Extra Points: 2018 QBs, Watt, Gronk, Garrett

With the 2017 class of rookie quarterbacks carrying potentially significant risk, a strategy to eye the 2018 class may enter the mind of some decision-makers as the draft nears. But a college scouting director told TheMMQB.com’s Albert Breer the ’18 crop won’t be without risk, either, so hoping an Andrew Luck-type player emerges will be a gamble.

“I’d say no on [UCLA’s Josh] Rosen,” said a college scouting director, via Breer, regarding the class of 2018’s potential to produce a franchise quarterback, with Breer adding “off-field issues” and a nerve injury may be presently holding Rosen back. “[USC’s Sam] Darnold, I like a lot, but needs to repeat that this year. He wasn’t good enough to start the season at USC — Why? And Josh [Allen, of Wyoming] needs to make a lot of strides to be considered a top guy. He’s talented, but not accurate.”

Rosen will be draft-eligible in 2018. Darnold will be a redshirt sophomore in 2017, and Allen a junior. An AFC scouting director told Breer a strategy of waiting for this group instead of gambling on the current one would need a committed owner, but the method may fall short due to it simply being too far away to predict these younger passers’ futures.

Here’s more from around the league.

• A trade of J.J. Watt would be one of the more earth-shattering scenarios the NFL could produce, but Joel Corry of CBSSports.com discussed this hypothetical gargantuan Texans deal with executives who didn’t think it was laughably unrealistic. Houston’s defense improved statistically without Watt, finishing first in total defense, and the team needs help offensively. One exec said it would take two first-round picks for the Texans to consider it, likening a Watt return package similar to that of a franchise quarterback. Another hypothetical deal involved the Texans including Brock Osweiler‘s contract in a trade and accepting less compensation in return. Corry adds that Jadeveon Clowney will likely receive a contract extension in 2018 for an amount eclipsing Watt’s six-year, $100MM deal. Corry projects that would induce a new Watt contract since it wouldn’t be realistic to have a three-time defensive player of the year be the second-highest-paid defender on his own team.
• Taking said Internet-breaking premise further: Corry discussed with execs a Watt-for-Rob Gronkowski exchange, with the Patriots — in the mind of a league exec — needing to include more than just their No. 32 overall pick in addition to Gronk to make the Texans consider that deal. Another exec couldn’t picture the teams doing this trade due to Gronkowski’s extensive injury history.
• Myles Garrett‘s lack of consistency has drawn questions from some NFL personnel, per Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com (video link). The Texas A&M edge-rushing maven piling up statistics against inferior competition — 16 of his 31 career sacks came against Texas-San Antonio, Rice, Louisiana-Monroe, Lamar and Nevada — and disappearing for times in bigger spots, makes some curious about his reliability. Cabot is not certain Garrett will be the first player taken despite the Browns’ reported “astronomical grade” on the ex-Aggie. This runs counter to Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller noting Garrett beginning to distance himself from the pack. This draft’s quarterback scrutiny could tilt the scales in Garrett’s favor.
• Cameron Wake‘s two-year, $19MM extension will not have a factor on Lorenzo Alexander‘s potential UFA deal, Corry tweets, noting the disparity between the two aging players’ careers. Wake, 35, has four double-digit sack seasons and has been the Dolphins’ premier sack artist this decade while Alexander, 33, emerged from nowhere to lead the Bills with 12.5 last year.