2020 NFL Mock Draft, Week 3: First-round projections – Justin Herbert rising?

Andy Dalton has gotten off to a hot start in 2019, but I don’t see that continuing throughout the season. Dalton has been a perfectly solid NFL quarterback throughout his career in Cincinnati, but it’s clear tat the Bengals aren’t going anywhere with him under center.

Dalton is still under contract through next season, but the 2020 draft will be the time for Cincinnati to look at identifying the future at the position. Dalton could then be utilized as a bridge quarterback in 2020, or maybe traded to a desperate quarterback-needy team in the offseason willing to absorb a big cap-hit for one season of Dalton starting.

Perhaps because of an exercise in cruelty, Georgia’s Jake Fromm is actually pretty similar to Dalton. He doesn’t have the elite arm talent, but he’s a cerebral signal-caller who will beat you with his mind more than he’ll beat you with his arm. Fromm does a great job of finding the soft spot in defenses, getting the ball out quickly and not forcing throws that aren’t there.

Fromm has been efficient in his two-plus years as the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback, throwing just 13 interceptions in over 600 career pass attempts. I honestly expect Fromm to likely return to Georgia for his senior season, but the allure of NFL money might cause him to jump early, particularly in a quarterback class that might be relatively weak past the top two.