Originally posted by BOI49er:
Kyle Shanahan does. "If no quarterback really jumps out at you, and you can get a pass rusher, or a linebacker, or an offensive lineman that can help you win for the next ten years, you don't gamble."
The Only quarterback Kyle wanted from this draft was Beathard.
I'm absolutely fine with drafting a quarterback very high if that's who jumps out at Kyle. What Kyle likes just isn't necessarily what gets draft pundits excited, so drafting high is not the goal.
My examples included Kirk Cousins. He's certainly not one of the best "in the history of the NFL", at least yet, but imo he could win a Super Bowl, with us, and he's one of a very small number Kyle has been able to influence his team to draft. Nobody had taken him by the fourth round.
I'll reiterate. That's a plus if you draft high and can get your first choice of the quarterback crop. It's not always valuable to get the pundits first or high choices. The two things may line up, but in Kyles case, they usually won't.
I don't think that' exactly the case. I'm sure Kyle would love a highly athletic, big body QB who has a cannon for an arm...but he wants a guy who is smart enough to run his offense at a high level and he wants someone who doesn't have to be broken down and built up from the ground up mechanics wise.
Let's be honest there wasn't a single QB in this QB class who was day 1 starter like a Peyton Manning/Andrew Luck type.
Either you had guys coming from a non pro style system who would need time to get comfortable with that style of offense or they'd need to learn how to go through progressions and other things that NFL QBs have to be able to do. Let's look at the QBs taken before Beathard
Trubisky - 1 year starter, non pro system
Mahomes - non pro system
Watson - non pro system
Kizer - 1.5 year starter, limited reads and college system
Webb - non pro system
Basically all of these guys would need work before they could master a system like Kyle's. So he took one of the brighter QBs in the class who has shown ability to run an offense close to Kyle's. He may not have the physical tools of those other guys but he's got the mental ability and mechanics ground work to be a quality player within his system.
CJ may end up being nothing but a backup but if he works his butt off enough and grows then we may find ourselves with a cheapo starter at the position. It also gives us lots of flexibility next offseason. If he shows them enough then maybe it's not worth going QB early on(if we're even in position to do so) if the QB available isn't a sure stud in Kyle/John's mind.
It also buys us a little time. Hoyer/Beathard in his 2nd season could allow us to draft a QB high who may not be ready to jump in there right away and let him sit and learn from Kyle to really give him a chance to succeed without rushing him out there. Best case scenario we're stuck in a Brees/Rivers situation in 2019.
But no matter how you slice it, especially with hindsight(at least at this point) not drafting Trubisky at #2 was a terrific move.