Bob McGinn’s annual assessment of the 2016 NFL draft’s quarterback class is a treasure cove of blazing hot takes.
A long-time football reporter with connections rooted around the league, McGinn utilizes a bevy of information and quotes from anonymous scouts and executives inside the NFL to compile his yearly quarterback rankings for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Unnamed scouts are notorious for providing scathing hot takes, and the quotes from McGinn’s outsides sources didn’t disappoint for the 2016 class.
One scout torched Cal quarterback Jared Goff for lacking a “winner quality.”
“I just don’t see him having that winner quality about him,” the scout said. “His arm isn’t great. They do a lot of that dink and dunk offense, a lot of that false production. He gets rattled by pressure. Everything has kind of got to be under control for him. He couldn’t win there and you want him to be the face of your franchise?”
Goff is the favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick next week.
Another scout attacked Christian Hackenberg of Penn State for hanging out with the team’s managers, calling him a “king of little people.”
“He hangs out more with managers than he does teammates,” the scout said. “It tells me he likes to be king of the little people rather than king of the big people.”
Paxton Lynch of Memphis was called “spacey” and “a little different” by a scout, while Michigan State’s Connor Cook was deemed “selfish” and disliked by his teammates.
Arguably the hottest take was provided for Ohio State’s Cardale Jones, who received one of the harshest comparisons you’ll ever see in the draft process.
“Kind of reminds me of a poor man’s JaMarcus Russell,” one scout said “At least JaMarcus had some touch. This guy just throws the ball. His mechanics are all over the place.”
Russell, the first overall pick in the 2007 NFL draft, ranks as one of the biggest draft busts in history. He lasted only three seasons before washing out of the league with a career 65.2 passer rating.
A different evaluator said Jones wasn’t the “brightest cookie in the world.” The same scout also said he would worry about him “when he gets money in his pocket,” while questioning if he’s “all there mentally.”
Another scout believes North Carolina State quarterback Jacoby Brissett is better than Teddy Bridgewater, who the Minnesota Vikings drafted at No. 32 overall in 2014.
“I think he’s better than Teddy Bridgewater,” the scout said. “He’s bigger, got a better arm and better pocket presence, and is a great kid.”
Anonymous scouts can be a great source for learning some of the lesser known things about a draft prospect. But most of the time, scouts talking without the fear of being publicly named leads to the hottest of takes about young men preparing to make the biggest transition of their lives. It’s often times full-on character assassination, with a pinch of poetry and a hint of racism.
