Latest moves could boost Michigan State QB Connor Cook in NFL draft – Detroit Free Press
Michigan State QB Connor Cook performs at his pro day workout for NFL scouts March 16, 2016 at Michigan State. By Dave Birkett, DFP.
Conflicting reports have emerged over which quarterback the Los Angeles Rams will take with the first pick of this month’s NFL draft, Cal’s Jared Goff or North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz.
But Thursday’s blockbuster trade with the Tennessee Titans, in which the Rams moved up from Pick No. 15, could be good news for the next tier of quarterbacks, including Michigan State’s Connor Cook.
Goff and Wentz are widely considered the top quarterbacks in the draft, and some NFL people expect them to go Nos. 1-2 now that two quarterback-needy teams hold the top picks. The Cleveland Browns, who’ve taken two first-round QB busts in the last four years, pick after the Rams. And even if they opt against drafting a signal caller, there might be enough interest to warrant another team trading up to Cleveland’s spot.
So with the top quarterbacks expected to go earlier in the new draft order, it could prompt teams to tap into the next tier of QBs — Memphis’ Paxton Lynch and Cook — sooner, too. The San Francisco 49ers (at No. 7) and Philadelphia Eagles (No. 8) are among other teams in need of quarterback help.
Two AFC scouts from different teams who’ve evaluated all of the top quarterbacks in the draft recently told the Free Press that they prefer Goff to Wentz, though the prospects are similarly ranked. The scouts were not authorized by their teams to speak publicly.
“I really like Goff,” one longtime evaluator said. “He’s right up there. I’d take Goff over Wentz. I’d feel more comfortable with him. He doesn’t have maybe the physical ability that (Wentz and Lynch) have, but he’s a damn good player.”
As for the Lynch-Cook debate, Lynch is bigger, more mobile and has a stronger arm, but Cook is more polished, having started the last three years in Michigan State’s pro-style system.
Several teams outside of the top 10 also are looking for quarterback help, either now or for the future, and there’s always the possibility that a team needing a QB will move up into the end of the first round to secure a player’s rights for an additional season, rather than waiting until Round 2. All drafted rookies sign four-year contracts but teams have a fifth-year option on first-round picks.
Cook, who went 36-5 as a starter at Michigan State, has been knocked for his perceived lack of leadership and the fact that he wasn’t voted a team captain as a senior. But one scout, whose team is not expected to be in the Wentz-Goff mix, said that’s not an issue for him.
“Maybe he was a jerk, I don’t know,” the scout said. “All I know is the guy won. Are we voting on whether he wins or whether he’s a jerk?”
If Goff and Wentz go 1-2 in the draft, this will mark the second straight year that quarterbacks have been taken with the first two picks. If Lynch and Cook join them in the first round, this will be the first time four quarterbacks have been drafted in Round 1 since 2012, when Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, Ryan Tannehill and Brandon Weeden went in the first 22 picks.
Luck (the No. 1 pick) is one of the best young quarterbacks in the game. Tannehill (No. 8) appears entrenched with the Miami Dolphins despite inconsistent play. But Griffin (No. 2) and Weeden (No. 22) no longer are with the teams that drafted them.
“With the quarterbacks, would I be afraid of taking them if I was in the top five? Yeah, I’d be nervous,” a scout said. “I’d be more nervous, though, with guys like Lynch and Wentz in the top five than I would be with Connor Cook at, say, 20 or 25. But you got to take them. You just got to take them.”
Contact Dave Birkett at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@davebirkett
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