From the Press Box: Quarterback Landing Spots as of the 4th round

Garda looks at where the first seven quarterbacks in the CHTV draft guide have landed.

In the first three rounds, there were jut three quarterbacks taken. Halfway through the fourth round, four more went.

Which, in reality, is probably about what should have happened.

It's terribly unusual for teams to avoid the pitfall of grabbing a questionable quarterback earlier than they should out of panic.

You can argue about whether or not the right quarterbacks went in the right spots-I still don't like the move back for Manuel and think Mike Glennon went far too early-but if you compare the talent to the last few years we all know the overall group is found lacking.

So it's interesting that these guys fell and that the teams actually held off on jumping on quarterbacks too early.

Well almost all of them.

Let's look at the guys already gone, in order of how they were ranked by me pre-draft.

1) Geno Smith, New York Jets: I think Smith can develop into a great quarterback. The question is, are the Jets-who failed to develop Mark Sanchez and completely mismanaged Tim Tebow- the guys who can bring him along? I have concerns.

Three questions I have in terms of his success. First, can he learn to be more decisive and get the ball out confidently? Second, does he have the right tools in the offense to use? And last, can he handle the spotlight in New York?

2) Matt Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles: A surprise selection by the Eagles, signalling that nothing is settled under center for the Eagles. Barkley cost himself a lot of money short term, but long term this could be a great landing spot as he should end up with time to develop and smooth out the rough edges of his game.

Barkley's flaws showed up his Senior year and there are durability concerns for him to go with arm strength and deep ball accuracy questions. Now he'll have time to disprove those issues.

3) Ryan Nassib, New York Giants: Unfortunately for Nassib, he won't see the field anytime soon. On the plus side, he (like Barkley) needs some development and unlike guys like Manuel, won't likely get thrown right into the fire. Ultimately I believe that Nassib will become a starter in the NFL but the road there just got more winding.

4) Tyler Wilson, Oakland Raiders: Wilson is definitely in the mix for a starting gig. Will Matt Flynn get beaten out by a guy named Wilson again? Wilson has a huge arm and pretty good accuracy though he is prone to floating a few balls. This is an excellent value pick for the Raiders and they could have gotten their starter in the fourth round.

5) Mike Glennon, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: I didn't like the pick, but it won't matter as Josh Freeman will not be threatened by a guy who won't stand in a hit and can't survive one if he does. As time has gone on, I wish I'd had him lower on this list. We'll see if, given time, he develops.

6) EJ Manuel, Buffalo Bills: I'm not a fan of this pick and the Bills, to me, are the one team who blinked. Manuel has a huge amount of upside but is terribly raw and as I said in the video yesterday is a one read and go guy. Thrown into the starting gig right away-and picked in the middle of the first round he might be- I think the Bills would be setting him up to fail.

7) Landry Jones, Pittsburgh Steelers: Jones, as I have said many times, is who he is. When he has time he can throw a pretty ball but when pressed he can crumble. Jones will have to prove he can throw downfield as well. Ultimately though, he won't see the field much and is a better alternative than Charlie Batch.

Those are the quarterbacks selected so far. It's an interesting mixed bag, but really it highlights the wide difference of opinion between analysts and teams on the topic of quarterback.

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