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Connor Cook, Michigan State
Connor Cook, Michigan StateTony Gutierrez/Associated Press

Positives

The biggest plus that Connor Cook has going for him is that he looks like a quarterback. While that statement alone seems like an idiotic reason to draft a passer high, NFL coaches have large enough egos that we've seen franchises confidently draft quarterbacks with less talent than Cook early on. Generally, they think they are better developers of talent than they actually are.

He's 6'4" and 220 pounds, a redshirt senior and led his team to a 36-5 record in three years. He has an arm, mobility that will remind you he can play out of structure a few times a game, and he has shown that he can go through multiple progressions and full-field reads in a fairly short amount of time.

The best part of his highlight throws? He's confident and fearless when making them. If you took his top 10 plays and strung them together, there's maybe one quarterback, Paxton Lynch, who looks better than him.



Negatives

Things are a little slow with Cook. Not mentally, but physically. It takes time for him to get to the back of his drop and climb back up in the pocket. He's going to be better suited for a vertical throwing system than a West Coast system, which asks him to get the ball out of his hand quickly. He's also a clunky mover.

At times, his aggressiveness turns into overconfidence, as he hopelessly throws the ball down the sideline in attempt of a big play. More often than not, he just raises the number on the down box. He also doesn't help his receivers much, either. His mentality seems to be that if the ball is in his target's area, he's done his job. Not many yards after the catch or ball-placement points are being added onto Cook's tape.

From a technical standpoint, there are things he can fix, too. At times, he throws with his feet and shoulders parallel to the line of scrimmage like Jay Cutler, just "arming" a dart instead of getting his core and lower body into the pass. He also has a shocking amount of tipped and batted balls for someone who is 6'4" because he doesn't quite understand how important throwing between passing lanes in between offensive linemen is.



Comparable peak: Carson Palmer

Recent comparable prospect: Blake Bortles

Overall: If you can fix Connor Cook, you might have a great one on your hands. If you can't, though, you're going to be fielding a below-average quarterback who will hurt your franchise. He reminds me of Blake Bortles coming out of Central Florida. In 2014, he was a liability. In 2015, Bortles improved his peaks, but as long as he's throwing pick-sixes and brutal interceptions at the rate Bortles currently is, it's going to be hard to consider the passer among the best in the NFL.

There was a two-play stretch against Alabama that explained Cook pretty well as an overall prospect. First, he throws a gem to his receiver to get into the red zone. It was a pass that many wouldn't make because of the level of difficulty it takes to get the ball into such a small, high window, and because of the level of difficulty it takes for his receiver to make the catch. He followed that immediately with an interception, which looked like he was trying to throw a Crimson Tide defensive back on purpose, costing his team three to seven points at the end of the half in a 10-0 game.

Cook can be the Arizona Cardinals version of Carson Palmer, but right now he plays like Oakland Raiders Carson Palmer. The difference there is one Bruce Arians, but without the ability to choose where he's going to land, Cook's fate may be decided from the jump on draft day. A vertical scheme is needed for him to thrive.

Carson Wentz, North Dakota State
Carson Wentz, North Dakota StateMIKE STONE/Associated Press

Positives

Carson Wentz is another "tools" guy. He has an arm that can cover a lot of air and feet that can cover a lot of ground. He's a legitimate running threat, and he also has great body control to pick up a couple of extra yards when you think you have him pinned. The previous generation of dual-threat quarterbacks are now opening the door for these college prospects to be considered first-round picks.

He also has shown the zip and accuracy at times to make NFL quarterbacks jealous. It's not often that you see an FCS quarterback just hum a ball on a deep-breaking out pattern. In my opinion, because of the arm strength and timing demanded of that particular throw, that's the toughest pass in the sport.



Negatives

The first thing that's going to be talked about in war rooms regarding Wentz is an easy-to-grasp topic: He didn't play in the FBS. He played on a run-first team that is loaded for FCS standards. Remember, the 2012 Kansas State Wildcats were one game away from going to the national title game. And in 2013, for the Wildcats season opener, the North Dakota State Bison won in Manhattan, Kansas, in a 24-21 effort. They are the Alabama Crimson Tide of the division formerly known as 1-AA.

