First-round Fromm? Senior Bowl executive director explains why Georgia QB could be Day 1 selection in 2020 NFL Draft
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Due mainly to the fact there are questions about his arm strength, Jake Fromm is not currently in discussion to be one of the first quarterbacks taken off the board once the 2020 NFL Draft arrives but don’t be surprised if the former Georgia signal-caller is selected before the first round of the NFL’s upcoming selection process is complete.
That’s the word from Senior Bowl Executive Director Jim Nagy during a recent appearance on ESPN program “NFL Live” when discussing the potential for yet another former SEC quarterback to be selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
One thing Fromm could have going for him, according to Nagy, is the fact that recent history proves teams are willing to trade back up into the first round to land a quarterback in the draft.
Why exactly is that? Teams like to have the option to hold a quarterback’s rights for five seasons on his rookie deal, which is something that can only be done when a player is selected in the first round. Recent examples of this include Teddy Bridgewater and Lamar Jackson, which were both first-round selections that were made when NFL teams traded into the first-round to get.
Aside from potentially holding Fromm’s rights for five years, Nagy shared that many in the league are very high on the former Georgia signal-caller heading into the draft.
“One guy that’s really hot right now, among coaches in the league, quarterback coaches that are on all these Zoom calls with these guys, is Jake Fromm from Georgia,” Nagy shared on the show. “He’s as good from the neck up as anyone in this class, probably better. His eyes are as good or better than anyone in this class.
“He’s won a ton of games, he’s been durable. I mean people are knocking it a little bit about arm talent and the physical stuff but the same things were said about Drew Brees when he came out. And I’m not equating Jake Fromm to Drew Brees right now because Drew is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but there’s a reason why Drew lasted to the second round and there’s a reason why San Diego moved on from Drew, you know, and it took him to land in New Orleans. Jake Fromm is a name to keep an eye out, someone sneaking into the end of the first round and taking him there.”
Fromm’s selection in the first round may not even come down to a trade, as Nagy points out there are two teams currently slotted in the back half of the first round that make a ton of sense for Fromm.
“I think he fits for the Patriots, I think he fits for the Saints as well. I think he fits both those organizations,” Nagy added when discussing Fromm. “I don’t know about a trade-up scenario, I don’t know. But there’s two teams sitting there in that back half that he fits for. Again he fits everything both those teams want to do and if you’ve got a nice succession plan in New Orleans if that’s in place, have him sit behind Brees for a year.
“But this kid, people that really discounted this kid, he’s a winner. He’s got all the intangibles. You know the arm talents underrated he can rip 18-yard outs. I’ve seen it many times. This is a guy again I think the league is valuing a lot more than, than the media right now.”
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
