Could Denver, Minnesota or Las Vegas overreach for Michael Penix Jr. or Bo Nix? | Zero Blitz
Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz is joined by NFL writer Frank Schwab to debate whether the Broncos, Vikings, or Raiders overdraft the former Washington and Oregon quarterbacks. Hear the full conversation on the “Zero Blitz” podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
JASON FITZ: Play this scenario out with me. Denver, Minnesota, Vegas all try to trade up to three or four. They're told, no. We're just playing this out. They're told no. No matter what they offer, they can't get up to four. So now you've got these teams picking 11, 12, 13. And likely, by then, the top four quarterbacks are all off the board. None of them were able to get them. So now, all of a sudden, you're looking at Bo Nix and Michael Penix, Jr. I've seen some mocks that have them both in the second round. I've seen some mocks that have them both in the middle of the first round.
So you're sitting there. And all your draft charts are telling you, well, you can't take Penix at 13. You can't take Penix. You can't take Bo Nix at 12. Do you trade down and then hope that things are going to be there, which means you're hoping nobody else trades back up? You're hoping that Seattle doesn't surprise everybody by taking a quarterback. I still think that that should be something they should look at. You're hoping everybody plays nice the way you've projected the board. And you can still get your quarterback.
Do you take that risk to get more equity, Frank? Or do you just stay where you are, take the heat that comes with overdrafting, because it's a quarterback, and just get your guy, even though there's a chance they might still be there when day two starts?
FRANK SCHWAB: Let's say you really, really like Michael Penix, and you're the Broncos. You don't try to play that game of trading back and hoping he's there, because you don't know what the other teams are thinking. You talked about Mina and laughing at the Daniel Jones pick. And everybody killed them for drafting him sixth. The Giants, I've always maintained-- they also had the 17th pick that year. The Giants had no idea what teams seven through 16 were thinking, none. We're surprised at the draft every single year.
And if you are sold on one of those guys, if you think Michael Penix-- we like what he does. We like the arm strength. We're good with the medicals. We've seen what he's done on film. We like Michael Penix. You draft your guy. You don't worry about what the rest of the league is going to think or how you're going to get criticized or what trade value charts or whatever. No, get your guy. Don't worry about the criticism. Have a belief that this is the right guy. Not every team is going to get their quarterback. We're going to be sitting here saying, wow, the Raiders or whoever-- I mean, not to bring up the Raiders just for you. But the Raiders didn't get anybody. They didn't want to pay the piper to go up and get Bo Nix or whatever it's going to be.
Or what if the Broncos-- like [INAUDIBLE] now there are reports out there that Sean Payton wants to mortgage the future for a quarterback, which-- maybe he does. Do you get the right quarterback? Do you get the one you want? I just think the different competition between these teams to get their quarterback is going to be fascinating to watch on Thursday night to see what they do, how they do it, what they have to give up. It's really, really interesting to see this kind of gold rush for pretty much JJ McCarthy, right? I mean, after JJ McCarthy goes, I think you do start wondering, do we really got to trade up to draft Bo Nix? Probably not. So it's going to be very interesting to see what happens with these pocket of teams that need a quarterback, and there's not enough quarterbacks to fill all the spots.