FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- One of the notable storylines for the New England Patriots in the 2018 draft is how they view the quarterbacks, and if there is a possibility of identifying a promising prospect worthy of developing behind Tom Brady. It is always interesting to hear different, informed viewpoints of the prospects, and with NFL Network's Mike Mayock holding a conference call on Monday afternoon, the following question was asked of him: Knowing the assets the Patriots have in the draft, who might stand out based on film study?
"Historically what [Bill Belichick] has shown you, and you can go back to before [Jimmy] Garoppolo and [Jacoby] Brissett -- he took a third-round pick on Ryan Mallett. So it's second- and third-round picks with the anticipation of Tom Brady having to retire some day. It's getting more and more urgent, obviously," Mayock said.
"If you take a look out there, the one way-outside-the-box conversation is Lamar Jackson, who I think is the most electrifying player in this draft. I think somebody is going to take him and commit their offensive philosophy to him. I would tell you the most nervous 31 people in the league will be the defensive coordinators that would have to play against him. It's a different kind of commitment, a different kind of philosophy, and I'm not suggesting the Patriots are going to do that. I just want to get that out there, in general, for anybody looking at quarterbacks.
"As far as the Patriots are concerned, I think there are some interesting second- and third-round potential quarterbacks this year. Mason Rudolph from Oklahoma State is a really logical player -- prototypical drop-back type of guy. I don't think he has great escapability, but I think he can do what the Patriots' offense asks him to do. Along with him, I'd say Luke Falk [of Washington State] and Mike White [of Western Kentucky] are very interesting players, and then a notch below that I'd say Kyle Lauletta [of Richmond] and Logan Woodside [of Toledo].
"If you look at the five potential first-rounders [Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Josh Allen, Baker Mayfield, Jackson], plus Mason Rudolph, Falk, White, Lauletta and Woodside, that's 10 quarterbacks. In a typical draft, there are only about 11 to 12 quarterbacks that get drafted overall. So I think there is a little bit better quality in the top end, through three or four rounds, than we're used to seeing."
Later in his call, Mayock was asked specifically about Lauletta and said, "He's an interesting guy. The Senior Bowl has propelled a lot of quarterbacks in the last 15 years, not necessarily just first-round guys, but other guys. I think he opened some eyes at the Senior Bowl. ... He does everything well, maybe does not have any one elite trait. Case Keenum reminds me of that a little bit, those kind of traits when he came out. I think he kind of went from an afterthought to somebody that could legitimately be a third- or fourth-round quarterback in the NFL."
Likewise, of Woodside, Mayock said: "What I like about him, the kid makes a lot of plays. He has a little bit of a chip on his shoulder, he wasn't recruited and all the rest of that; he's a self-made kid. I watched three of his tapes -- he broke all of Bruce Gradkowski's [Toledo] records -- and every ball was in a good location that I saw. His accuracy; he was a 69-percent [passer] one year, a 63 another -- forget those numbers. He put the ball where the receivers could run with it. So at halftime of the Miami game, they're up 16-10 and he continued to push the ball down the field. The Miami game, I really liked. That chip on his shoulder, where 'Why didn't you recruit me?' -- you could almost see it on tape. So when I looked at him earlier, I kind of put he and Kyle Lauletta in the same kind of conversation because they are similar height, body types etc. But I think Logan Woodside has not gotten enough credit and he's a guy I'm looking forward to watching throw the football at the combine."