I've seen draft talk and speculation pop up in a bunch of different threads so I figured we might as well have a centralized place for draft-specific discussion, news on individual players, etc, especially as the college season gets underway in earnest.
For those who don't follow this stuff, the 2014 draft is loaded by all accounts, with a particularly strong QB class. I've seen the following guys mentioned as having at least first round potential (obviously not all will come out, not all will be in the first round).
Teddy Bridgewater - Consensus top two pick unless things go very wrong this year. Very likely to go #1 overall.
Tajh Boyd - High ceiling, low floor read-option guy that some predict going as high as Top 3 and others don't see in the first round.
Brett Hundley - Has looked really impressive this year and has the ideal package (for some) of being a pocket passer in a pro-style offense who is athletic enough to do the read-option thing. May not come out as a redshirt soph.
Marcus Mariota - Another duel threat guy, some question about his passing chops, also may not come out.
Johnny Manziel - We all know him.
David Fales - Pocket passer from SJSU.
Blake Bortles - Pocket passer from Central Florida, not much hype but some people really love him.
Derek Carr - Pocket passer from Fresno State, scary genes (brother of David Carr).
Jeff Matthews - Crazy arm and very accurate, but how high can you take a guy from Cornell?
There is even more depth after that as well, with guys like Aaron Murray, AJ McCarron, etc who aren't seen as first rounders (or at least I haven't seen them pegged there) but should have NFL careers.
Outside of the QB position, Jadeveon Clowney is the big name but there are a lot of other impressive prospects, including several front seven defenders (Stephon Tuitt and Louis Nix from ND, Anthony Barr from UCLA), a couple elite looking LTs (Lewin from UM, Matthews from TAMU), and several big time playmakers in the passing game (Sammy Watkins, Marquise Lee, Austin Seferian-Jenkins).
In sum, its a great year to suck in the NFL and a huge contrast from last year. Whereas there might have been only 3-4 guys with legitimate Top 10 talent in the draft last year, there might be 12-15 guys like that in this draft. Bridgewater looks like an unusual talent but a lot of teams will get great players.
For those who don't follow this stuff, the 2014 draft is loaded by all accounts, with a particularly strong QB class. I've seen the following guys mentioned as having at least first round potential (obviously not all will come out, not all will be in the first round).
Teddy Bridgewater - Consensus top two pick unless things go very wrong this year. Very likely to go #1 overall.
Tajh Boyd - High ceiling, low floor read-option guy that some predict going as high as Top 3 and others don't see in the first round.
Brett Hundley - Has looked really impressive this year and has the ideal package (for some) of being a pocket passer in a pro-style offense who is athletic enough to do the read-option thing. May not come out as a redshirt soph.
Marcus Mariota - Another duel threat guy, some question about his passing chops, also may not come out.
Johnny Manziel - We all know him.
David Fales - Pocket passer from SJSU.
Blake Bortles - Pocket passer from Central Florida, not much hype but some people really love him.
Derek Carr - Pocket passer from Fresno State, scary genes (brother of David Carr).
Jeff Matthews - Crazy arm and very accurate, but how high can you take a guy from Cornell?
There is even more depth after that as well, with guys like Aaron Murray, AJ McCarron, etc who aren't seen as first rounders (or at least I haven't seen them pegged there) but should have NFL careers.
Outside of the QB position, Jadeveon Clowney is the big name but there are a lot of other impressive prospects, including several front seven defenders (Stephon Tuitt and Louis Nix from ND, Anthony Barr from UCLA), a couple elite looking LTs (Lewin from UM, Matthews from TAMU), and several big time playmakers in the passing game (Sammy Watkins, Marquise Lee, Austin Seferian-Jenkins).
In sum, its a great year to suck in the NFL and a huge contrast from last year. Whereas there might have been only 3-4 guys with legitimate Top 10 talent in the draft last year, there might be 12-15 guys like that in this draft. Bridgewater looks like an unusual talent but a lot of teams will get great players.