Maybe they trade for Cousins to compete with Hoyer or maybe they sign Schaub (who had his best year under Shannahan) when he is released later this month and move down to get a guy like Carr, McCarron, Garappolo, Mettenberger, or Murray? The only guy that can come in right away and start would be Bridgewater. Signing or trading for one of those guys would also throw the perception off that we are set and could lead to one of Bridgewater, Bortles, or Manziel dropping to us as well. It is a cheaper route to go if we trade one of our thirds and still get the guy we want than trading possibly our other 1st or our 2nd to move up. Bridgewater has exceptionally small hands and has to wear a glove, not sure how he would do in the cold and snow of the AFCN which is a concern..but down the list.
Not many teams are going to want to give up that many assets in this deep draft class with the record amount of underclassmen..and there is no Luck in this draft. We seen last year that the prognosticators all had Geno Smith and Nassib early in the draft and we seen now that teams are willing to pass on guys and select them where they should go. Another guy to keep an eye on is Ryan Mallett, who Lombardi had rated as his number one QB in the 2011 draft based on his upside and sitting behind Brady for three years could only help him. Plus he sells the play action so well and that is a big part of Shannahan's offense. There are other options to pursue as well besides the top three guys people are talking about and some good QBs later in the draft or that can be obtained through trade or Schaub. Schaub is 32 and had a horrible year last year but has a QB rating of 90 for his career. Could be like Kurt Warner when everyone thought he was done only to lead Arizona to the Super Bowl. I think this front office would like to keep their picks and fill some holes and add depth in this draft while also getting a QB they are high on. I don't think they are going to panic and draft a guy early if they don't have him rated there.