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Tom Savage

Poll: Best Late Round Quarterback?

May 10th, 2014 at 3:52pm CST by Rob DiRe

Just because they don’t have the fanfare of a Johnny Manziel or Teddy Bridgewater doesn’t mean the day three quarterbacks are destined to be career backups. A handful of high-caliber NFL quarterbacks do get selected in the later rounds.

Not every quarterback drafted in the sixth round is going to turn into Tom Brady–most first-round quarterbacks won’t accomplish half of what Brady has–but many if not all of these fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh-round quarterbacks will have a chance to push for a starting job at some point in their career, either by performance or by injury.

The question is, which of these quarterbacks is going to have the best chance to find success as a starter in the NFL? That takes a combination of talent and opportunity, where some of these draftees have definite roadblocks in front of them in the form of quarterbacks entrenched as starters.

Of course, a few more quarterbacks will still come off the board in the next 50+ picks, and a couple more will be snagged as undrafted free agents. Maybe Stephen Morris of Miami, Tahj Boyd of Clemson, Garrett Gilbert of SMU, Keith Price of Washington, Brett Smith of Wyoming, or Connor Shaw of South Carolina ends up being the best of the group, although they are still waiting to hear their names called.

Extra Points: Sherman, Sam, Chargers

May 7th, 2014 at 9:55pm CST by Zachary Links

With Richard Sherman‘s new deal, the Seahawks now have the NFL’s most expensive secondary with $85MM guaranteed to three players, notes Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Earlier today, Seattle locked down Sherman with a four-year, $56MM extension that will keep him in place through 2018. Here’s tonight’s roundup from around the NFL as we get set for the draft…

  • Kevin Lynch of the San Francisco Chronicle looks at Michael Sam as a potential target for the 49ers. The 49ers could have a great marketing opportunity on their hands if they tap Sam since San Francisco is a historically gay-friendly city. More importantly, they could use a pass rusher in light of Aldon Smith‘s troubles.
  • Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com runs down running back possibilities for the Chargers in the draft. On the surface, San Diego is good to go with Ryan Mathews, Danny Woodhead, and free agent pickup Donald Brown. However, Mathews and Woodhead will be free agents after the 2014 season, so the Chargers could conceivably look into an RB as insurance.
  • We heard earlier today that Cleveland GM Ray Farmer is “enamored with” Teddy Bridgewater, but he’s not the only quarterback the Browns will be eyeing if they pass on a signal-caller with the No. 4 pick. According to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (via Twitter), the club also likes Tom Savage and Jimmy Garoppolo.
  • The Browns have a big opportunity this weekend with seven picks in the top 127 and they can get it right this time, writes Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer. Pluto also feels that owner Jimmy Haslam will hold true to his word and not interfere with the decision process.
  • Scott Horner of the Indianapolis Star goes into the vaults to find out how well the Colts have drafted in the second round over the years.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

AFC East Rumors: Jets, Beckham, Savage

May 6th, 2014 at 7:20pm CST by Zachary Links

Jerod Mayo will miss Brandon Spikes now that he’s with the Bills, but he says that he and the other Patriots linebackers can step up and fill the void, writes Phil Perry of CSNNE.com. “I guess [I’ll miss] all the jokes in the meetings,” Mayo said. “Brandon is a great player. Obviously he’s not with us anymore. He brought a physicality to the game that’s kind of unprecedented as far as in the run game. He’s a good player. But at the end of the day, he’s not a Patriot right now. We’re gonna work with the guys we have in our room.” More out of the AFC East..

  • The Jets are looking to trade up with an eye on the top then and they’re hot on LSU wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. That could be a move to get ahead of the Giants, tweets Jordan Raanan of the Star-Ledger, who are also high on Beckham.
  • Greg Schiano is an unabashed fan of Tom Savage which gives weight to the talk that the Patriots could draft him, tweets Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com. The former Buccaneers and Rutgers head coach has been working with the Pats in a consulting capacity. Savage was a prized recruit at RU before he jumped ship for Arizona and then Pittsburgh.
  • A four member voting trust created by the late Ralph Wilson will ultimately decide who has submitted the winning bid to purchase the Bills, according to Bob Koshinski of AllSportsWNY. The four voting trustees are Mary Wilson, Ralph Wilson’s widow, Jeff Littman, Bills CFO and Treasurer of the Ralph Wilson Equity Fund, Mary Owen, Bills Executive Vice President of Strategic Planning, and Attorney Eugene Driker. When the final bids are evaluated the new owner must receive at least three of the four votes from the trustees appointed to approve the purchase. That provision could bode well for the Bills staying in Western New York.

