NFL Draft

NFL Draft 2013: Mike Mayock's 4 QBs who fit Andy Reid's system with the Chiefs

Late during last season and the first part of this offseason, I repeatedly said that a quarterback prospect will emerge and prove himself as worthy of the Kansas City Chiefs top overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. I'm starting to sweat a little because the quarterbacks are trending the other way, away from the No. 1 pick. Is there any quarterback out there who could rise as we enter NFL Combine week? NFL Network's Mike Mayock takes a look at that and lists out four quarterbacks in this draft who fit Andy Reid's system.

By Joel Thorman@JoelThorman Feb 19, 2013, 8:28am CST

Maybe that quarterback won't be emerging. From everything we know right now, there are possibly two first round quarterbacks but unlikely to be any No. 1 overall talents. The 2013 NFL Draft is still two months away but we're already starting to carefully grade the quarterbacks out and compare them to each other. The consensus seems to be that Geno Smith and Matt Barkley are the top two options but, again, the consensus is also that the consensus isn't very strong.

NFL Network's Mike Mayock hopped on a Monday conference call talking all things NFL Draft and, lucky for us, the Kansas City Chiefs are the most interesting team to talk about right now given the No. 1 pick and all.

Mayock gave his four options for the Chiefs and the No. 1 pick and they were all offensive lineman -- Chance Warmack, Jonathan Cooper, Eric Fisher and Luke Joeckel. That's not so exciting.

Mayock was then asked which quarterbacks, regardless of round, fit Andy Reid's system.

"Oh, boy," Mayock started, "I think Matt Barkley makes a lot of sense. He's a guy as a junior at USC looked so much different than he did this year. I think to be fair to him and also to be honest with you, with Landry Jones and Tyler Wilson, I think all three of those guys you have to go back and watch junior tape.

"Matt Barkley makes a lot of sense."

"So I think Barkley fits what he does. I think Ryan Nassib fits what he does. I think Landry Jones and Tyler Wilson both can fit what he does.

"So of those, that group of guys of the top seven, eight quarterbacks, I think those are the guys that did it most efficiently."

We haven't talked enough about Matt Barkley around here. Opinions are split on him. Mel Kiper has him in the top 20 picks. Our own Dan Kadar of Mocking The Draft doesn't have him in the first round. Barkley had a shoulder injury last season that will prevent him from working out at the Combine, making life harder on everyone as the draft approaches. Scouts can see him at his pro day, assuming he participates in it, as well as private workouts.

Then there's Tyler Wilson, someone we should be familiar with. BJ Kissel provided the definitive Tyler Wilson break down. If you haven't read that yet, you're behind.

Get familiar with the other quarterbacks Mayock likes in the Chiefs system.

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports
Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Mayock was asked how this year's quarterback class compares to last year's -- minus Andrew Luck and RGIII to make it a little more fair -- and Mayock started rolling on the draft, talking about which quarterbacks could rise, focused on those quarterbacks who are considered late first round or later players.

"Well, I mean, this time last year I was telling people that I thought Ryan Tannehill was going to end up being a top 10 pick, and people laughed at me," Mayock said. "He ended up going eight. That's because during the process, if a quarterback shows a live arm, and some intelligence, work ethic, and toughness, all those kind of things, as coaches get involved with the process with the personnel people, it can push quarterbacks higher.

"So if you look at this group, and I kind of carved Geno Smith and Matt Barkley away, because I think they're going to be the first two off the board. They'll both end up in the first round somewhere. It could be a lot higher than I would expect. But that's my own opinion.

"Now you start looking at some of the other kids and say is there a Tannehill here that could rise up? Mike Glennon of Carolina State, his arm talent, his consistency, he takes too long to deliver the football. He makes bad decisions. He makes bad throws, but the arm talent is there. So during this process, are people going to fall in love with him?

"Is there a Tannehill here that could rise up?"

"Ryan Nassib is the guy that people are going to like a lot just because, as I said earlier, he kind of reminds me a little bit of the ascension of Kurt Cousins last year, and the ascension of Andy Dalton the year before that where smart, tough. And the more the coaches get involved, they see the kid's work ethic and how much he understands of the game, they're going to start to trust him. And with coaches, trust is a big thing, work ethic, trust.

"And teams are going to trust Ryan Nassib. And I think teams are going to trust Sean Renfree from Duke who is off the boards. He might be a fifth round pick, but he's got a work ethic like a Peyton Manning and Matt Ryan.

"So this group, the way I categorize this group is that there is nobody -- there is not even one guy you would bang the table for in the first round. But then there are a whole bunch of guys after that where you're saying how do they sit and how much do I trust them?

"The Nassib kid, people are going to trust outside of that, it's going to be hard to figure."

Even Geno likes Nassib!

One draft analyst had Ryan Nassib ranked as the No. 1 player for the Chiefs. Yeah, the No. 1 pick in the draft. That seems a little far-fetched but it does show you the range of opinions on Nassib. You absolutely have to have the physicl skills, that's assumed. But if you want to be great, you need more than that, something that's intangible. The work ethic and the trust as Mayock talks about.

Is the Chiefs next QB listed in this post?