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There are quite a few teams that absolutely bombed their picks on days one and two of the 2013 NFL Draft, but every single team passed on both Matt Barkley and Ryan Nassib in the first three rounds. The only quarterbacks taken were EJ Manuel (No. 16 overall to the Buffalo Bills), Geno Smith (No. 39 overall to the New York Jets) and Mike Glennon (No. 73 overall to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers). That means Barkley and Smith are in prime position to make Russell Wilson-like impacts on teams in 2013.
Now Nassib has one major red flag because his former coach at Syracuse, Doug Marrone — now the coach of the Bills — passed on him four times and already had a new rookie signal-caller to challenge Kevin Kolb for the starting spot. Barkley had a subpar senior year by his high standards, but it’s absolutely ridiculous that he didn’t go on day one or two of the draft.
The Philadelphia Eagles, Arizona Cardinals and Jacksonville Jaguars are all in desperate need of quarterbacks (assuming new Eagles coach Chip Kelly has already given up on Nick Foles) and if either of them wise up on day three and take Barkley or Nassib, they’ll likely get a pleasant surprise. Barkley especially has the tools to succeed in the right system, like Arizona’s, so it will be extremely bizarre if the Cardinals pass on him yet again on day three.
That’s not to say Barkley will repeat Wilson’s rookie heroics, but if he lands with the right team, he could make an immediate impact as a rookie. The same goes for Nassib, but it seems that teams are staying away from him after Marrone passed on him again and again on days one and two. Both players could be the futures of franchises with current quarterbacks nearing the end of their careers. Either way, both of these players will make impacts at the next level whether it’s sooner or later.
