My apologies to those who think it is insensitive to talk about the Eagles on the day of a tragedy. I’m a creature of habit so the way I deal with stuff like this is to just stick with my normal routine.

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We’ve talked a lot about Geno Smith. We’ve talked a bit about Ryan Nassib, EJ Manuel, and some other early QBs. What about the rest of the draft? If I had my way, I would not spend a 1st or 2nd round pick on a QB this year.

There are not great options at QB anywhere in this draft, but there are some players who are intriguing.

Zac Dysert – 6-3, 231 – Miami OH – Zac is a player the Eagles have shown some interest in. And they should. I think he’s athletic enough to play in Chip Kelly’s offense. I love his size. Dysert isn’t a huge 6-5 guy, but he’s got a thick build and he can take a hit. Zac throws well on the move. He’s not afraid to throw into coverage. Some college QBs come to the NFL and need receivers to be wide open or they hesitate. Dysert can “throw a guy open”. We don’t know if he can do that at the NFL level, but the fact he’s got that mentality is huge. Zac carried his team for 4 years. They only had one winning season, but he had little talent around him. I do think he can develop into a starter in the NFL. I would be comfortable spending a 3rd round pick on him. I could see Dysert going as early as the 2nd round or lasting to the 4th.

Matt Scott – 6-2, 213 – Arizona – I wish Scott had another year of college eligibility left. He could really be something with more time to develop. Scott is physically gifted. You put on an Arizona game and Scott jumps off the screen. He plays full speed. Scott ran for 506 yards and 6 TDs this year. He threw for 3,620 yards and 27 TDs. Arizona was 7th in total offense and 15th in scoring. The problem is that Rich Rodriguez was the coach and his offense isn’t NFL-oriented. Scott threw a ton of short passes. While he has the physical ability to be an NFL QB, he needs to work on his QB skills. I don’t think Scott can challenge for a job initially. I think he’ll need a season of coaching. The reasons to love him are his running ability and the fact he’s a natural passer. He has a good arm and quick release. He has pretty good accuracy. Scott did throw 14 INTs. He simply makes bad decisions on some throws. Aggressive is good, but you don’t want to force the ball into a situation where there is more chance for a bad outcome than good. Scott did that at times. He had a good week of practice at the Shrine Game and did some good things in the game. I think getting him to someone who knows how to coach passing QBs will do Matt a world of good. If the Eagles love him, he’s worth a 3rd rounder. I’d be more comfortable with him in the 4th round.

Ryan Griffin – 6-4, 221 – Tulane – Would Chip Kelly be interested in another pocket passer? Griffin isn’t much of an athlete, but he is a good passer. Like Dysert, he suffered through a rough career of being on bad teams. Will it bother NFL teams that Griffin never played in a big game? That might be more of a concern if Griffin was being looked at as an early pick, but he’s not at that level. I do think Griffin has the potential to be a starter in the NFL. The question is if he’s athletic enough and can handle the pressure of big games and tight situations. I’m sure he would welcome the chance to play with talented players rather than having to carry a team on his back. Griffin played in the Texas vs The Nation all star game and was the MVP. I think of him as a 5th round type of prospect.

Jeff Tuel – 6-3, 215 – Washington State – Tough player to evaluate. Started some as a Freshman and then had an impressive Soph year. Threw for 2,780 yards and 18 TDs. Got hurt and basically missed all of his Junior season. WSU made a coaching change and that meant a new offense for his Senior year. Tuel didn’t look very comfortable in the new scheme. He also had to deal with an injury. If you go back and watch the 2010 tape, Tuel looks like a Chip Kelly QB. He throws the ball well, short and downfield. He can run for 1st downs. He’s tough. There is a lot to like. Tuel had a good workout at his Pro Day. He is a good athlete. He definitely has NFL ability. What’s his value, though? It won’t shock me for him to go as early as the 5th round or undrafted. If you get the 2010 guy, you’ve got a good prospect. The 2012 player wasn’t nearly as impressive.

I haven’t had a chance to thoroughly check out these guys:

Jordan Rodgers – Vanderbilt (Aaron’s brother)

Brad Sorensen – Southern Utah

Colby Cameron – La Tech

Seth Doege – Texas Tech

Mike Herman – RPI

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Apparently Jon Gruden had some very favorable things to say about Ryan Nassib. Greg Cosell has Nassib as his top QB in the draft. I like Nassib as well, but also have some concerns. I’d be okay if the Eagles took him in the 2nd, but it doesn’t seem like he’ll get that far.

It really will be interesting to see how teams go after QBs. Have teams learned their lesson? Jake Locker, Christian Ponder, Tim Tebow, and Mark Sanchez are recent QBs that were over-drafted. Each player had some issues that should have pushed them down the draft board.

I won’t be shocked if 3 or 4 guys go in the 1st round this year or just one does. It’s that kind of a bizarre QB class. All these guys have some talent and potential, but all of them also have issues.

We hope that the 2014 class will be much better, but let’s remember that this group had high hopes last summer. We expected Matt Barkley to have a great Senior year. Mike Glennon and Tyler Bray were big pocket passers expected to have big years. There was hope that Logan Thomas would light it up for Va Tech. We knew Tyler Wilson would light it up in Bobby Petrino’s offense. EJ Manuel was set to have a breakthrough season. And so on.

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The new MAQB column is up. Gimpy takes a look at the Emmanuel Sanders RFA situation. He also talks about the Patriots inability to draft and develop a WR. You’ll be surprised at how inept they’ve been. Good stuff.

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