This year most of the NFL draft discussion surrounding quarterbacks has been about juniors who are declaring for the draft (Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III) or juniors who are staying in school (Matt Barkley, Landry Jones).
And when we’ve talked about a senior quarterback recently, it’s been to note that Texas A&M’s Ryan Tannehill is injured and out of the Senior Bowl. So who does that leave to play in the Senior Bowl?
Via our friend Adam Caplan, the six Senior Bowl quarterbacks are in place: Boise State’s Kellen Moore, San Diego State’s Ryan Lindley, Michigan State’s Kirk Cousins, Wisconsin’s Russell Wilson, Arizona’s Nick Foles and Oklahoma State’s Brandon Weeden.
At the moment, the 6-foot-5, 240-pound Foles looks like the best of that bunch. A three-year starter at Arizona, Foles has a big arm and completed 69.1 percent of his passes during his senior season.
Weeden is an intriguing prospect who looks the part of an NFL-ready passer, but his age (he’s 28 years old and played five years of minor league baseball before starting his college football career) may make some teams think his long-term potential is limited. Weeden is reminiscent of Chris Weinke, the Heisman Trophy-winning Florida State quarterback who was also drafted at age 28 and started 15 games as a rookie for the Panthers in 2001 but seemed to reach his ceiling as a rookie.
Moore was a great college quarterback who holds the all-time record for games won as a starter, but there are questions about whether he has an NFL arm, and his size (listed at 6-foot-0 and 191 pounds) is a concern.
Lindley was a four-year starter at San Diego State and at 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds looks like a classic dropback passer. However, he didn’t improve much during his four years, and his completion percentage (53.0 percent as a senior) isn’t what NFL teams look for.
Cousins had a good career as a three-year starter at Michigan State but is seen by some as having a limited upside. He’s been described as a fifth-round talent.
Wilson started his career at North Carolina State before finishing at Wisconsin. He’s a good athlete who is currently focused on football but could still choose to pursue a baseball career. Listed at 5-foot-11, size will be a big question.