Greg Cosell hasn't done all his research yet, but based on his preliminary analysis, he sees Jared Goff as a better prospect than Jameis Winston. He also mentioned that he's a better natural thrower than Marcus Mariota.
Cosell is pretty brutal, and was never a big Winston fan anyway. He believes Winston is a good quarterback, but not necessarily a great one, even now after his first NFL season.
Cosell is harder on the guy than most other talent evaluators, who labelled him a franchise quarterback.
His using Winston, and not Mariota, as a Goff comparison isn't accidental, since comparing the two would be like comparing Cam Newton to Tom Brady. They're both terrific, but drastically different. He'll probably compare Paxton Lynch to Mariota.
In an "Ask Mary Kay", MKC anticipates Tennessee trading out of the first overall pick, as other teams might well make offers in pursuit of Goff. Sometimes I think they don't even want the guy that bad, but just want to make sure to screw the Browns out of him.
Mel Kiper said that a 3-13 team needs to take the best player, and not trade down. I wonder if he and Tony Grossi attended the same school. A 3-13 team needs more than one player, and can still land a stud after a trade-down. I just don't get how these guys think.
In the real world, Mary Kay is correct. If the Browns do indeed want Goff, they need to trade up to make sure.
As usual, the anti-Browns conspiracy is in full effect here, as a number of teams in range need a quarterback, and are likely to make bids. As usual, it will probably get ridiculous.
This is probably why Mary Kay brought up the Browns second round pick. On the surface, that is rediculous, but the bidding war could push the price that high.
Many (probably including Greg Cosell) would say that Goff isn't worth that. That's rational. But when you say "therefore they shouldn't do it", you've gone too far.
Sam "Iron Man" Bradford might condescend to bless the Browns with his legendary presence for 25 million a year. Peyton Manning might want to retire here. We can just draft a quarterback later and let Josh McCown start til he's 39 while they hopefully might develop him. Don't worry, the Browns will lose 14 games this season and get a quarterback in the next draft.
That's insane. All of it.
Now, how good is Goff? Well, he's skinny, for one thing. Almost as skinny as Bernie Kosar was.
He played against weaker competition, ran a spread offense out of the shotgun, and often threw very quickly to his first read. He doesn't throw well in motion, and needs to reset his feet. Pressure has given him happy feet, and harmed his performance.
This pretty much covers all the bad stuff. The good stuff is that he didn't have great receivers, spread the ball around to all of them, that he is quick and decisive, accurate, throws with anticipation, has the arm and touch, makes his own line calls and checks, dissects defenses with exceptional football intelligence, has few and occasional mechanical flaws, has a compact delivery, and runs around fairly well.
The most important thing here is his brain. Not only his own, but opposing coaches, and several talent guys are impressed by his abilities to move coverage with his eyes, ability to read coverage (and blitzes) correctly and make the right throw, and things of that nature.
This is why I've compared him so Saint Bernard (Kosar). Bernie Kosar came to the Browns via the supplemental draft, but in retrospect, would he have been worth a first overall pick to the Cleveland Browns?
There is a chance that Carson Wentz will show enough of these all-important NFL traits during Senior Bowl week to make himself palatable, but that's a very small sample size.
Fortunately, Cowboys staffers will be working with him, and may like him enough not to try to screw the Browns out of Goff. This probably wouldn't avert the need for the Browns to trade up, but could lower the price.
Manziel is another factor. He could be part of any trade, or else be dealt to another team in the running to mitigate the damage they might do in a bidding war.
Locally, Manziel is a pariah, but nationally, a lot of people saw what he did on the field, and his potential, and for next to nothing would take a flyer on him.
In an earlier entry, I proposed possibly trading Joe Thomas for Tennessee's first overall pick. Recent developments have made this far less likely (or desirable). But Manziel, if not dealt elsewhere, could be attractive to the Titans as a backup in a system tailored to his skill set.
As a backup, his antics would have a lower profile, and he wouldn't do much damage if he continued them. If he settles down and matures, he could also turn back into a valuable commodity. Smart GMs consider all these factors. Bill Belichick is probably waiting to scoop him up.
Clearly, this writer is in the Goff camp. He's Bernie Kosar to me, and worth it. Similar brain, arm (pre-injury), accuracy, anticipation, and touch. More compact, quicker release, and better mobility.
Yep. It might take a second round pick, or Manziel and a couple thirds, but I'd pay it. It could be Hue's last chance.
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