BRIAN HOWARD
CARSON CITY, NV
I've read here multiple times and heard through the different shows that a potential mid to late round draft pick could be the landing place for a quarterback. What QB's do we see that may land in a 3-4 round pick that will be available for us? Jimmy Garoppolo? A.J. McCarron?
Rowan: I think either of those guys could go between the second and fourth rounds. LSU's Zach Mettenberger and Georgia's Aaron Murray, both coming off major injuries, could fall to that mid-round area as well. I think those are the likeliest candidates at this point, in addition to San Jose State's David Fales. There could be a potential long-time starter in that group, but the pecking order among quarterbacks in this draft will jump and dip a bunch in the coming months.
David: It would be pretty fortuitous if McCarron fell to a spot where the Cowboys could take him without using an expensive pick. He seems like the right kind of guy to sit for a few years and learn behind a veteran, and then who knows what he could become? I agree with Rowan about the other two SEC guys, as well. Another guy that intrigues me is Virginia Tech's Logan Thomas. We saw him at the Senior Bowl, and he definitely didn't light the world on fire, but he showed flashes. His size and athleticism make him an interesting prospect.
CLINTON ROBBINS
MASCOUTAH, IL
If we run a "similar" defense as Seattle, why does it always seem like they have guys playing man to man but also zone? When our defense ran zone coverage, the defensive backs were never close to the wide receivers, but Seattle always seems to have DB's on their WR's.
Rowan:I think the obvious point is they have better defenders as a group. There's a reason they're the most feared defense in the league. For the most part, they're much more physical at the line and Seattle's coaches [embedded_ad] trust if any of their defensive backs are one-on-one with a receiver, they're probably going to win that matchup. In addition, Seattle got more pressure quickly on the quarterback, giving the defensive backs less time to be forced to cover.
David: I think it goes back to what we've talked about regarding size. Richard Sherman is 6-3, 195 pounds, Byron Maxwell is 6-1, 207 pounds, and Brandon Browner is 6-4, 221 pounds. That's absolutely monstrous size for cornerbacks. Morris Claiborne, Brandon Carr and Orlando Scandrick all sit in the 5-10, 190-195 pounds range – which is more traditional size for the position. Quite simply, I think the Seahawks' defensive backs are a bit better equipped to win those physical matchups. And when they don't get physical, like Rowan said, they have a pass rush that helps compensate.
