2020 v 2021 QB classes

[paul-mac]

I remember the narrative in 2020 was that you had one sure thing franchise QB (Burrow), two risky first top 10 options (Tua and Herbert) and then not much else behind that. Love was seen as a late first and Hurts as a mid round flier.

 

2021 by contrast was seen as a generational QB class. Lawrence the best prospect since Luck (second best since Peyton Manning), Zach Wilson and Fields would have been worthy of #1 any other year, Lance as a raw but unlimited talent, Jones as a very safe mid first, and then some decent second round options too. 
 

So far though, four QBs from 2020 look like becoming franchise QBs (Burrow and Herbert already are, but Hurts and Tua look great too), while the jury is still out on 2021.

 

Is 2020 the real generational class?

[Mox]

Maybe wait until after year two to make that call. Burrow, Hurts, and Tua all saw their stock go up in year 2. 

Of the 2021 guys, Lawrence looks better, Wilson hasn't played, Lance is out, Fields has no help, and Jones has been meh. Way too early to tell.

[HerbertGOAT]

12 minutes ago, Bullet Club said:

Maybe wait until after year two to make that call. Burrow, Hurts, and Tua all saw their stock go up in year 2. 

Of the 2021 guys, Lawrence looks better, Wilson hasn't played, Lance is out, Fields has no help, and Jones has been meh. Way too early to tell.

Well, all those guys looked better in Year 1 than those guys too. In addition to being less talented, it seems 2021 also has terrible luck too.

[Soko]

Can add this to the “which saying do you hate” thread, but the word “generational” gets used way too often nowadays. Every 3-5 years you have a “generational” QB prospect. Defeats the meaning of the word.

Anyway, clearly 2020 has shown more. There’s a big difference between being an amazing prospect and being an amazing player, people tend to overlook that.

[Tugboat]

It's still too early to really say with this.  The biggest question still outstanding is, "will Trevor Lawrence reach Burrow's level"?  If he does, that really changes the landscape of this question.  The "headliner" so to speak, is what really carries the answer here.

Beyond that...it's a question of, "what on earth do we even have in Wilson and Lance"?  Both of them missing a season is going to really impact things here.  It's also the sort of injury stuff that might impact the trajectory of their careers substantially, beyond anything that could've been projected at draft day.  Do either of them ever rise to Herbert's level?

Tua is a weird case.  He looked like he was in line for early obsolescence, until Tyreek Hill and Waddle showed up.  Still a worthwhile question, how much of that early magic this year is just...two extremely difficult to cover receivers, causing fits for other teams.  Like as far as a pair of weapons go...those are two top tier options, along with plenty of other talent, and all tailored directly to Tua's game.

The same is somewhat true of Hurts.  Is he taking a step because he's evolving into something more than a purgatory guy?  Or is he taking a step because AJ Brown is that insanely good?