February 22, 2015
Cecil Hurt
TideSports.com Columnist
None of the most prolific authors could come close to keeping up with the narratives generated by the NFL Draft, especially when quarterbacks are involved.
The long gap between the end of the college season and the draft itself has been filled by an explosion of "draft analysts" who combine opinion with "inside information" at a pace that would exhaust a mere novel-a-year writer like Stephen King, although he could take some horror tips by reading Johnny Manziel draft capsules from a year ago.
This year, the main characters - as usual - don't come from Alabama. The Crimson Tide's stretch without a first-round quarterback will go to 39 years, all the way back to Richard Todd, an amazing if not unprecedented statistic. Nebraska, to cite another example, hasn't had a first-round quarterback since 1972. The protagonists are Marcus Mariota, generally viewed as "the good guy", and Jameis Winston, perceived as the "bad guy."
No one knows how either quarterback is going to turn out. If I were a general manager, either would cause some trepidation. That doesn't mean Winston is automatically the next Jamarcus Russell. It doesn't mean Mariota is the next Akili Smith.
A great deal will depend on circumstances, on which franchise selects them and what instant demands that franchise will put on them. There were enough red flags around Manziel to predict problems anywhere, but Cleveland might have been the worst possible destination. Will Tampa Bay or Nashville be any better?
If compelled to choose, I'd probably pick Winston based on potential upside. He is, without question, immature. He seems to know the right things to say, but not the right things to do, which is about as good a working definition of immaturity as you could find.
Winston is going to face a tough transition into an NFL locker room environment. But if he has someone to help him grow, and to quickly figure out he is no longer in the forgiving environs of Tallahassee (or, for that matter, Hueytown), then he has a chance.
Winston's combine workout Saturday confirmed he's no Cam Newton athletically, but he does have a good arm. It should also end the myth he was a "first-round baseball choice."
He's far, far from a Bo Jackson and his baseball future, if any, would be as a middle reliever. But that's beside the point in football. He just needs to settle down.
Mariota is a better "athlete," but I don't think that makes him a better quarterback. Will he be better than Robert Griffin III, for instance? There certainly isn't a guarantee.
Ultimately, there are almost never "sure things" coming out of college. Andrew Luck is the most recent exception, but it's hard to find that type of quarterback these days, when teams win without them. One of the great ironies of Ohio State's amazing quarterback shuffle this season is that it very likely had its best NFL prospect, Cardale Jones, on the third team going into last season. Ultimately, college teams can win with quarterbacks that aren't even considered as quarterbacks at the next level. You could immediately say Blake Sims or Nick Marshall, but Braxton Miller fits the bill just as well.
Alabama will keep looking, of course. Maybe that next No. 1 pick is already on campus, or in the next recruiting class. If not, there are other ways to keep on winning.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1739413
Cecil Hurt
TideSports.com Columnist
None of the most prolific authors could come close to keeping up with the narratives generated by the NFL Draft, especially when quarterbacks are involved.
The long gap between the end of the college season and the draft itself has been filled by an explosion of "draft analysts" who combine opinion with "inside information" at a pace that would exhaust a mere novel-a-year writer like Stephen King, although he could take some horror tips by reading Johnny Manziel draft capsules from a year ago.
This year, the main characters - as usual - don't come from Alabama. The Crimson Tide's stretch without a first-round quarterback will go to 39 years, all the way back to Richard Todd, an amazing if not unprecedented statistic. Nebraska, to cite another example, hasn't had a first-round quarterback since 1972. The protagonists are Marcus Mariota, generally viewed as "the good guy", and Jameis Winston, perceived as the "bad guy."
No one knows how either quarterback is going to turn out. If I were a general manager, either would cause some trepidation. That doesn't mean Winston is automatically the next Jamarcus Russell. It doesn't mean Mariota is the next Akili Smith.
A great deal will depend on circumstances, on which franchise selects them and what instant demands that franchise will put on them. There were enough red flags around Manziel to predict problems anywhere, but Cleveland might have been the worst possible destination. Will Tampa Bay or Nashville be any better?
If compelled to choose, I'd probably pick Winston based on potential upside. He is, without question, immature. He seems to know the right things to say, but not the right things to do, which is about as good a working definition of immaturity as you could find.
Winston is going to face a tough transition into an NFL locker room environment. But if he has someone to help him grow, and to quickly figure out he is no longer in the forgiving environs of Tallahassee (or, for that matter, Hueytown), then he has a chance.
Winston's combine workout Saturday confirmed he's no Cam Newton athletically, but he does have a good arm. It should also end the myth he was a "first-round baseball choice."
He's far, far from a Bo Jackson and his baseball future, if any, would be as a middle reliever. But that's beside the point in football. He just needs to settle down.
Mariota is a better "athlete," but I don't think that makes him a better quarterback. Will he be better than Robert Griffin III, for instance? There certainly isn't a guarantee.
Ultimately, there are almost never "sure things" coming out of college. Andrew Luck is the most recent exception, but it's hard to find that type of quarterback these days, when teams win without them. One of the great ironies of Ohio State's amazing quarterback shuffle this season is that it very likely had its best NFL prospect, Cardale Jones, on the third team going into last season. Ultimately, college teams can win with quarterbacks that aren't even considered as quarterbacks at the next level. You could immediately say Blake Sims or Nick Marshall, but Braxton Miller fits the bill just as well.
Alabama will keep looking, of course. Maybe that next No. 1 pick is already on campus, or in the next recruiting class. If not, there are other ways to keep on winning.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1739413
