Jeff Gordon-StLToday: The NFL Draft delivered sharply contrasting fates to two promising quarterback prospects.Former Duke quarterback Daniel Jones went sixth overall to the New York Giants, despite questions about his downfield passing accuracy.Meanwhile, former Missouri quarterback Drew Lock plunged out of the first round amid questions about his accuracy and touch.It will be interesting to watch history judge these picks. Neither Jones nor Lock appear ready to start NFL games any time soon, but many experts like Lock more than Jones. Jones has been stamped as a big-time reach by some experts, which will add to the pressure he will feel in New York City as Eli Manning's heir apparent. The New York Post trumpeted his selection with this headline on its website: "Giants' Daniel Jones pick is an utter disaster on so many levels".
Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz, USA Today: "Missouri quarterback Drew Lock . . . (was) among the biggest names who were not selected Thursday in the first round despite being projected to be early picks. A four-year starter at Missouri, Lock finished second in Southeastern Conference history in career passing yards (12,193) and third in touchdown passes (99). But the 6-4, 228-pound quarterback struggled at times both with accuracy and turnovers, completing just 56.9 percent of his collegiate throws, though that mark rose to 62.9 percent in his senior season In the lead-up to the draft, Lock said he was more concerned with team fit than being drafted highly."
Todd McShay, ESPN.com: "Missouri quarterback Drew Lock slipping through was a little surprising. I thought we would see four QBs off the board on Thursday. And Lock has a rocket arm and above-average mobility."
Chris Trapasso, CBSSports.com: "We all expected it to happen, and it did. Giants GM Dave Gettleman really picked Jones at No. 6 overall. Man. Jones looks the part. No doubt about that. And he can get the ball out quickly. He can be an impressive runner too. He also puts the ball in precarious situations too often, throws off-balance relatively frequently, and lacks downfield accuracy. Plus he doesn't have a great arm to really drive the football. Inside the pocket, Jones is pretty good. He can work through his progressions quickly and flashed the ability to drift away from pressure. But this is a work-in-progress quarterback who probably should've gone in Round 2 but is now a top 10 pick primed to be Eli Manning's heir apparent. In the absolute best case scenario, I think Jones can be Eli-like. Shouldn't the Giants have aimed higher at the quarterback spot?"
Mel Kiper Jr., ESPN.com: "I like Jones' potential, and I picked him to go to the Giants in my final mock draft . . . at No. 17. I had Dwayne Haskins and Drew Lock ranked higher. So this is high for him, but the Giants clearly identified Jones as their guy."
Gregg Rosenthal, NFL.com: "Giants GM Dave Gettleman finally decided to replace Eli Manning with the poor man's Eli Manning. Perhaps Daniel Jones will pan out, and his previous relationship with and Manning family sensei/Duke coach David Cutcliffe will help make the transition more natural. But Gettleman is ultimately staking his future on a quarterback who wasn't seen as a top-30 prospect by many. Gettleman has spoken often about not reaching for positional need, but it sure feels like he did that with this selection, one year after the team passed on current Jets quarterback Sam Darnold at No. 2 overall."
Danny Heifetz, The Ringer: "Jones may be mature enough to withstand criticism from the New York media, but there’s little evidence that he is talented enough to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. He is not considered a first-round prospect by most draft analysts, and Jones’s most frequent comp is Blake Bortles, which should tell you everything you need to know. Jones was not a particularly accurate passer at Duke when he was playing in the ACC, and it’s unlikely he’ll be better in the NFC East. His arm strength is about as low as a quarterback can have and be an NFL quarterback. That’s a big reason why his deep-pass adjusted completion percentage was 25th among the quarterbacks in this year’s draft class, according to Pro Football Focus . . . Jones’s main strength is that he looks like a quarterback. He is 6-foot-5 and 221 pounds and is considered 'tough'. He has a strong throwing foundation after working with Duke head coach David Cutcliffe, who famously groomed both Manning brothers. Now Jones has been tapped to be the one to replace Eli Manning, who turned 38 in January . . . While at Duke, he didn’t impress many nationally. He started three seasons and never once surpassed 6.8 yards per pass attempt, which is below average at the NFL level. It is immensely difficult for any quarterback to become a more efficient passer in the NFL, so Jones already has an uphill battle to mediocrity. Even if Jones’s yards per attempt at Duke last year were translated to the NFL, it would put him tied for no. 27 last year, one spot ahead of … Blake Bortles."
