We’ve got some Mayock-ing to do over the next few days. The NFL Network’s Mike Mayock spoke on a conference call with reporters this week and as usual he went really long with some great answers, including one on the Kansas City Chiefs.
I believe it was the KC Star’s Terez Paylor who asked Mayock about his confidence in Alex Smith as well as the quarterbacks he likes in this draft. Mayock started off by saying something about Alex that I tried to point out the other day.
“I am bullish on Alex Smith because I read you guys a list of quarterbacks early on, and, you know, there's only eight or ten franchise guys in the league,” Mayock said. “If Alex Smith isn't one of them, he's just kind of a notch below, and that's better than most of the other teams around the league. I could name you half the league that needs a quality starting quarterback. So I believe the Chiefs are ahead of most of the teams. I think you've got to be careful for what you wish for because it may come true.”
I said Alex could start on half the teams in the league. That doesn’t mean to say the Chiefs shouldn’t go after another quarterback in the draft. They should! I just think it’s important that we understand how hard it is to find these guys. 11 wins and a playoff berth sounds kinda annoying to you right now because that makes you think of Alex Smith’s ceiling and the Chiefs getting close but not close enough. However, most teams would swap with the Chiefs in a second.
As for drafting a quarterback this year, Mayock pointed out that you have to “keep slinging” in the draft. He noted that New England is still drafting second (Jimmy Garoppolo 2014) and third round (Jacoby Brissett 2016) guys even with Tom Brady still going.
We’ve spent our time talking about the draft’s top four quarterbacks: Deshaun Watson, Mitch Trubisky, DeShone Kizer and Patrick Mahomes. I stand by wanting the Chiefs to pick a guy in the first or second round, however that works out. Mayock points out a few other quarterbacks who will go later.
Ole Miss QB Chad Kelly: “He's got character concerns and he's got injury concerns. If he didn't have those, we'd be talking about him as a second-round guy and maybe higher.”
Miami QB Brad Kaaya / Tennessee QB Josh Dobbs: “I think Brad Kaaya from Miami and Josh Dobbs from Tennessee are the two quarterbacks I would classify as having some talent, but kind of long-range, developmental prospects. But they have talent. So if you took a guy like that in the third round, for instance, and tried to develop him, I think that would be a pretty good plan.”
Cal QB Davis Webb: “...MVP of the Senior Bowl. Played in the same Cal offense that Jared Goff did. He's very much a spread guy. He's not ready to play, but he's a big guy. He's got a live arm. He's got good enough feet. He's another guy I would really like to develop.”
Free agent QBs: “I also think in general that the free agent quarterback class is going to be a little more intriguing to some teams this year than is typical.”