Just in time for the draft, the SPOX NFL column opens the mailbag again: Who will trade upwards? Why don’t the Cleveland Browns plan with Tyrod Taylor? Where are possible sleepers, and when do prospects find out that they are selected? Also: Winners and losers of the drag three years ago, as well as the analysis of Kyle Lauletta – an exciting quarterback prospect after the “Big Six”. All three draft days are available live and in the original commentary on DAZN.
Everyone should have heard the well-known quarterback names of this drag in one way or another by now. The top 5 candidates – Baker Mayfield, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen, Sam Darnold and Lamar Jackson – were already in the detailed analysis at SPOX. Just like Mason Rudolph, whom many experts now see in the first, but almost everyone in the second round at the latest.
Behind it, the field becomes a little more open and it’s hard to estimate how the suspected early quarterback run will affect the rest of the drag and the other quarterbacks in this class. Perhaps the hottest candidate on the first pick after these “Big Six” and for many the last quarterback in this class with serious NFL starter potential: Richmonds Kyle Lauletta.
Lauletta is a very interesting prospect if you look at its background story: He had four different offensive coordinators during his college years – all four had different offense schemes playing. From a run-heavy scheme with many under-center formations and big personnel (2 tight ends, 2 running backs) to a shotgun quick-passing game and a spread system – Lauletta has already experienced all this in college.
This gives him a lot of experience on the one hand, and a broad understanding of the game on the other. Lauletta is at least equal to some of the top QB prospects in this respect, also enjoyed great freedom for pre-snap adjustments to the line of scrimmage and also made some protection calls here.
Moreover, it is already technically very far, including the footwork in the pocket. Lauletta serves the middle of the field with good anticipation, regularly shows a spectacular touch in combination with good timing at the deep ball and his release is on an advanced level. He also keeps an eye on the pocket downfield and throws passes regularly between defenders where only his player has a chance at the ball.
On the other hand, two weaknesses stand out especially when dealing with Lauletta. One is the inconsistency in the accuracy and the reads. Sometimes he forces litters into coverage, sometimes he simply misses his receiver clearly, a big turnover danger. Especially against pressure the Accuracy and the Reads suffer noticeably.
The other construction site? Arm strength. Lauletta has no doubt deficits here, which could lead to problems in the NFL with the narrow pass windows. Already in college he could not afford to throw “too late”. Where other quarterbacks here with arm strength compensate for a read that is a fraction of a second too late, Lauletta has to score with mental speed and anticipation.
All in all, Lauletta is the most exciting mid-round “project” quarterback in its class. His understanding of the game and his schema and pre-snap adjustment experience make him an interesting option for NFL coaches to learn behind a starter for one to two years. The question with Lauletta will be whether he is physically too limited. Personally, I don’t think so.
Flo: You can only really evaluate a draft year after two to three years. Looking back on the 2015 draft, who are the winning teams and who are the losing teams?
Tampa Bay is definitely worth mentioning here: With Winston the franchise quarterback, Donovan Smith and Ali Marpet are still starters in the offensive line, in round 4 there was starting linebacker Kwon Alexander and on top as Undrafted Free Agent Adam Humphries.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks went into the draft without first round pick and came back with Frank Clark and Tyler Lockett. Not so bad either.
But the two best draft classes of the year for me were Arizona and Minnesota. The Vikings found Trae Waynes, Eric Kendricks and Danielle Hunter in the first three rounds – just to round off with Stefon Diggs in round 5.
The Cardinals have found an impact player in almost every round: Left Tackle D.J. Humphries, Defensive End Markus Golden, Running Back David Johnson, Defensive Tackle Rodney Gunter – those were the first four rounds. J.J. Nelson followed in the fifth round and Xavier Williams as Undrafted Free Agent.
Miami (DeVante Parker, Jordan Phillips and Bobby McCain and Jay Ajayi in round 5), Atlanta – marked by Grady Jarrett in round 5, Justin Hardy (round 4), Tevin Coleman (3) and Vic Beasley in round 1 – are also on the positive side.
Once again you can’t get past Cleveland. The Browns had a lot of picks, even in the early rounds – and only little impact: Danny Shelton was handed over to the Pats, Cameron Erving is now in Kansas City, Xavier Cooper with the Jets. Nate Orchard had a start last year. Only Duke Johnson (3rd round) really stands out positively – and that was only the picks in the first three rounds.
Tennessee has found its franchise quarterback in Marcus Mariota, so the Titans can’t really be a loser in that sense. The rest of the class was bitter.
Dorial Green-Beckham was handed over to the Eagles in 2016 and is currently without a team. Jeremiah Poutasi played in Jacksonville in 2016. The middle and late rounds: Angelo Blackson (since 2017 in Houston), Jalston Folwer (currently in Seattle), David Cobb (since 2016 without team), Deiontrez Mount (2016 in Indy, since 2017 in Denver), Andy Gallik (since 2016 without team) and Tre McBride (2017 Chicago, currently with the jets).
Otherwise on the loser list: The Ravens, whose first-round pick Breshad Perriman looks like a complete bust so far, also tight end Maxx Williams could collect only few arguments. Third round DT Carl Davis has 30 tackles and 0.5 sacks in his previous NFL career. Jacksonville is one of them: Dante Fowler is still a question mark, T.J. Yeldon at the beginning of round 2 was a clear reach. A.J. Cann is still in Jacksonville, but is considered to be the biggest weakness in the line and should be replaced as soon as possible.
I still noticed the Lions draft negatively. First-round Guard Laken Tomlinson has been in San Francisco since 2017, Ameer Abdullah was not the hoped-for running back solution. Alex Carter is currently under contract in Seattle, Gabe Wright only stayed in Detroit for a year. Those were the picks in the first four rounds for the Lions. Chicago had – with Kevin White – the most expensive bust of the drag today, but later with Eddie Goldman, Adrian Amos and Hroniss Grasu they could get back some value.
Page 1: Kyle Lauletta, winner and loser of the 2015 Drag
Page 2: Trade Forecasts, Browns, Sleeper, Behind the Scenes – Your Questions