden went 22nd overall to Cleveland. It was a monumental moment because Weeden was 28-years old at the time, and he was from Oklahoma State. The irony can’t be lost in this situation. Could the same college do the improbable twice in less than a decade?
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Rudolph has enough talent to make that happen. He’s believed to be the best deep ball thrower in the draft. He’s a big body with a strong arm who was wildly productive as a starter. There are plenty of teams in the bottom half of the 1st that employ systems he’d fit well in. Is he a perfect prospect? Of course not, otherwise he’d be in the top 5 conversations. However, he has enough talent and good enough tape to force somebody’s hand on April 26th.