Well, could it be? 2014 reminded many people of 1996 when it came to the wide receiver class, and from the looks of it, it seems like 2018 will be a deep draft class for the most important position in all of sports…the quarterback position. The 1983 draft is considered the “Gold Standard” when it comes to the QB’s drafted and the overall success of that class, however the 2004 class isn’t too shabby and can be considered the “Silver Standard”. Either way, if the 2018 draft is what we expect it to be, this could be a very important draft for this Jets Front Office and we probably will see an actual Franchise QB within many of our lifetimes.
Lets look at the names and accolades of the memorable 1983 and 2004 class and what this 2018 class is stacked up against.
The “Gold” Standard
1983 saw a total of 6 QB’s drafted in the 1st round…
#1. John Elway: Drafted 1st overall by the Colts
#2. Todd Blackledge: Drafted #7th overall by the Chiefs
#3. Jim Kelly: Drafted 14th overall by the Bills
#4. Tony Eason: Drafted 15th overall by the Cheats
#5. Ken O’Brien: Drafted 24th overall by our NY Jets
#6. Dan Marino: Drafted 27th overall by the Dolphins
This draft class produced 3 HOF’ers (Elway, Kelly, Marino) 2 MVP awards, 2 Superbowl wins, 11 Superbowl appearances, 499 wins, almost 200,000 passing yards over 1,200 TD’s and numerous probowl selections.
The 1983 Class was by far a top heavy class. The next QB selected after Dan Marino was Jeff Christensen, at pick #137 in the 5th round of the draft. That’s how much the top of the crop separated themselves from the rest of the pack. Now lets move onto…
The “Silver” Standard
The 2004 draft saw a total of 4 QB’s drafted in the 1st round along with a gem in mid rounds.
#1. Eli Manning: Drafted 1st overall by the chargers
#2. Phillip Rivers: Drafted 4th overall by the Giants
#3. Ben Roethlisberger: Drafted 11th overall by the Steelers
#4. J.P. Losman: Drafted 22nd by the Bills
#5. Matt Schaub: Drafted 90th by the Falcons
2004 actually started off a lot like 1983. 1st overall pick John Elway forced a trade by the Colts to the Broncos where he went on to win 2 championships while riding off into the sunset…which that sunset being upstairs in the Front office when he retired and actually got another SB win as a GM. 1st overall pick Eli Manning and the Manning Family forced a trade from the Chargers over to the NY Giants where he went on to win 2 SB championships along with 2 SB MVP’s against the Cheats. Lets take a short intermission and enjoy this video clip.
**** Tom Brady :-) . Okay, moving on. This is what this draft class has produced so far. 4 superbowl wins, 5 superbowl appearances, 3 future HOF’ers, numerous probowls and Matt Schaub in particular lead the league in passing yards in 2009, was a 2-time probowler (should have been a 3 time probowler…”2012”, but anyway) and put together some really respectable numbers before the last 4 years of his career kinda tarnished it, but he still holds a 64% comp average for his career with a 133-90 TD-INT Ratio.
As we can see, both classes certainly have multiple all-time greats and in the case of 2004, you even have a mid round gem…something that I believe this 2018 could very well have given the amount of players at this position that could declare for the draft relevant to their talent. Lets take a look at this potential 2018 NFL QB draft class. Please take note, this isn’t my personal order, but the order in respects to hype/popularity. With that said, here’s the top 10 prospects for 2018.
#1. Lamar Jackson: Junior, Louisville.
2016 Stat line: 230-409, 3,543 yards, 56.2% comp. 30TD’s 9INT’s 148.8 Passer Rating
#2. Sam Darnold, also known around these parts as…“The Jets future”: RS Sophomore, USC.
2016 Stat line: 246-366, 3,086 yards, 67.2% comp. 31TD’s 9INT’s 161.1 Passer Rating.
#3. Josh Allen: Junior, Wyoming.
2016 Stat line: 209-373, 3,203 yards, 56% comp. 28TD’s 15INT’s 144.9 Passer Rating.
#4. Josh Rosen, cleverly named by some here as “Broadway Jew”: Junior UCLA
2016 Stat line: 137-231, 1,915 yards 59.3% comp. 10TD’s 5INT’s 138.9 Passer Rating.
#5. Baker Mayfield: Senior, Oklahoma.
2016 Stat Line: 254-358, 3,965 yards, 71% Comp. 40TD’s 8 INT’s 196.4 Passer Rating.
#6. Luke Falk: Senior, Washington State.
