North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz, another of the draft’s top QBs, measured with 10-inch hands on Thursday.
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Wentz’s de facto agent at the combine, former North Dakota State teammate and left tackle Joe Haeg, was predictably just as confident about his close friend’s ability to step into the league and become the next Joe Flacco, Tony Romo or Steve McNair, all quarterbacks who made successful leaps from FCS schools to the NFL.
Goff and Wentz, interestingly, have been training together this winter in Irvine, California.
Maintaining focus off the field while recovering from a serious injury is just as good a sign of a hardworking player as a quarterback willing to stand in the pocket to take hits, and it shows Wentz very much has the work ethic for at least a shot at the next level.
Jared Goff has a dubious little item on his resume that could make him an ideal fit as the future quarterback of the Cleveland Browns. Goff broke pair of Pac-12 single-season records in his final campaign as a 2015 junior when he passed for 4,719 yards and 43 touchdowns to lead an 8-5 Cal team to a winning record and bowl game for the first time since 2011 as well as a post-season win for the first time since 2008.
Robinson struggled to get out of his own way in college with four suspensions (six total games) in three seasons that spanned two different coaching staffs. Robinson was up front about his issues but pointed out that he hasn’t tested positive for marijuana since his freshman season. Most infamously, he threw five interceptions against Utah in what was supposed to be a showcase game for a Heisman Trophy hopeful. “I mean, my hand size is what it’s going to be”.
“A little bit”, Wentz said of whether this whirlwind of excitement and possibility has been a bit overwhelming. The secret of good guard play? “Was able to finish out the season pretty well, which I was happy about”. Today, Kelly was asked about possibly drafting a quarterback with nine-inch hands, although Goff’s name wasn’t mentioned.
Some believe that could be a problem, especially in bad and cold weather games.
“I just heard about that yesterday”, Goff said Thursday, via NBC Sports. “I heard (here) I have small hands, apparently … But I’ve never had a problem with that and I don’t expect it to be a problem”.
Baalke was asked about Wentz, and the quarterback’s eventual transition from FCS level football to the NFL.
He was projected by some to be at best a fringe first-round pick at best early on in the process.
Sometimes the big-time quarterbacks ticketed for the high end of the first round are obvious.
“I think it’s a flip of a coin right now between those two quarterbacks, ” Kiper said on a conference call Monday. I think they’re both logical people. Obviously there’s still going to be a big jump going forward, but that was probably the big question everyone wants to know. “All these guys are FBS guys”, Wentz said. “But I’ve been working really hard on doing it”. North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz and Memphis’ Paxton Lynch were at 10.
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“I think right away the biggest challenge that myself, anybody standing up here at this podium, is going to say is adjusting to that speed”, Wentz said.
