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Folks, we’ve officially made it to the first sad Sunday of the year where there is no football on for six months. It’s never a fun realization to learn that you are stranded in the wilderness waiting for the good times to return. It also means that it’s officially NFL Draft Season and Free Agency season as well.
Can you all think of a better way to kick off draft season than a poor take about a quarterback from the king of poor takes about quarterbacks, Mel Kiper? I think it’s fitting.
“I would say that Daniel Jones in this draft would be the second quarterback behind Trevor Lawrence. Coming out of Duke he would have been the second highest rated quarterback,” Kiper said.
Now this wouldn’t be a big deal if it didn’t give leverage to the “JUST WAIT AND SEE, BE PATIENT AND TRUST THE PROCESS” portion of the Giants fan base. The Mara Kool-Aid drinkers are going to get this headline tattooed onto their foreheads Post Malone style but I’m here to tell you why it’s straight wrong.
For starters, four of the top 5 quarterbacks in this draft have more arm talent in their pinkies than Daniel Jones has in his arm. Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, Zach Wilson, and Trey Lance all have sky high potential due to their elite arm talent. Out of those four, I’d argue that Lawrence, Fields, and Wilson are also much more accurate passers than Jones.
So yeah, this is a horrid take from Mel Kiper. Here’s a look back at some of my favorite bad quarterback takes from Mel Kiper:
- On Jamarcus Russell: “Three years from now you could certainly be looking at one of the elite, top five quarterbacks.”
- On Russell Wilson: “I think he will have a Senaca Wallace type career where you can bring him off the bench and he’ll add a spark.”
- On David Carr and Joey Harrington: “I think when you look at Carr and Harrington three or four years down the road, you’re not going to call any one of these two players a bust or a disappointment.”
- My personal favorite, Jimmy Clausen: “If Jimmy Clausen is not a successful quarterback in the NFL, I’m done. That’s it. I’m out. I want eight years (to prove that Jimmy Clausen would be a successful quarterback).”
So yeah, his track record on quarterbacks isn’t the best. His love for Daniel Jones will likely be one of the aforementioned quotes in a future article.