On the field, what is going to worry scouts is his speed. We're not talking about foot speed here, but how he seems to lack either urgency or quick mental gears. A lot of times, you can see him pause while he's going through progressions on the same side of the field. He looks like his feet are stuck in mud and makes some Matthew Stafford-like attempts, which is fine if you're Stafford and have generational arm talent, but Wentz isn't quite there.

That type of slow, load-up play also leads to unnecessary hits coming in and altered balls due to those hits. You never want to bring up potential injury, but in the NFL, where bullets fly faster than in the FCS, I wonder how well he holds up with his style of play.



Comparable peak: Joe Flacco

Recent comparable prospect: Jake Locker

Overall: Of all of the high-end projects in this class, I think Carson Wentz is the one who is the furthest away. He not only has to adjust to the speed of the NFL from college football, but he's not doing it from a baseline speed of Power Five schools, like Jared Goff and Connor Cook are, or even a mid-major, like Paxton Lynch is, but instead from the FCS level.

Wentz is a pretty big boom-bust prospect at this point. Even then, his peak is to be a quality NFL starter, not a "franchise quarterback." If he doesn't land with the right mentor, his career will not turn out the way anyone has it planned. You don't draft him and hope to figure out a path to success later. You need a map of how you're getting him on the field in two years in your hand when you turn in his card in Chicago. He already broke his wrist and missed two-and-a-half months this season. His timing needs a boost, and sooner rather than later.

I appreciate Mosqueda's video work, but man... really with these write-ups?

Whoa - if that isn't 'damning with faint praise' then I don't know what is. This writer seems to think our best options are Lynch and Cook.

My top 2 Choices are Goff and Hackenberg, I would not be disappointed with either, both have good size and are accurate, the only thing that worries me about Hackenberg is all the hits he has taken at PSU ...

Goff= Pennington and Wentz = Flacco? wow


His size really is dropping him in the draft.

So, I read the hype, but never saw him play.

I sat back to watch him in the bowl game.

I saw pretty much what is written above, and I'm sure what you guys saw.

I don't want to judge him, trash him on one game. Wouldn't be fair, wouldn't be wise. But...

What am I supposed to think?

I'm starting to think that we should switch to a 4-3 and grab Bosa at #2 and then Connor Cook at #32. It all depends on how Cook's shoulder is in his workouts. If the shoulder is good, I'm confident he has professional grade arm talent. If that doesn't work out - if Cook gets picked before 32 - I'd take best available WR with our 2nd, and then use a #3 on Christian Hackenburg. I think he *might* be the diamond-in-the-rough of this years' QBs. Especially now that we have a QB Whisperer as HC.

Question, if you're Tennessee, how do you justify passing on Bosa?

Got to protect Mariota. Grab Tunsil. Move Lewan to RT where he belongs. Bolster 2 positions on the oline.

And he sucks.

You don't.

Do what Carolina has done. Build an elite defense to protect your franchise QB.

Him comparing Cooks ceiling to Carson Palmer made me laugh too. Cook is awful.

Do we want Bosa or a pulverized QB for the next 10 years?

jc...

That write up on Goff made me want to puke.

Carson Palmer was the prototype coming out of college (including his attitude). Cook. . . is not.

Dave,

I think 90% of the board doesn't believe Cook could lead the Browns to a Super Bowl win.

What is the deal with Lynch?

Bosa in the 1st, Dak Prescott in the 2nd.

I was high on Lynch at first, but after watching entire game highlights, the bulk of his throws were screens and the HB/WR getting Yac making huge plays.

I didn't see him make a lot of NFL throws, ie drop back and hit a post route, drop back and hit a slant. It was was very rare, which means he has a lot of learning to do. He didnt look confident throwing the ball towards the middle of the field. He throws more to the sidelines on cut back routes and back shoulder throws.

I watched Goff and was highly impressed. He throws the ball with confidence, and makes throws all over the field. He makes it look easy. If we decide to pick a QB at #2.. I'm hoping its Goff.

If Goff can put on 10 lbs before the combine, I think he's the man.

You gotta watch more tape. Lynch has the better arm between the two.

