Bell: Savvy teams may pick from second tier of quarterbacks Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY Sports 1:12AM EDT April 11, 2014
(Photo: Daniel Shirey, USA TODAY Sports)Take your pick. Johnny Manziel. Teddy Bridgewater. Blake Bortles.Or none of the above.For all off the buzz and varying opinions about the three top-rated quarterbacks in the upcoming NFL draft — all widely projected to be selected in the first round — the best value mighty come after the Day 1 picks.How second-tier quarterbacks such as Fresno State's Derek Carr, Eastern Illinois' Jimmy Garoppolo and LSU's Zach Mettenberger come off the board might be just as important.It's no wonder that ESPN analyst Jon Gruden gushed on-air Thursday about Georgia's Aaron Murray."He'll be the steal of the draft for somebody," Gruden exclaimed.If Murray, like Mettenberger coming off a torn ACL, isn't the steal then perhaps it will be Alabama's AJ McCarron or Pittsburgh's Tom Savage."Of the entire class, maybe three of them will develop into solid NFL quarterbacks," ESPN analyst Todd McShay told USA TODAY Sports. "But it doesn't always work out that the best are the first three."Six of the teams positioned in the top eight slots of the draft are in the mix to select a quarterback — Houston, Jacksonville, Cleveland, Oakland, Minnesota and even Tampa Bay.Yet with the overall talent pool considered the deepest in years, it might be wiser to land a safer, more promising player at another position before choosing a hit-or-miss signal-caller in the second round or beyond.Whether the quarterback run begins early or late in the first round will provide an intriguing subplot to this year's draft.The Browns are best-positioned with multiple first-round picks (fourth, 26th).The temptation will be to pull the trigger on a quarterback with the fourth pick. McShay has Cleveland selecting Central Florida's Bortles — conveniently compared to Ohio native Ben Roethlisberger because of his size and arm strength.Bridgewater, meanwhile, entered the draft process deemed as the most NFL-ready quarterback in the crop. A less-than-impressive pro day seemingly affected his stock more than normal — if the rankings by analysts reflect the opinions of the teams.McShay says Bridgewater, the Louisville product, "is still the most consistent," which must count for something — even amid concerns about his slight frame.Manziel is the undeniable wild card. There are so many questions about whether his scrambling style will translate to the NFL. But it would be a stunner if he lasted past the halfway mark of the first round considering his exciting upside.Roger Staubach, the Dallas Cowboys icon, told the NFL Network this week that if he were in the position of the Houston Texans and picking No. 1 overall, he would select Manziel over Jadeveon Clowney.Staubach likened Manziel, slightly shorter than 6-0, to Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson.Which reminds us. The Seattle Seahawks drafted Wilson in the third round in 2012, after five other quarterbacks had already been taken.Nick Foles, who lit up the league last season in Chip Kelly's offense with the Eagles, was nabbed by Philadelphia 13 picks after Wilson.In 2011 — the year Jake Locker, Blaine Gabbert and Christian Ponder joined No. 1 pick Cam Newton in the first round — Cincinnati landed Andy Dalton and San Francisco grabbed Colin Kaepernick with second-round picks. Locker, Gabbert and Ponder have a combined 27 regular-season victories. Dalton and Kaepernick, meanwhile, have 47 combined and are already playoff regulars.This is an era when young quarterbacks can get on the field quickly — and the draft status matters only so much.