Mike Tanier, Bleacher Report: "Jones is the quarterback equivalent of agreeing to re-up your two-year cable television package instead of seeking a better alternative. 'Gosh, this sure is a lot of money to pay for shows we don’t watch like Real Housewives of Schenectady. Why don’t we just get Netflix, Hulu, Crunchyroll and...eh, I’ve gotten used to the buttons on this remote. Another $275 per month it is!' Jones is tall, runs fairly well, has some of the sweetest mechanics you’ll ever see and often makes pretty good decisions. He’s the default-choice prospect. He appeals to coaches who think the goal of quarterbacking is to look really good at quarterbacking and to general managers who prefer to select the guy least likely to get them fired if he fails. I really liked Jones entering the predraft process, but he was very up and down at the Senior Bowl and didn’t blow me away in combine throwing sessions. He’ll max out as a mid-tier starter like Derek Carr or Andy Dalton. But there’s a high risk he will be one of those backups who bounces around the league for 10 years because teams love “safe” backups. Ultimately, Jones is the perfect quarterback for the Giants because the Giants don’t want to replace Eli. They want an excuse not to replace Eli—a quarterback just good enough to make it look like he presents a challenge without presenting a challenge. Jones is that guy."
Conor Orr, SI.com: "If you’re a Giants fan who enjoys the team’s standard operating procedure—similar to a small-town hardware business or nebulous sector of town government where employees are often culled from their connection with, relation to or familiarity of certain individuals—then you likely think the pick of Daniel Jones at No. 6 in the 2019 NFL draft is probably fine. He will be as promised. Advantageously swag-less. A sturdy flag pole in cement. He is the exact same height and weight as Eli Manning was coming out of Ole Miss in 2004. He was coached by the same person who coached both Manning brothers in college. He went to the Manning passing academy when he was younger. Some people mistake them for distant cousins. If you listen to the Giants talk about what they like about Jones, it feels similar to the same things they liked about Eli 15 years ago. He is a legacy applicant, and maybe you think that’s a good thing. It’s more than having the grades. It just feels right."
Charles Robinson, Yahoo! Sports: "This is why Josh Rosen should’ve been dealt before Kyler Murray was selected first in the NFL Draft. dealt before. The whole quarterback trade gambit just went completely sideways for the Arizona Cardinals. And barring a trade in the next 48 hours, it gets only worse from here. The patient mode was last week. It cost Arizona a pair of suitors in the New York Giants and Washington Redskins. Missouri's Drew Lock will thin that field even further on Friday. That means if NFL teams came into this selection process playing lowball, well, just wait. Now they really have something to work with in negotiations. Desperation mode is coming. That’s all it takes with a pair of top-10 quarterback draft picks. Only one can get on the field, which means something — or someone — has to give. And more often than not, it’s the organization as a whole that suffers most – not just one of the two players."
Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz, USA Today: "Missouri quarterback Drew Lock . . . (was) among the biggest names who were not selected Thursday in the first round despite being projected to be early picks. A four-year starter at Missouri, Lock finished second in Southeastern Conference history in career passing yards (12,193) and third in touchdown passes (99). But the 6-4, 228-pound quarterback struggled at times both with accuracy and turnovers, completing just 56.9 percent of his collegiate throws, though that mark rose to 62.9 percent in his senior season In the lead-up to the draft, Lock said he was more concerned with team fit than being drafted highly."
Todd McShay, ESPN.com: "Missouri quarterback Drew Lock slipping through was a little surprising. I thought we would see four QBs off the board on Thursday. And Lock has a rocket arm and above-average mobility."
Chris Trapasso, CBSSports.com: "We all expected it to happen, and it did. Giants GM Dave Gettleman really picked Jones at No. 6 overall. Man. Jones looks the part. No doubt about that. And he can get the ball out quickly. He can be an impressive runner too. He also puts the ball in precarious situations too often, throws off-balance relatively frequently, and lacks downfield accuracy. Plus he doesn't have a great arm to really drive the football. Inside the pocket, Jones is pretty good. He can work through his progressions quickly and flashed the ability to drift away from pressure. But this is a work-in-progress quarterback who probably should've gone in Round 2 but is now a top 10 pick primed to be Eli Manning's heir apparent. In the absolute best case scenario, I think Jones can be Eli-like. Shouldn't the Giants have aimed higher at the quarterback spot?"
Mel Kiper Jr., ESPN.com: "I like Jones' potential, and I picked him to go to the Giants in my final mock draft . . . at No. 17. I had Dwayne Haskins and Drew Lock ranked higher. So this is high for him, but the Giants clearly identified Jones as their guy."
