The NFL Draft: A Look At Two Quarterbacks

The NFL draft is underway, and college students who were just in lecture halls a couple of months ago are now finding their futures with the professional football team that finds them the best fit. Some players were shoo-ins to be drafted, like Baker Mayfield from the University of Oklahoma (more on him later), Josh Rosen from UCLA, and Bradley Chubb from North Carolina State. Others go to the draft with some uncertainty, and many are still waiting to be picked, though, if history is anything to go by, being picked late in the draft isn’t a bad thing. Tom Brady, the record-breaking quarterback of the New England Patriots, was picked in the sixth round as the 199th pick in 2000.

Out of everyone who’s been picked so far, both quarterbacks coming out of the first round, stand out. The first one is Baker Mayfield the former quarterback for Oklahoma and the new quarterback of the Cleveland Browns as the first pick of the night. Despite his controversial choices that have many comparing him to a former first-round pick and fellow Heisman winner Johnny Manziel, Mayfield is no doubt an excellent football player. During the 2017 college football season, he recorded the best all-time passer rating at 203.8 and had a 71 percent completion rating, which is the 27th best of all time. The Browns are a team that needs help after going 0-16 this year, but they’re also considered a quarterback graveyard, so there’s no telling what Mayfield’s future might hold.

Another notable pick to look at is Lamar Jackson. Jackson won the Heisman trophy in 2016, his sophomore year of college as the quarterback of University of Lousiville. He entered the draft this year and found himself being drafted as the final pick of round one, coming in at 32 by the Baltimore Ravens.  2016 was Jackson’s strongest year, hence the Heisman, but he did improve in many areas during his last college football season, with a 60.4 percentage rating. The Baltimore Ravens are a solid team to be drafted to with a lot of potential and a veteran Super Bowl champion quarterback to learn under. The Ravens have made it clear that Joe Flacco is still their quarterback, and they want Jackson to learn and flourish under him (comparing it to Tom Brady and Jimmy Garropolo who is now making waves in San Francisco). On top of that, the Ravens also acquired Robert Griffin III, the 2011 Heisman trophy winner, and a second overall pick that sat out of the NFL last year due to injuries, and Jackson has said that he’s excited to learn from him.

Time will tell what’s in store for these two former college football stars and rest of those who have been drafted in the NFL. And it will be exciting to see what’s in store for those who are still waiting for their call as the NFL draft continues with rounds four through seven tonight.

ICYMI: This was the moment Baker Mayfield found out he was the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft. pic.twitter.com/gGdtyYBs7f

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 27, 2018

Lamar Jackson: “The Ravens gonna get a Super Bowl out of me, believe that” [@gifdsports]pic.twitter.com/zl1PDALbT8

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) April 27, 2018