Bear’s Draft: Case Against Mid-Round QBs
The Bear’s draft changed with the re-signing of Jay Cutler. The QB situation is now set for the future, but still fans want another guy. Josh McCown will be highly-touted in free agency, meaning it won’t make much sense for the Bears to pursue him in a negotiation battle with another team. This leaves few options: stick with Jerrod Johnson as back-up, get a much cheaper free agent like Chad Henne or Colt McCoy, or use a mid-round pick on a back-up.
The draft seems like the most viable option, but as I will continue to do, here are reasons why these picks could end poorly for the Bears.
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Jimmy Garoppolo, Eastern Illinois: Garoppolo is an Illinois kid who made waves with his outstanding play last season. He broke almost all of Tony Romo’s school records and won the Walter Payton Award as the top player on a non-FBS team by throwing for 5050 yards and 53 touchdowns. His stats are there, but he’s basically a poor-man’s Cutler. Garoppolo loves to fit balls into tight windows and seems to make many mental mistakes. While this didn’t hurt him in FCS play, a good defense like Seattle or San Francisco will tear him apart by showing small windows that Garoppolo thinks he can fit a ball into, yet can’t.
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AJ McCarron, Alabama: McCarron is a great game manager. What he lacks in physical ability and arm strength he makes up for in his conservative nature. He won’t throw a lot of interceptions, but won’t win many games. A trend is forming with Alabama, the ability to have good college Quarterbacks who don’t make it in the NFL. From Brodie Croyle to Greg McElroy, Alabama’s Quarterbacks can’t seem to become elite, or even starters. McCarron won’t buck that trend.
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Aaron Murray, Georgia: An ACL injury ended Murray’s stellar college career early. As we’ve seen with Bear Quarterbacks before, those can be nightmares. While this isn’t enough to completely rule Murray out of consideration, his lack of size and inability to consistently win big games are also major concerns. Murray’s Georgia Bulldogs are becoming notorious for their inability to beat top-tier SEC programs.
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Tajh Boyd, Clemson: Boyd was a star at Clemson, but the offense run by the Tigers made the man. Clemson runs an “Air-Raid” offense, which means a lot of passes. He was also lucky with his Receivers, as he played with Sammy Watkins who is considered a possible top-five pick in this year’s draft along with DeAndre Hopkins who was taken in the first-round last year. Boyd’s style is not one fit for the NFL, as he’s never consistently taken snaps under Center.
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Logan Thomas, Virginia Tech: As contributor Carlos Nazario mentioned in this post on Monday, Logan Thomas is an intriguing player. While projected to be taken in the seventh-round or not at all, Thomas is a leader who could contribute to a locker room before he contributes on the field. But that’s where the positives end. Thomas is very inaccurate and has the QB disease known as Happy Feet. Thomas also makes many questionable decisions and throws to the wrong guy often. Thomas might be worth a seventh-round pick, but it’s not a very high-potential pick.
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Jordan Lynch, Northern Illinois: Lynch gained the respect of many Bears fan by leading in-state Northern Illinois to a berth in the 2013 Orange Bowl. This past season, Lynch was third in Heisman voting while coming within one win of another BCS-berth. Regardless, he won’t be an NFL-caliber player. Lynch’s playmaking ability is good, but he compares to another Illinois QB when it comes to play-style, Kain Colter. Both are quick, yet aren’t accurate and don’t make the proper throws. Colter also won’t make it as a QB in the league, the reasons for you can read here. The players are similar, and both can’t become legitimate NFL Quarterbacks.
If there are any other positions you want me to take a look at, let me know in the comment box below, and I’ll tell you why the players at that position would be a bad pick.