AFC North Roundup: Browns, Savage, Bengals

May 5th, 2014 at 11:16am CST by Dallas Robinson

The Browns are interested in trading up in the latter half of Thursday’s draft, from the 26th pick to the 18-22 range, and the Dolphins, who hold the 18th pick, could be a match, reports Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald (on Twitter). Cleveland, which also holds the fourth overall selection, could be looking to move up and add a franchise quarterback, while Miami could try to move down, acquire more picks, and then supplement their offensive line.

More news from the AFC North awaits:

  • While Pittsburgh quarterback Tom Savage didn’t privately meet with or workout for the Ravens, he did speak with the team a few times, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun.
  • Savage was the only quarterback to visit with the Bengals in Cincinnati, but the team also privately worked out Logan Thomas, and met with A.J. McCarron and Zach Mettenberger, according to the NFL Network’s Albert Breer (via Twitter).
  • Paul Dehner, Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer believes that the Bengals purported interest in Teddy Bridgewater is merely a smoke screen, and that Cincinnati hopes a team with a quarterback need will offer to trade for the 24th pick.
  • The Ravens could look to draft a defensive lineman to replace the departed Arthur Jones, writes Matt Zenitz of the Carroll County Times. Zenitz posits Ra’Shede Hageman and Stephon Tuitt as two possible fits for Baltimore.
  • Much of the Ravens’ draft history is based on talented players falling to them, writes Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com, pointing to Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs, and Haloti Ngata as prospects whom Baltimore was lucky to acquire. But that likely won’t happen this year, as potential Ravens targets Taylor Lewan, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, and Eric Ebron probably won’t fall to the 17th pick.
  • The Steelers could use a nose tackle, but due to the limited playing time available to the position in the modern NFL, probably shouldn’t take one at pick No. 15, says Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Sulia link).
  • Steelers GM Kevin Colbert says the team won’t trade up in the first round, tweets Alan Robinson of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
  • Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (on Twitter) has more from Colbert, who says the Steelers would take an outside linebacker in the first round if a “great player” was available, despite the presence of 2013 first-rounder Jarvis Jones.

Jon Gruden Talks Quarterbacks

May 3rd, 2014 at 8:23pm CST by Peter Sowards

Nobody is more enamored with quarterbacks than former NFL head coach Jon Gruden, and he’ll be the first to tell you so.

“Oh yeah, I like quarterbacks,” Gruden said to azcentral.com’s Bob McManaman and other reporters on a conference call Saturday. “I’ve been accused of that.”

In addition to his Monday Night Football analyst duties, Gruden runs the popular series on ESPN in which he breaks down film with quarterbacks, testing athletes on their ability to draw up plays, as well as putting them through a series of on-field workouts. “Chucky” hit on a number of quarterbacks that have been talked about as first- or second-round picks, as well as a couple late-round candidates.

On Fresno State’s Derek Carr:

I do like Carr. I like the fifth-year seniors,” he said. “I think Carr is going to come in and be further along than a lot of these guys because of his vast background, two different systems. I think he’s got an excellent arm. I think he’s been challenged from a protection standpoint … (but) the fifth-year seniors will be the guys that are obviously most ready.

On Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel:

“I realize he’s under 6 feet tall. Maybe he can’t see over the pocket. But we blew that theory in the water last year with (Russell) Wilson and (Drew) Brees. I know he can learn. I spent two days with him and I know he wants to learn.”

“He had four different offensive coordinators at Texas A&M. He had two different head coaches. It didn’t matter. He adapted and did extremely well. This is the first Heisman Trophy winner as a freshman. In two years at Texas A&M, he had the most productive back-to-back seasons in SEC history. I don’t know what you want him to do. He threw for eight thousand (yards), ran for two thousand, he has 93 touchdowns. All I know is I want Manziel.”

On Alabama’s A.J. McCarron:

“I can see him certainly going in the first round. McCarron’s production speaks volumes: 36 wins, four losses, all-time record holder at Alabama in a lot of different categories. … I think he’ll be a good acquisition for someone that has a long-term plan.”

On Georgia’s Aaron Murray:

“He’s in my top five. I realize he’s got some injuries, not just the knee that he’s rehabbing right now. I don’t think many kids have thrown for 3,000 yards for four straight seasons in that conference. I just like what he is off the field.”

On Clemson’s Tajh Boyd:

“What I like about Boyd is he’s a finisher. He went back to Clemson to finish with his teammates. He is a quarterback that has a live arm. He can run. He has production passing and running. The show we did on him that I think is relative to his performance; it’s all about peaks and valleys.”

On Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater:

“I’ve done a lot of individual workouts in my past as a receivers coach, as a quarterback coach, even as a head coach. If the player didn’t work that well for me, I didn’t move them down, I took them off our board. … I’d be concerned if I were any person and I didn’t have good private workouts or I had a typically bad pro date.”

On Pittsburgh’s Tom Savage:

“Savage is one of the great American mysteries right now. Rutgers, he lost his job. He left and went to Arizona. Rich Rodriguez brought the spread offense to Tucson. He left Arizona and went to Pitt. He threw for over 60 percent. He’s a pocket passer. You can see he has a big arm. … There’s not a lot of quarterbacks in college football that drop back and throw it anymore and Savage is clearly one of them.”

On Eastern Illinois’ Jimmy Garoppolo:

“He’s not a finished product. He’s going to have some growing to do because of the system he comes from. But he’s a big, sharp prospect that I know a lot of people like.”

On Virginia Tech’s Logan Thomas:

“He reminded me of Cam Newton for obvious reasons. A dual threat that had physical presence at the position that was rare. He just hasn’t come along as a passer, a consistent passer, like maybe some people think.”

Draft Updates: WRs, Martin, Gilbert, Savage

May 2nd, 2014 at 1:46pm CST by Luke Adams

The NFL and NFLPA have agreed to make a minor change to the CBA related to rookie contracts, a league source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. According to Florio, once a player is drafted, he will automatically be deemed to have received a four-year contract offer worth the minimum salary. Previously, clubs were required to submit written notice of that tender offer before or immediately after the draft, so the change will remove a simple piece of bookkeeping, simplifying the draft process.

Here are a few more draft-related items, with less than a week remaining until the first round gets underway:

  • In a separate PFT piece, Florio reads between the lines of recent comments by the Browns‘ and Raiders‘ general managers, and suggests that perhaps those teams are trying to push another club to jump up ahead of them to grab a wide receiver like Sammy Watkins or Mike Evans.
  • Ian Rapoport of NFL.com isn’t so sure there will be a big run on wide receivers in the first round, tweeting that he has heard from many teams that intend to wait until the second or third to snag a wideout.
  • USC center Marcus Martin has been added to the list of players attending the draft next week, tweets Tom Pelissero of USA Today, noting that Martin worked out for the Saints this week.
  • Within a profile of SMU quarterback Garrett Gilbert, Pelissero adds the Bengals, Panthers, and Buccaneers to the list of clubs who had Gilbert in for a pre-draft visit.
  • Pittsburgh quarterback Tom Savage has been one of the draft’s notable risers in recent weeks, so Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com explores why that has been the case.
  • More than ever, NFL franchises are investing time and effort into making sure they identify potential character flaws that could dissuade them from drafting a prospect, as Dan Pompei of Bleacher Report details. Teams’ approaches include everything from psychological testing to combing through all of a player’s tweets.
  • Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post has a few updates on prospects, writing that N.C. State tight end Asa Watson (Ben Watson‘s brother) has visited the Giants, and tweeting that a couple of NFL head coaches have called Old Dominion offensive lineman Jack Lowney within the last few days. Wilson also reports that Rutgers wide receiver Quron Pratt visited the Patriots and Dolphins and worked out for the Jets and Giants.
  • The Jets worked out Adams State kicker David Van Voris today, according to Wilson (via Twitter).

Draft Updates: Bucs, Bills, McCarron, Savage

April 29th, 2014 at 2:54pm CST by Luke Adams

A handful of teams picking at the top of next week’s draft have expressed an openness to move down in the first round, and we can add the Buccaneers to this list. Speaking to reporters today, including Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com, Tampa Bay GM Jason Licht didn’t rule out the possibility of trading down.

“That’s definitely something we’d look into,” Licht said. “We’ve already reached out to teams. If our player isn’t there, we’d be open to conversations about moving back.”

