Brady Quinn: Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins top QB prospect in 2019 NFL draft

When it comes to quarterbacks, the 2019 NFL Draft doesn’t figure to offer anything approaching the depth seen a year ago.

Quarterback conversation dominated the NFL Scouting Combine, and rightly so as five players at the position wound up being selected in the first round, including top overall pick Baker Mayfield.

‘Of all the guys I saw with the exception of Kyler Murray, you weren’t going to find a more talented passer’

This year, the QB talk at the Combine and for the draft mainly focuses on Kyler Murray of Oklahoma and Dwayne Haskins of Ohio State. As far as former NFL quarterback Brady Quinn is concerned, Haskins is the better of the two.

“To me, of all the guys I saw with the exception of Kyler Murray, you weren’t going to find a more talented passer,” Quinn said on the SiriusXM Blitz. “He is, in my opinion, the top quarterback prospect in this draft. Now his film isn’t going to be as good as Kyler Murray. Kyler Murray’s the top talent at the quarterback position. But you have some reservations about him with the height, weight, baseball, all that sort of thing.

‘He’s got a great base, he’s accurate’

“But when you look at the way Dwayne Haskins throws, he consistently throws from a solid platform. He’s got a great base, he’s accurate. It doesn’t matter if it’s short crossing routes that are sometimes more problematic for guys to the left and to the right; he’s spot on there. He’s good with timing routes and rhythm on the intermediate throws like your pro out, as they call it. He’s great layering the football downfield, meaning throwing over a defender but getting to a wide receiver in front of the next defender in the secondary. And he’s good at throwing deep balls.”

“I mean, you’re going to watch the ball jump out of his hand. He’s going to spin it as well as everyone.”

Quinn thinks Haskins made a wise choice to throw during Combine drills. Quinn only sees it as allowing Haskins to enhance his draft stock.

‘I wouldn’t be shocked if someone didn’t trade up to get him’

“He’ll come away with very high regards,” Quinn said. “I mean, you’re going to watch the ball jump out of his hand. He’s going to spin it as well as everyone. He’s got a very fluid, compact motion. I’m very high on this young man. I wouldn’t be shocked if someone didn’t trade up to get him and I think it ultimately comes down to him or Kyler Murray as the first quarterback taken.”

Among the standout qualities Quinn expects Haskins to verify during Combine drills is the exceptional speed with which he goes through his progression reads.

‘He knows how to disperse the football, and seldom did I ever feel like he missed a read’

“This is something he and Daniel Jones (of Duke) do as well as any other quarterback in the draft — you see them move through their progression really fast,” Quinn said. “And they find the check down. And it’s like so rare to see that in college football now. … Like knowing that, ‘Alright, one, two, three’s not there. Boom, I’m down to four. I’m down to my running back, down to my outlet.’ Or, ‘One, two, boom, I’m hitting my running back.’ He knows how to disperse the football, and seldom did I ever feel like he missed a read.

“He’s a good decision-maker for the most part; he’s forced some throws at times. I thought he handled coming back in games, too, from adversity. The only thing he doesn’t do really well is he doesn’t move with a ton of suddenness and in the pocket. Not like a deer in headlights, but there’s times when he just doesn’t have a feel for it. And then he doesn’t throw well on the run to his left. Outside of that, those are kind of the only two little weaknesses I’d say in regards to Dwayne as a prospect.”