Up until a week ago it was believed that CJ Stroud was the consensus #2 overall Quarterback. It is very obvious that Bryce Young is number one, and Carolina debating taking Stroud was just a bit a liars poker. Houston at #2 is believed to taking the Best Player Available. They have two first round picks next year, so they have to ability to get a franchise talent, and wait on QB until next year. Every QB other than Bryce Young has huge flaws in there game. The Jalen Hurts contract today proves that the players with flaws in their game can improve and win you a Superbowl. So, it is advantageous to take the player you believe to have the highest upside, and shows the greatest ability to improve there. It is now believed that QB needy teams could take Will Levis or Anthony Richardson ahead of CJ Stroud.
Mike Lombardi believe the second best player in 2023 NFL Draft is Jalen Carter. But he has some very obvious off the field issues. He has also gained a significant amount of weight since his pro day wrapped up. Mike believes the Texans will take the best player available in Jalen Carter, despite the aforementioned issues.
The Colts at 4 are believed to be taking a QB, and they seemed to have accepted the fact that who ever they take is going to have flaws. And that they just want to take the player with the least amount of flaws. And the player with least amount of flaws, is no longer CJ Stroud. Mike would take Stroud based on the current set of tape, but Mike also has some other ideas if he were GM for a day.
According to Mike, every team that needs QB should not be looking in this draft class and should get on plane to Baltimore and talk to Lamar about Jalen Hurts contract and see if a deal can be made. This also now begs the question, if CJ Stroud is set to slip, who will go first, Will Levis or Anthony Richardson.
It was all a smoke screen to create confusion and cause chaos, potentially to benefit the Texans who ended up taking CJ 2nd overall in the 2023 NFL Draft