Here are several more draft-related items for Tuesday afternoon:

  • Within his latest mock draft at ESPN.com, Todd McShay cites three league sources who have told him in the past week that the Bills are trying to trade up from No. 9. According to McShay, if Buffalo does make a move, it will likely be to land Jadeveon Clowney, Sammy Watkins, or Greg Robinson.
  • Appearing on The Paul Finebaum Show, Alabama signal-caller A.J. McCarron suggested he’s been told he could be drafted as high as 16th in the draft, which is the spot the Cowboys currently hold (link via Andrew Gribble of AL.com).
  • Pittsburgh quarterback Tom Savage quietly made a pre-draft visit to the Jets last week, reports Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (via Twitter).
  • After previously identifying a few teams who hosted Northern Illinois safety Jimmie Ward, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com names a few more, tweeting that Ward also visited the Colts, Saints, Texans, and Vikings.
  • LSU guard Trai Turner has worked out privately for the Lions, Buccaneers, Panthers, Falcons, and Saints, according to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post. Wilson adds that Turner also visited the Cowboys, Cardinals, Colts, and Dolphins.
  • Kansas wide receiver and special teams ace Josh Ford has drawn interest from the Packers, Panthers, Texans, Jets, and Chiefs, tweets Wilson.
  • The Giants, Jets, and Lions were among the teams to host Maryland cornerback Dexter McDougle for a pre-draft visit, writes Wilson.
  • Finally, Wilson reports that Wisconsin defensive tackle Beau Allen had a total of eight visits and three private workouts, and tweets that Albany tackle Kadeem Williams has been informed he’s on an AFC South team’s draft board.

Extra Points: Orton, Roos, Savage

April 21st, 2014 at 10:52pm CST by Rory Parks

Today marked the first day of voluntary offseason workouts for the Cowboys, and backup QB Kyle Orton was absent, according to Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Given conflicting reports earlier this offseason concerning whether Orton wanted to retire from the game, Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com writes that it is a “strange absence.”

However, Watkins points to earlier statements made by Orton’s agent, David Dunn, who said retirement was not an option for his client. And, as Williams points out, these are voluntary workouts, and the Cowboys remain hopeful that Orton will return (Twitter link). Nonetheless, this will be an interesting story to keep an eye on in the coming days, much more interesting than most stories involving backup signal-callers.

Now for some some quick notes from around the league to close out the evening:

Extra Points: Savage, Jets, Redskins, Draft

April 20th, 2014 at 4:48pm CST by Dallas Robinson

On Easter Sunday in 2009, the Eagles traded quarterback Donovan McNabb to the Redskins for a second-round pick (as noted on Twitter by Pro Football Talk). The transaction obviously occurred before the advent of Pro Football Rumors, but looking back, it was a clear win for the Eagles, as McNabb quickly entered his decline phase and Philadelphia prospered with Michael Vick at the helm. Of course, the division rivals were in the headlines again this offseason, as receiver DeSean Jackson was released by the Eagles and quickly bolted for the nation’s capital.

Here are some notes from around the league on this Sunday afternoon:

  • The Bengals visited with quarterback Tom Savage about a week ago in Cincinnati, and so far, he is the only QB the team has brought to its facilities, tweets Albert Breer of NFL.com. The Bengals are expected to select a quarterback at some point on day two or three of the draft.
  • Texas Tech tight end Jace Amaro will meet with Jets this week, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (via Twitter).
  • Metha also notes (on Twitter) that the Jets will take a visit with Boise State edge player Demarcus Lawrence on Tuesday.
  • There are several options to replace the retired London Fletcher at middle linebacker in the Redskins’ 3-4 defense, but the top two choices seem to be Keenan Robinson and Darryl Sharpton, according to Rich Tandler and Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington.com.
  • Receiver prospects who know how to run option routes — rather the predetermined plays, which are becoming less popular due to the spread offense — could have an edge both in terms of draft position and NFL success, explains Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Draft Notes: Jets, Patriots, Donald, Savage

April 20th, 2014 at 2:52pm CST by Dallas Robinson

A few notes as we get ever closer to the 2014 NFL Draft:

  • A trio of receivers will meet with the Jets in the upcoming days, tweets Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. The team will meet with Marqise Lee today and Monday, Odell Beckham on Monday and Tuesday, and Brandin Cooks later in the week.
  • Also in the market for defensive backfield help, the Jets will meet with two cornerbacks (according to Mehta on Twitter): Jason Verrett tomorrow and Darqueze Dennard on Friday.
  • The Patriots worked out Northern Arizona cornerback Anders Battle in early March, reports Zuri Berry of Boston.com. Battle, who has now earned his first mention in the pages of PFR, accrued 57 tackles and two interceptions last season, and reportedly ran a 4.57 40-yard-dash at his Pro Day.
  • Two Pittsburgh Panthers have turned down invitations to the draft proceedings at Radio City Music Hall. Jerry DiPaola of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that defensive tackle Aaron Donald rejected the offer due to personal reasons, while the Pitt Football Twitter account noted that quarterback Tom Savage turned down the invitation (without citing a reason). I would guess that Savage realizes he likely will not be a first-round pick and does not want to become a spectacle for the cameras.
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