How is putting 10 lbs on going to improve his arm strength and decision making?

http://draftbreakdown.com/video/jared-goff-vs-stanford-2015/

Semi-randomly picked one of Goff's videos on draftbreakdown to watch. I say semi-random because I wanted the game the latest in the year that was available against a quality opponent. I didn't consider Air Force a quality opponent.

What I liked:

Good arm strength though not elite. But I don't think you need elite. His arm strength is more than adequate.

Decision making. I paid particular attention to this because some posters had criticized this. I was only able to find 2 questionable decisions. The 1st was around the 330 mark. The decision was not a bad one but it looks like there may have been a better one. The other was right before the 1000 mark. Qualifier: that throw was so bad that I can't tell for sure if the decision was bad or if he was throwing it away. I would love for those posters who criticize his decision making to look at the film and give me some examples. Feel free to use this game or post another link.


What I didn't like:

The number one thing that bothered me was his accuracy. The vast majority of his throws are just a little bit off. The receiver is always reaching or twisting or stretching out to get the ball. I saw very few throws where the ball was right there.

The other thing I didn't like was the way he looks in the pocket. A lot of people talk about how they love the way he keeps his feet moving. To me, he just looks jittery. Too many times he roles out of the pocket when he doesn't need to. In his defense, his offensive line stinks and he gets pressured a lot.

Overall impression from this one game: I am not taking him with the #2 overall pick. Primarily becasue of accuracy issues. Caveat - This is just one game's evaluation.

Olskool, may I recommend that you watch the Ole Miss game for balance. He wasn't at his best in the bowl game.

Not sure what this is worth but I know too small can be an issue

Leigh Steinberg @leighsteinberg

#THE AGENT Interesting @PaxtonLynch fact-his hands are 11 1/2 inches,longest ever for QB,extra gripping capacity on a rainy day.
5:04 PM - 7 Jan 2016

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/26078...-gurus-1st-mock

Hand size is overblown. Rodgers, Romo, Culpepper, Vick, and Kaepernick all have small hands. They were all very successful at certain points in their careers.

If a guy is good, he will be good regardless of how small/big his hands are.

he may also have the tiniest head.

This is what I'd like to see. Assuming Tennessee picks Tunsil at #1, take Bosa with #2 pick and the highest rated QB left on Hue Jackson's board with the #32 pick.

If you think a QB is a long term starter, then you don't wait to the second round to take him.

unless you are Oakland or Cincinnati or Seattle or Minnesota (Bridgewater went #32 -- Minny's second pick) or San Francisco.

While you point out some prime examples, we haven't done well shopping with the leftovers.

Or Green Bay ... or New England ... or New Orleans, via San Diego.

One sleeper pick i do like is Nate Sudfeld @ Indiana. I think dude has some potential.

Right, but those teams weren't targeting a certain QB, they just took the guy who was there (although I do remember before the draft that Cincinnati wanted Dalton).

When it comes to QBs, I'd rather have a guy I like too early than not at all. The value of that position is completely different than every other position.

Lucking out and getting a QB like Green Bay, New England, and New Orleans (who signed Brees as a free agent after the Dolphins passed on him) and intentionally drafting a QB of the future are two completely different things.

noooooope nope nope nope seattle wanted russell wilson badly, they just thought they could get him in the third and they were right.

Right. But they surely had their buttholes tightly clinched throughout the draft at certain points. I'd like to avoid that.

Imagine there is a QB we love in this draft. We could get him with the second pick (or trade down or whatever). We pass on him thinking we can get him later. He gets picked before our next pick. He goes on to be very good and wins a Super Bowl. How much would we be kicking ourselves? We knew this guy was the guy and didn't take him because we wanted more "value."

I understand people who would want to wait. I just take the QB.

I wanted us to draft Russell Wilson. Thought we could grab him in the 5th. My bad. Point is, if you take this approach, you had better be right because it only takes one team to "overdraft" a player to mess up your plans.

I wholeheartedly agree. They were in almost evey game they played, he has a good arm, he's mobile enough to move around in NFL. He's a bit of a project but so are most QB's. I think he could make a nice backup some day and I think he is better than AJ McCaron. was as a prospect.