If WFT is thinking QB in the draft, here are two names that make sense originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The 2021 NFL Draft is inching closer and closer by the day. But seemingly, more questions than answers have been popping up regarding almost every pick, especially at the quarterback position. Potential franchise QBs are not in short supply this year, with presumed no. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence leading the pack.
Beyond Lawrence, the order of quarterbacks selected in the draft is anyone’s guess. The Washington Football Team made serious offseason moves in 2021 to bolster the position by signing veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick to a one-year deal and NFC Wild Card game star Taylor Heinicke to a two-year contract. However, there are no illusions that either of these players are long-term solutions for Washington.
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If the Burgundy and Gold does decide to utilize the draft to nab that long-term solution, here are two names that make sense, courtesy of the Washington Football Talk podcast crew:
Kyle Trask, senior, Florida (43 TD, 8 INT, 68.9 CMP% in 2020)
At one point during the tumultuous 2020 college football season, Kyle Trask was a clear Heisman frontrunner. Leading the Gators to an 8-3 regular season record before losing to Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl, Trask turned heads with his remarkable accuracy and leadership.
“The quarterback that I look to is Kyle Trask. I think it’d be a dream for the Washington Football Team to be able to get the Florida Gators’ star,” JP Finlay said. “I like his leadership, I like his poise. Go look at his SEC Championship tape against Alabama and tell me that guy can’t play in the NFL.”
Trask did show out on the biggest stage in that game with 408 yards and three touchdowns on 26-of-40 passing. He looked NFL-ready against a vaunted Crimson Tide defense.
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Davis Mills, senior, Stanford (7 TD, 3 INT 66.2 CMP% in 2020)
Mills’ numbers don’t jump off the page nearly as much as Trask’s, but nonetheless, the Duluth, Georgia, native proved his caliber in his senior season with Stanford. Although Mills has only thrown for 18 total touchdowns during his collegiate career, he led the Cardinal to a four-game winning streak to end 2020, capped off by a double-overtime victory over UCLA in which he threw for 428 yards. Both Mitch Tischler and Pete Hailey agree on this one.
“I like Davis Mills. I think with the extra third-round pick [the Washington Football Team has] at the end of that round, I think that the former Stanford quarterback is a guy that they should target,” Tischler said. “He’s a big body, he’s 6-foot-4, one of those prototypical quarterbacks…didn’t put up great numbers at Stanford when he was there, but I love the pedigree of him.”
Pete Hailey concurred with Tischler in that Mills’ upside is sky-high. “Bartender! I’ll have what Mitch is having, give me another Davis Mills,” Hailey said. “His tape won’t match up to a lot of the other quarterbacks here but I think his upside is enormous, and I think by adding Fitzpatrick along with Taylor Heinicke, you can take someone’s upside, let him develop slowly, and then come 2022 or so, maybe he’s ready to seize the starting role.”
Washington’s first pick in 2021 is at no. 19 overall, provided they don’t make a trade to go higher. Although quarterback is a position WFT will look to bolster, needs at tight end, offensive line and secondary will prove to make this year’s draft, beginning April 29, one to watch for fans.
