Phil Simms never is shy about offering an opinion, and the CBS NFL analyst expressed a few Wednesday on this year's class of quarterback prospects to NFL.com columnist Adam Schein on SirusXM's Mad Dog Sports Radio.
The most interesting opinion: "I think if
Geno Smith was in this draft class he would be the number one guy, without question."
Yes, Simms is saying that he thinks a quarterback who went in the second round in the 2013 draft is better than any quarterback in this draft. And remember that three quarterbacks -- Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater, UCF's Blake Bortles and Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel -- potentially could go in the top four in the '14 draft.
Not surprisingly, Simms -- who spent 14 seasons as the
New York Giants' quarterback -- had thoughts on each of the top three. Here are some of those thoughts.
(Keep in mind that Simms admitted that "I haven't watched them on coaches' film." He also
opined in October that "this 'unbelievable' quarterback class that is coming out -- it is not going to be unbelievable.")
On Manziel » "It would concern me, and a lot, that he ran a 4.68 at the combine. ... The 30-inch vertical jump? I know it's a vertical jump but, I hate to say it, it bothered me. I expected more explosion. If you're going to be a scrambling, move-around quarterback, I think that's a pretty important thing -- to be explosive and to do these things."» "The style of play? Does it worry me? Oh, sure it does. Because nobody can play that free and easy in the NFL."
» "The
Russell Wilson comparison. ...
Russell Wilson is more explosive. He's naturally bigger and stronger than Johnny Manziel. They're not even close in arm strength."