Gregg Rosenthal, NFL.com: "Giants GM Dave Gettleman finally decided to replace Eli Manning with the poor man's Eli Manning. Perhaps Daniel Jones will pan out, and his previous relationship with and Manning family sensei/Duke coach David Cutcliffe will help make the transition more natural. But Gettleman is ultimately staking his future on a quarterback who wasn't seen as a top-30 prospect by many. Gettleman has spoken often about not reaching for positional need, but it sure feels like he did that with this selection, one year after the team passed on current Jets quarterback Sam Darnold at No. 2 overall."
Danny Heifetz, The Ringer: "Jones may be mature enough to withstand criticism from the New York media, but there’s little evidence that he is talented enough to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. He is not considered a first-round prospect by most draft analysts, and Jones’s most frequent comp is Blake Bortles, which should tell you everything you need to know. Jones was not a particularly accurate passer at Duke when he was playing in the ACC, and it’s unlikely he’ll be better in the NFC East. His arm strength is about as low as a quarterback can have and be an NFL quarterback. That’s a big reason why his deep-pass adjusted completion percentage was 25th among the quarterbacks in this year’s draft class, according to Pro Football Focus . . . Jones’s main strength is that he looks like a quarterback. He is 6-foot-5 and 221 pounds and is considered 'tough'. He has a strong throwing foundation after working with Duke head coach David Cutcliffe, who famously groomed both Manning brothers. Now Jones has been tapped to be the one to replace Eli Manning, who turned 38 in January . . . While at Duke, he didn’t impress many nationally. He started three seasons and never once surpassed 6.8 yards per pass attempt, which is below average at the NFL level. It is immensely difficult for any quarterback to become a more efficient passer in the NFL, so Jones already has an uphill battle to mediocrity. Even if Jones’s yards per attempt at Duke last year were translated to the NFL, it would put him tied for no. 27 last year, one spot ahead of … Blake Bortles."
Mike Tanier, Bleacher Report: "Jones is the quarterback equivalent of agreeing to re-up your two-year cable television package instead of seeking a better alternative. 'Gosh, this sure is a lot of money to pay for shows we don’t watch like Real Housewives of Schenectady. Why don’t we just get Netflix, Hulu, Crunchyroll and...eh, I’ve gotten used to the buttons on this remote. Another $275 per month it is!' Jones is tall, runs fairly well, has some of the sweetest mechanics you’ll ever see and often makes pretty good decisions. He’s the default-choice prospect. He appeals to coaches who think the goal of quarterbacking is to look really good at quarterbacking and to general managers who prefer to select the guy least likely to get them fired if he fails. I really liked Jones entering the predraft process, but he was very up and down at the Senior Bowl and didn’t blow me away in combine throwing sessions. He’ll max out as a mid-tier starter like Derek Carr or Andy Dalton. But there’s a high risk he will be one of those backups who bounces around the league for 10 years because teams love “safe” backups. Ultimately, Jones is the perfect quarterback for the Giants because the Giants don’t want to replace Eli. They want an excuse not to replace Eli—a quarterback just good enough to make it look like he presents a challenge without presenting a challenge. Jones is that guy."
Conor Orr, SI.com: "If you’re a Giants fan who enjoys the team’s standard operating procedure—similar to a small-town hardware business or nebulous sector of town government where employees are often culled from their connection with, relation to or familiarity of certain individuals—then you likely think the pick of Daniel Jones at No. 6 in the 2019 NFL draft is probably fine. He will be as promised. Advantageously swag-less. A sturdy flag pole in cement. He is the exact same height and weight as Eli Manning was coming out of Ole Miss in 2004. He was coached by the same person who coached both Manning brothers in college. He went to the Manning passing academy when he was younger. Some people mistake them for distant cousins. If you listen to the Giants talk about what they like about Jones, it feels similar to the same things they liked about Eli 15 years ago. He is a legacy applicant, and maybe you think that’s a good thing. It’s more than having the grades. It just feels right."
Charles Robinson, Yahoo! Sports: "This is why Josh Rosen should’ve been dealt before Kyler Murray was selected first in the NFL Draft. dealt before. The whole quarterback trade gambit just went completely sideways for the Arizona Cardinals. And barring a trade in the next 48 hours, it gets only worse from here. The patient mode was last week. It cost Arizona a pair of suitors in the New York Giants and Washington Redskins. Missouri's Drew Lock will thin that field even further on Friday. That means if NFL teams came into this selection process playing lowball, well, just wait. Now they really have something to work with in negotiations. Desperation mode is coming. That’s all it takes with a pair of top-10 quarterback draft picks. Only one can get on the field, which means something — or someone — has to give. And more often than not, it’s the organization as a whole that suffers most – not just one of the two players."
