“What did the 2022 season teach us about pro football? You need a quarterback to reach the promised land, and you need defenders who can stop the quarterback.” – Peter King on the most sought-after players in this year’s NFL Draft
“Five of them, I think, are gonna end up being starters. But they all have flaws. There’s not a Trevor Lawrence. But while there’s risk involved, I think these guys have really, really high upside across the board.” – NFL Draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah on this year’s QB class
“He’s not afraid to make any throw, and unlike some quarterbacks who can’t justify such quiet bravado, Stroud has, consistently.” – King on Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud
“If I’m the Ravens, and if (Lamar) Jackson is going to insist on a contract with major guarantees at or near the top of the current QB market — and if another team will give him that, and give Baltimore two high-round picks — I’d probably wish him well and let him walk.” – King on the Ravens and QB Lamar Jackson
STAMFORD, Conn. – Feb. 27, 2023 – Peter King previews the upcoming NFL Scouting Combine and NFL Draft with NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah in this week’s edition of Football Morning in America, available now exclusively on NBCSports.com. King also discusses Lamar Jackson’s contract situation in Baltimore, Russell Wilson and Sean Payton’s future in Denver, and more.
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The following are highlights from this week’s edition of Football Morning in America:
NFL DRAFT & NFL SCOUTING COMBINE
Peter King on the most sought-after players in this year’s NFL Draft: “What did the 2022 season teach us about pro football? You need a quarterback to reach the promised land, and you need defenders who can stop the quarterback.”
King on the quarterback demand in this year’s draft: “There are four quarterbacks likely to go in the first half of the first round, and four teams with major quarterback needs in the top nine: Houston (two), Indianapolis (four), Las Vegas (seven) and Carolina (nine). I hear — though it might be smoke — that none of the four wants to scotch-tape a veteran like 39-year-old Aaron Rodgers and probably not Derek Carr.”
NFL Draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah to King on popular targets in the draft: “This has been in talking to some GMs in their draft meetings, literally the questions are: ‘Is this guy gonna help us get off the field against Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen?’ You’ve got to build your team towards trying to deal with this next generation of star quarterbacks, particularly in the AFC.”
Jeremiah on the top-end players in the draft: “It doesn’t have maybe what we’ve had in years past, in terms of the elite, high-end players. I love (Georgia DT) Jalen Carter. I love (Alabama edge) Will Anderson. Those are my top two players. After that, I think there’s holes and questions on just about everybody.”
Jeremiah on the QB class in this year’s draft: “Five of them, I think, are gonna end up being starters. But they all have flaws. They all have holes. There’s not a Trevor Lawrence. There’s not a Joe Burrow. There’s not an Andrew Luck. But while there’s risk involved, I think these guys have really, really high upside across the board.”
Jeremiah on Alabama QB Bryce Young: “In terms of what do you like about him, it’s almost like, what do you not like about him? He’s got poise, he’s got excellent accuracy, he’s a really good decision-maker.”
King on Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud: “What’s impressive is how he throws downfield and across the field; he’s not afraid to make any throw, and unlike some quarterbacks who can’t justify such quiet bravado, Stroud has, consistently.”
Jeremiah on Kentucky QB Will Levis: “When you watch him, you still see every type of throw you can make. He can do it. He’s got a really strong arm. You know when he’s healthy he’s a good athlete. The two things that you gotta navigate around are the turnovers, the combination of fumbles and interceptions, and then taking a ton of sacks.”
Jeremiah on Florida QB Anthony Richardson: “If you’re on an alien spaceship and you land and you only watch Richardson’s Utah game (17-of-24 with 106 yards rushing and three rushing TDs), you think he’s the best football player on the planet. But the consistency is just not there. It’s a roller coaster ride that you go on. But there’s a ton of talent in there.”
Jeremiah on Texas RB Bijan Robinson: “The grade I gave him is the same grade I gave to (49ers RB) Christian McCaffrey. It’s the same grade that I gave to (Giants RB) Saquon Barkley.”
Jeremiah on this year’s tight end class: “The best tight end group I’ve seen in the last 10 years.”
NEWS & NOTES
King on Giants QB Daniel Jones: “I think if I’m Giants GM Joe Schoen, and Daniel Jones is asking for $45 million a year — and I truly don’t know if he is — I’m shaking his hand, wishing him good luck finding it somewhere and franchising him.”
King on Broncos head coach Sean Payton hiring recently retired QB Davis Webb as Denver’s QB coach: “Payton will not only be coaching Russell Wilson this year in a crucial year for them both — he’ll be putting a first-year position coach in charge of coaching Wilson. Not that (Davis) Webb won’t be a good coach. But throwing him into a raging inferno in year one is an interesting move by Payton, to say the least.”
King on the advice he would give to Russell Wilson: “Put your head down, say little, don’t try to justify anything from the past, and do whatever Sean Payton tells you.”
King on Ravens QB Lamar Jackson’s injury history: “How is the injury status of a guy who makes a good part of his living with his legs — Jackson might be the best combo running/passing quarterback in NFL history — a mild concern, considering he has started and finished one December/January game in the past two years?”
King: “If I’m the Ravens, and if Jackson is going to insist on a contract with major guarantees at or near the top of the current QB market — and if another team will give him that, and give Baltimore two high-round picks — I’d probably wish him well and let him walk.”
King on the Rams’ future: “Imagine next year (the Rams) having a first-round pick for the first time in eight years, and imagine that pick being pretty high in the first round, and imagine Caleb Williams of USC coming out of the draft. This will be Matthew Stafford’s age-35 season, his 15th year in the league. Next year is very far away, but it’s an intriguing time to think about the future of Sean McVay and the Rams.”
Read the full FMIA column here and catch the weekly Peter King Podcast here.
The following are additional highlights of NBC Sports’ NFL coverage:
- ProFootballTalk.com continues to provide the latest news and updates.
- NBC Sports EDGE’s Rotoworld Football Show continues the NFL discussion and Bet The Edge Podcast provides daily betting insights.
- The NFL on NBC YouTube channel offers daily football content for free, with exclusive videos from Peter King Mike Florio, Chris Simms, and more. To access all of these videos and more, click here to subscribe
A new “Football Morning in America” posts every Monday morning exclusively on NBCSports.com through the NFL season. It was announced in May 2019 that King signed an exclusive agreement with NBC Sports Group that included writing a weekly Monday morning NFL column for NBCSports.com; making regular appearances on PFT Live with Mike Florio; and continuing to contribute to Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports.
--NBC SPORTS--
