Some team apparently thinks Duke’s Daniel Jones is the best quarterback in this draft.
Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner does not agree with that team.
Warner told Bob Glauber of Newsday that while he respects Jones and his understanding of the game, he’s not sure he has enough arm to be a championship quarterback.
“I’m a firm believer that you have to have a difference-maker at that position, a guy that can carry you at some point with his right arm if you want to win,” Warner said. “Joe Flacco, maybe through the entirety of his career he hasn’t been great. But when [the Ravens] won the Super Bowl, how did he play in that stretch? He played as well as everybody that’s ever played. Eli Manning, OK, he’s missed the playoffs so many times. He’s only really made two runs, but in those two runs, he carried a team by making big plays with his right arm. They won championships. Other guys are great all the time – Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, and you know they can carry their team.
“My question with Daniel, is there limitation there physically that’s going to make his ceiling maybe a little less than other guys and can he make up for that with the experience, the understanding, the timing of throws, the decision-making that he makes? I think that’s what people are going to weigh when it’s where do we pick this guy. Is he the next franchise guy? Or is there still a question in what he’s going to be physically?”
Jones has clearly benefitted from playing for David Cutcliffe at Duke, and the comparisons to the Manning family that invites. But Warner’s question about his arm strength is a reasonable one, and one which teams looking for passers will have to weigh.