Not a Vic Fangio question, but it's been bothering me since Monday.

What if -- in years to come -- a superstar 19-year old QB plays in a foreign league so can be signed immediately (no college)? It might not happen for 20 years or so, but it's an interesting concept.

-- @martynrich (via Twitter)

Because this player took part in a foreign league, I expect that he would be treated like Eric Swann, a defensive lineman who became the then-Phoenix Cardinals' first-round pick in 1991. After graduating from high school in 1989 and being ruled academically ineligible to play as a college freshman, he played for the semi-pro Bay State Titans in Massachusetts in 1990, then became eligible for the draft the following year.

In recent years, you had the example of Moritz Böhringer, a sixth-round pick of the Vikings in 2016 who just signed a reserve-future contract with the Bengals after spending 2018 on their practice squad. Böhringer, a wide receiver who converted to tight end last year, spent three seasons in German leagues – including 2015 campaign in the German Football League that resulted in being named that circuit's Rookie of the Year -- before Minnesota drafted him. His example is different than Swann's, because at the time of his drafting, Böhringer was 22 years old and years into his university studies.

One would expect that a player who was not a product of the U.S. educational system and took part in an overseas league at age 18 or 19 would be allowed to follow the same path Swann, especially since it would put him into the draft pool, giving teams a more structured opportunity to evaluate and select the player. However, that hypothetical player of whom you speak could opt to challenge the process entirely and sign with a team without going through the draft.