The NFL Combine is a media extravaganza that features some of the most renowned analysts in the world, along with almost every coach in the league. One of the draft experts is Pete Prisco of CBS Sports.
In an interview with Vikings.com reporter Mike Wobschall, Prisco didn’t speak highly of any of the top quarterbacks in the draft – Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel, Central Florida’s Blake Bortles, Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater and Fresno State’s Derek Carr.
“When you look at this draft class, one of the top four or five guys will end up being a starting quarterback – maybe to that level, it’s hard to say,” Prisco said. “I don’t see a guy right now to that level, so to answer your question I’d probably say no.”
As for finding a quarterback in free-agency, Prisco said “absolutely not.”
NFL Network’s Mike Mayock agrees to a certain extent, telling KFAN’s Paul Allen that Manziel, Bortles and Bridgewater are talented, but maybe not to the level of a franchise-changing quarterback.
“I like all three, but none of them is Andrew Luck,” Mayock said.
After watching tape on Manziel, Mayock compared him to a combination of former Viking great Fran Tarkenton and former Bills and Chargers short, yet quality quarterback Doug Flutie.
“The first tape I put in was Alabama, and I put the tape down about two hours later and said, ‘Wow, that was awesome,'” Mayock said, via NFL.com. “It was really fun to watch. The kid made throws, he allows other players to make plays, he gave Mike Evans a chance to make plays. He extended plays. He was a combination of Fran Tarkenton and Doug Flutie. I really enjoyed it, and there were two or three more tapes like that.”
