By Sean Gannon

February 24, 2020

Kyler Murray (Pick 1, Arizona Cardinals: 5-10-1)

Stats: 3,722 pass yards, 64.4% completion, 20 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, 544 rush, 4 touchdowns, 3 fumbles lost. *Started full season*

He won offensive rookie of the year which speaks for itself. As the first pick under an air raid offense that many did not think would translate to the NFL, Murray was able to find a lot of success. We saw all the flashes people wanted to see from college, the quickness, elusiveness, and the ability to extend plays were prevalent throughout the season as well as the arm strength so many people were enticed by. He by far was the most successful rookie quarterback this year and it looks as though him and Christian Kirk were beginning to make a great connection as the season went on. Larry Fitzgerald is back for another year and will continue to allow Murray grow in his second year with to ability to throw to someone who never drops the ball. I think both Kenyan Drake and David Johnson will provide a really great air attack for this offense out of the back field as well as a great 1-2 punch on the ground. They are in a great spot in this upcoming draft with the 8^th pick to either acquire an offensive lineman or a young offensive play maker (CeeDee Lamb maybe?) to help Murray take his next step in what could/should be a pro-bowl year two.

Daniel Jones (Pick 8, New York Giants 4-12)

Stats: 3,027 pass yards, 61.9% completion, 24 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, 279 rush yards, 2 touchdowns 6 fumbles lost. *Started 12 Games (injury/didn’t start week 1 and 2)*

            So let me start off by saying we all owe Daniel Jones an apology (myself included) because even I wasn’t his biggest fan when the Giants took him with the 8^th pick last year. That being said they saw something that we did not, he is a franchise guy. The record doesn’t show the full story, the Giants (as was the issue the last few years) had a bad offensive line that continued to allow pressure right into Jones face. On top of that, the trade of OBJ, and a four game PED suspension for Golden Tate, there wide receiver position became incredibly weak (but Darius Slayton balled out). Jones made some incredible plays including his first start in Tampa Bay where he led the Giants to a comeback victory in which he ran right up the middle on a 4^th and 5 for a game winning touchdown. The fact is the kid can play and he is far more athletic than Eli (sorry Eli) ever was allowing the Giants to really open up more of their offense. Barkley had a down year in his second year in the league, but with his talent he will be back next year and all of the New York but especially Jones will rejoice. One thing Jones will need to work on is holding onto that football when the pressure is coming. There were far too many fumbles (12 total) then any team wants to see from their quarterback, with that being said this was his rookie year and this is a growing pain of transitioning to the NFL. He should be ready to take a big step if the Giants can make a few offseason moves and give Jones the protection he needs, and that run game is back to what we saw two years ago.

Dwayne Haskins (Pick 15, Washington Redskins 3-13)

Stats: 1,365 pass yards, 58.6% completion, 7 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, 101 rush yards, 0 touchdowns, 3 fumbles. *7 starts, 8 games played in*

            Haskins didn’t play great out of the first-round quarterbacks, and honestly out of all the rookie quarterbacks we saw, he might have been the weakest. The Redskins had a bad year overall, they got rid of their head coach midseason, the running game wasn’t the strongest even though Peterson (34) still almost rushed for a thousand yards, and outside of another rookie (Terry Mclauren) the receiving game was terrible. All in all he really had nothing to work with throughout the season but at the same time the game play that we were able to witness didn’t look great either, in his only two wins of the season Haskins didn’t throw a touchdown and didn’t even eclipse 160 yards passing, not what you want to see from your quarterback of the future. With all of this being said the Redskins had a terrible offensive line, in all the eight games that Haskins played, he was sacked a total of 29 times which is far too much for how short of a season he played. If Ron Rivera and Washington’s front office want Haskins to be there guy they are going to either have to hire a new offensive lines coach or go out there in the draft and get another guy that can help protect their young quarterback. Second years are always difficult with quarterbacks and you hope that this rookie season doesn’t carry over. If overall improvement of play from Haskins doesn’t happen he could easily be viewed as a “bust” when you look back at the 2019 draft, and the Giants look like genius’s for not taking Haskins like everyone assumed they were going to.