Quarterbacks are always at a premium in the NFL Draft. Teams reach for signal callers every single year. Some years work out great (2004) and some years are a disaster (2007).

Thanks to the NFL Rookie Wage Scale, teams have jumped at the chance of getting a possible franchise-changing quarterback in the early first round at a discount. Teams have traded huge hauls and mortgaged their future by trading up for a quarterback. The Redskins gave the Rams a large package of picks for Robert Griffin III (which didn’t work out long-term) and the Eagles gave the Browns a litany of future picks for Carson Wentz (too early to call).

The 2018 NFL Draft quarterback class is being touted as one of the best in many years. There are four quarterbacks that could be taken within the first five picks. Which one will be the best pro?

Here is our somewhat novice look at which quarterback in the 2018 NFL Draft class will be the best pro.

Josh Allen – Wyoming Cowboys – Allen was not a highly touted recruit out of high school. He put up great numbers in high school, but he was getting no love and no D-I scholarship offers. He had to start his college career at Reedley College (a junior college in California). One could even assume that he only got his start at Reedley because one of the coaches was married to his cousin. He grew into a more prototypical quarterback there as he grew a few more inches and put on more weight. He still only received two D-I scholarships, Eastern Michigan and Wyoming. He had a lot of success at Wyoming, but after a breakout junior season, his numbers didn’t took a hit his senior year (as did many other quarterbacks in this year’s class).

Allen is a very good athlete as he was a standout in many sports while in high school. I like that about him. Although, we have seen many other athletic quarterbacks fail in the NFL. Allen could develop into a solid NFL quarterback if he is given a year or two to learn. He will not be given that time as he will be taken in the first three picks. There is a chance he could learn in a hurry as he scored the highest of all the quarterbacks on the Wonderlic test. He has a huge arm and could throw it farther than any other prospect, but I worry about his accuracy. We all know the tale of Jeff George. He had the biggest arm of any quarterback in that era, but his accuracy wasn’t there. He was given opportunity again and again, but he never lived up to the hype. Granted, a lot of his downfall could also be tied to his poor attitude. I haven’t heard anything negative about Allen’s attitude. He has all the physical tools and a good head on his shoulders, but a team will still need to be patient with Allen in order for him to reach his potential.

Sam Darnold – USC Trojans – I fell in love with Darnold during the 2016 college football season. He ‘sort of’ came out of nowhere that year. He was a four-star recruit coming out of high school and took a redshirt his first year at USC. He wasn’t named the starter out of camp his second year at USC. Max Browne beat him out and Darnold sat on the bench the first two games. He saw some action that third game and took over the starting job. He never looked back from that point. The Pac-12 was stacked with quality young quarterbacks that season and he was the best of the bunch. If allowed to enter the draft, he would have been the first quarterback selected in last year’s draft. He had to stay another year at USC due to the NFL Draft rules. He was the Heisman favorite heading into his third season at USC. Unfortunately, he struggled and was throwing interceptions at nearly twice the rate as the previous season. His end-of-the-year stats didn’t look as bad as the last few regular season games were much more at his 2016-level.

Darnold might be the ‘safest’ quarterback to draft in this year’s draft. He has done everything right this offseason and was a stud at his pro day. Like Allen, Darnold was a multi-sport star in high school. He’s a good athlete, but Allen ran a faster 40-time at the NFL Combine. Darnold does have an advantage over most of the draft class as he has experience playing in a big market and in pressure situations. If you’re the starting quarterback at USC, you’re getting more attention and scrutiny than even some NFL starting quarterbacks. His only red flag might be that if things aren’t going well, his confidence takes a big hit. You saw that last season at USC. Coaches will need to keep his confidence up at the pro level, or figure out how to have a short memory.

Baker Mayfield – Oklahoma Sooners – Mayfield had an interesting path to the 2018 NFL Draft. He was only a three-star recruit coming out of high school. He took an offer to be a walk-on at Texas Tech. Due to a number of injuries, he was named the starting quarterback for their first game as a true freshman. He went on to break a ton of freshman passing records early that season and made a name for himself in the pass-happy Red Raiders offense. Due to his own nagging injury, he ended up losing his starting job to Davis Webb by the end of the season. Mayfield alleges that he had scholarship issues and sought his release from Texas Tech. He enrolled at Oklahoma and sat out the following season. He took over as starting quarterback after winning the competition in camp. He would start all but one game in the next three seasons at OU. In those three years, he finished in the top-four in Heisman Trophy voting all three years, and won it last season.

Mayfield is the most accurate quarterback in this draft class. Also, if you take away receiver drops, he led the pack by an even greater margin. The biggest issue with Mayfield is his height. He came in at only 6’0, which is three or four inches shorter than the other top quarterbacks in this year’s draft class. He doesn’t have a great arm, but certain pro offenses can hide that. He would be a perfect quarterback for a West Coast-type offense. Mayfield could go anywhere from #1 overall or drop farther in the first round due to his size. I think he will be gone somewhere in the top-five picks. There are teams that are really high on him and grade him as the best in this class and there are teams that just think his slight frame doesn’t fit the NFL. I personally believe he will be just fine in the NFL and has a chance to be the best pro in this class.

Josh Rosen – UCLA Bruins – I fell in love with Rosen his freshman year like I did with Darnold the following season. Rosen was a five-star recruit out of high school. He had his choice where he wanted to play football. He chose UCLA and was a starter as a true freshman. He had a great season, but fell short in their rivalry game against USC. He won Freshman of the Year awards from a variety of newspaper outlets. His sophomore year didn’t go very well as he suffered a shoulder injury early in the season and missed the remainder of the year. He came into his junior season with high expectations. He led UCLA to the largest comeback in school history in his first game of the season. He was airing it out with great success through his first five games. He was leading the nation in passing yards and touchdowns at that point. He suffered a concussion in the next game and was mostly average the rest of the year. In his defense, UCLA was a bad team overall and he was doing his best in a bad situation.