2016 Stat Line: 443-633, 4,468 yards, 70% Comp. 38TD’s 11INT’s 145.6 Passer Rating.
#7. Mason Rudolph: Senior, Oklahoma State.
2016 Stat Line: 284-448 4,091 yards, 63.4% Comp. 28TD’s 4INT’s 158.9 Passer Rating.
#8. Trace McSorley: Junior, Penn State.
2016 Stat Line: 224-387, 3,614 yards, 57.9% Comp. 29TD’s 8INT’s 156.9 Passer Rating.
#9. Jake Browning: Junior, Washington.
2016 Stat Line: 243-391, 3,430 yards, 62.1% Comp. 43TD’s 9INT’s 167.5 Passer Rating.
#10. Deondre Francois: RS Sophomore, Florida State.
2016 Stat Line: 235-400, 3,350 yards, 58.8% Comp. 20TD’s 7INT’s 142.1 Passer Rating.
This draft could have a mixture of 1983 and 2004 given that 5 or 6 QB’s could very well be drafted in the 1st round as well as some Gems found in the mid rounds like in 2004. This QB class could shape up to be one of the best of all time. It truly could be legendary. Most importantly, this could mean that we don’t have to “suck” for a franchise QB or have to trade up. If we hold a top 10 to top 15 pick (and that will most likely be the case) we will have our pickings of anywhere from 6 to 8 of these QB’s considering that we don’t have a top 3 pick. Honestly, if you think about it, we could possibly see more than 6 QB’s go in the 1st round of the draft. That’s how hype this 2018 QB class has become. People were talking about the 2018 draft before the 2017 draft actually began. The hype is real! But to support the notion, the 2017 draft was viewed as a relatively “raw” draft class with inconsistent, raw, yet talented QB’s at the top of this class. The 2017 draft seen the Bears jump out the window to trade up one spot for Mitchell Trubisky, we seen the Chiefs trade up to draft Mahomes and we seen the Texans trade up to get Watson. Whats the point? In a draft class considered “relatively raw”, we seen all of this trading action that occurred within the FIRST 12 PICKS OF THE FIRST ROUND. Trubisky went 2nd overall, Mahomes rounded off the top 10 and Watson was right behind him at 12. And the funniest thing, the Browns snatches the guy most believe to have the most physical gifts of all of the QB’s in the 2nd round. If this is what happens in a draft that is considered raw, what’s going to happen when people can easily make a case for how the top 10 QB’s in 2018 is better than that QB that was drafted last season 2nd overall? Or when this draft class is considered “1983” or “2004” all over again? One thing we know for certain, the 2018 NFL Draft will be epic. The amount of potential QB’s drafted in the 1st round can certainly push 1st round talent at other positions down into the 2nd round. Teams like the Browns who are holding multiple high draft picks can really revamp their team, and not just at the QB position. And speaking of the QB position, if Deshone Kizer pans out for Cleveland, the position they would be in would be even more phenomenal. The Browns hold a total of 5 picks in the first 2 rounds next year. 2 first rounders and 3 second rounders. They also have a 3rd round pick. The foundation for this draft is already looking epic.
If I can get a thumbs up from the shadowy elite-figures here (Hey mods! _) I'd like to provide weekly content on the 2018 college QB class throughout the college/NFL season here on Jetnation.com since you guys are looking for content creators.
I will not cover all 10 QB’s performances per week, but I will probably discuss the two best performances/two worst performances each along with an honorable mention in order to maintain some variation with the analysis. So I should be writing about 5 of those QB's per week...varying based on performance of that particular week. I will not base my reviews off of highlights but instead I will be watching the actual games. The plan is to watch 2 games per day throughout the week so I can then figure who had what performance and what group of QB's I will actually write on for the week. With that I can probably get those weekly articles out by the following Friday, that should give me enough time to watch all of their games, but more importantly the opportunity for all to read up on what the QB's did before their next set of games. Also, the plan is to be as unbiased as possible. I have favorites in this class, (Mayfield, Browning, Falk) but I will give a fair and balanced opinion based on what I see on the field. I'll deal with the facts mostly and my opinions will be based on the facts presented.
Week 1 of College football begins August 26th. Content will begin during that time. However for now, this post is to set the foundation and get everyone's opinion on the upcoming QB class and the QB's you like/dislike.
Let me know what you guys think down below. Also, The bot "Cheetah" may upvote this content. I can tell you with absolute confidence that this work is mine. Im simply moving it over from the football site that I originally posted it on to Steemit since I like this platform.
Jeti Knight