2017 NFL Draft Props - QBs
By BetOnline.ag
Now that Super Bowl LI is in the rearview mirror and the 2016 season has been put to rest, everyone in those NFL front offices now focus on the next big event on the league schedule: the Scouting Combine. That meat market of more than 300 college prospects takes place from Feb. 28 through Mar. 6 in Indianapolis. It used to be just one scout from every team with a stopwatch – now it’s a major event with betting props available and televised each day live by the NFL Network.
The combine helps teams determine their draft boards; the 2017 NFL Draft begins April 27 and this year is being held in Philadelphia. If you didn’t know, the first NFL Draft was held in Philadelphia in 1936, when the Eagles selected halfback Jay Berwanger first overall. He was the first-ever Heisman Trophy winner in 1935 at the University of Chicago. The draft was last held in Philly in 1960. Just recently the NFL started moving the draft around. It had been in New York for decades before moving to Chicago the past two years.
Bettors don’t have to wait for NFL Draft props at BetOnline as one prop is which quarterback will be the first one chosen. If we are being honest, every draft’s biggest story line surrounds the quarterbacks. It’s the most important position in football and you aren’t winning a Super Bowl without a good one (Trent Dilfer aside).
The 2017 class isn’t that highly-regarded among scouts, however. Mel Kiper doesn’t have a quarterback ranked about his Top 15 on the Big Board and wrote that there was a chance no quarterback goes in the first round for the first time since 1996. The combine and individual workouts will determine that, but at least one QB is going in the first round.
The last time a QB didn’t go in the Top 3 picks was 2013 when Buffalo chose Florida State’s EJ Manuel at No. 16. That has proven to be a big mistake. Manuel was the only first-rounder that year, and in hindsight it looks like one of the worst QB classes ever. Mike Glennon might be the best of them.
Quarterbacks have gone 1-2 in each of the past two years. Tampa Bay (Jameis Winston) and Tennessee (Marcus Mariota) are thrilled with their 2015 choices at the position. The Los Angeles Rams traded up to take Jared Goff with the top spot last year. Goff looked absolutely lost as a rookie. The Eagles traded up to No. 2 to take Carson Wentz, and he did show some signs of stardom.
The teams with the top three picks in this year’s draft are the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears. All three have huge quarterback needs, although not necessarily with that first pick. All three are also have trade interest in Patriots backup QB Jimmy Garoppolo. He is expected to be moved with Tom Brady not slowing down at all at age 39.
North Carolina’s Mitch Trubisky is the +110 favorite to be the first QB selected. Unless you are Tar Heels fan, you probably never heard of Trubisky until the 2016 season. He was very good, setting school records with 3,748 yards passing and 30 touchdowns, as well as for completions (304), attempts (447) and total offense (4,056). He has good size and arm strength. The drawback: Trubisky is very green with just one season as starter.
Clemson’s Deshaun Watson is next at +175 and he did all a college quarterback could from a statistical and leadership point the past two seasons in leading Clemson to back-to-back national championship games and torching stellar Alabama defenses both times – winning Clemson’s first title since 1981 last month. The only knock on Watson is occasional lapses in accuracy. That was the same knock on former Texas star Vince Young, and things didn’t work out well for him in the NFL.
The other two options as first QB off the board are Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer (+300) and Texas Tech’s Pat Mahomes (+2000). Like Trubisky and Watson, they both declared after their junior seasons. Kizer has potentially the highest ceiling of the group with his athleticism. Mahomes put up monster numbers in college but in an “Air Raid” offense that doesn’t translate to the NFL.