Rosen passes the eye test as he just looks like an NFL quarterback when he’s on the field. His mechanics are near-perfect and can really put a lot of force behind a pass. He interviewed well at the combine and did well in just about every activity he participated in during the draft process. The two red flags with Rosen are both off the field. First, he is outspoken and speaks his mind. In today’s politically-scared NFL, teams are worried that he may take on a controversial cause. Secondly, there are rumors that he parties too much. I remember in his freshman year at UCLA, he put an inflatable hot tub into his dorm room. Some pictures of him with a girl came out soon after. I instantly fell in love with Rosen right then. Unfortunately, those two red flags could push Rosen down in the draft. I think those antics could actually make him one of the most marketable quarterbacks in the NFL if he has early success. His durability is also a concern, but you can’t really avoid injuries as a quarterback. He’s 6’4 and should be able to handle getting hit. He should still be a top-five pick.

Lamar Jackson – Louisville Cardinals – Jackson was a four-star recruit out of high school. He had offers to play at a variety of D-I schools, but chose Louisville. He played in twelve games as a freshman and threw for twelve touchdowns and ran for 960 yards and eleven rushing touchdowns. You knew he could develop into something special. He had his breakout performance in the first game of his sophomore year when he scored a total of eight touchdowns against Charlotte. That performance put him on the map. He finished his sophomore years with 30 passing touchdowns and 21 rushing touchdowns. He went on to win the Heisman trophy. He couldn’t enter the NFL Draft yet, so he returned to Louisville. People thought he could have a shot at winning back-to-back Heisman trophies. He was beaten by the defending national champions (Clemson) in the first game of his Junior year. It was really his only marquee game on the national level. He needed another monster game to keep his name on top of the Heisman leaderboard. He quietly had just about the same dominant numbers he had his sophomore. He scored a few less touchdowns, but had more completions, a better completion percentage and more rushing yards. He was a Heisman finalist again, but lost to Baker Mayfield.

Scouts have mixed opinions about Jackson. You have scouts who believe that he could be a Michael Vick-like franchise-changing quarterback in the NFL and others believe he should change positions. In fact, NFL teams did ask Jackson about changing positions during the Combine. He only participated in activities that would factor into a team drafting him as a quarterback, so he didn’t run the 40 or do any jumping drills. Another thing that could cause him to fall in the draft is that he didn’t hire an agent. Teams found it difficult to get in touch with him for workouts, he wasn’t prepared for the Wonderlic and his pro day was disorganized. Draft experts believe there a chance he could fall into the second round, but I don’t see him falling that far. He is undervalued like Deshaun Watson was going into last year’s draft. A team could get a steal if he falls in this draft.

After Jackson, there is a drop-off to where a quarterback could be taken in the draft. I will mention the good and the bad about the remaining quarterback that could make an impact in the NFL.

Mason Rudolph – Oklahoma State Cowboys – Rudolph’s accuracy problems at Oklahoma State is hard to ignore. He thankfully had some very good wide receivers during his time in college that made him look somewhat accurate. He did put up some crazy numbers in performances in the Big 12, but I don’t see him doing that in the NFL. He’s a big guy, but his hands are smallest in the quarterback draft class. Big hands doesn’t necessarily mean you will be a good NFL quarterback, but small hands is a huge detriment. You need good control of the football in the NFL.

Luke Falk – Washington State Cougars – I was very high on Falk heading into last season, but he failed to met the same standard he set his junior year. He doesn’t have a big arm and he’s not elusive when pressured. Although, he very accurate and some scouts compare him to Kirk Cousins. Could a team take him in the third or fourth round and eventually have a very good backup quarterback? I like those odds as he will need to sit to learn the system for a year or two. He played out of the shotgun in college, so he will need a lot of work taking the ball under center.

Kyle Lauletta – Richmond Spiders – Lauletta is this year’s ‘small school quarterback that could develop into the next Tony Romo.’ He had a good Senior Bowl, but teams are either lukewarm on him or completely cold. It would take a team ready to invest a few years in him and have him sit and learn. The odds aren’t even high that he would be worth that investment.

Chase Litton – Marshall Thundering Herd – Scouts tend to fall in love with a guy on film and ignore the stats. There have been plenty of guys who have been drafted after having very average stats in college. I guess there are some scouts who really like Litton, but I don’t see it. He’s a big guy (6’6 – 232 lbs), so he does look the part, but he ran into some trouble off-the-field that bring up red flags. He should have stayed in college another year. He will most likely be a third-day draft pick.

Tanner Lee – Nebraska Cornhuskers – Lee was a ho-hum college football quarterback. He didn’t put up big numbers and was often stopped in games against the elite Big Ten teams. He’s a pro-style pocket passer and wasn’t even on the NFL radar before transferring from Tulane to Nebraska. I don’t see his upside and would rather have projects like Virginia’s Kurt Benkert, Toledo’s Logan Woodside or even Memphis’s Riley Ferguson.

Those are the top ten quarterback prospects in the 2018 NFL Draft. If I had to pick the guy(s) who should have the best pro careers it would be Baker Mayfield, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. Josh Rosen and Sam Darnold both have all the tools, but I was scared off by their full-season performances last year when the pressure was on them. Jackson will be taken last in this group and whichever team drafts him could have the steal of the draft. It will take a few seasons before we know the answer to that question, but there’s no doubt teams will either live or die by their decision to draft one of these quarterbacks in the 2018 NFL Draft.

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About the Author…

Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.