Each week on "Mock Draft Live", NFL Media analysts Bucky Brooks and Daniel Jeremiah -- two former NFL scouts -- debate hot-button topics for the 2016 NFL Draft. This week, "general manager" Matt "Money" Smith needs a quarterback and wants to be sold on either California's Jared Goff or North Dakota State's Carson Wentz. Those two QBs are considered the best at their position in this year's draft. The two scouts pick their favorite passer and state their cases.
Brooks' choice: Goff
You want to make sure your team gets off to a fast start and can win right away. We can do that with Jared Goff. Goff made 37 career starts and had more than 1,500 pass attempts at Cal. He comes into the league ready to rock. He is everything you look for in a quarterback: Quick, decisive and accurate. If I'm starting a franchise, my pick would be Goff. He's ready and resilient.
Now, you can say that Goff's numbers have been inflated a bit because of the system in which he played at Cal. Quarterbacks who played in that system have had a lot of success at the collegiate level, but some of that success hasn't translated to the pros. However, when we look at Goff throw the ball, the eyes and feet are connected. One of the questions about him has to do with whether he can push the ball down the field. We saw Goff do that at his pro day when he showed that he has the ability to drop it over the shoulder. He is very much like the Atlanta Falcons' Matt Ryan.
I believe that the competition a player faces at the college level does matter when evaluating prospects. If we start today, Goff is the better player.
Jeremiah's choice: Wentz
Wentz is a pro-ready quarterback. He's not coming out of the "Bear Raid" offense that Goff is. He's coming out of an NFL-style offensive system. I've seen him operate under center and make NFL-caliber reads and throws down the field. Oh, what is that Kanye West lyric? Harder, better, faster, stronger? Wentz is all of those things when you compare him side-by-side with Goff.
That is a very good football program that Wentz comes out of at North Dakota State. You can throw away the level-of-competition question after he went to the Senior Bowl, which attracts the best football players in the country. He was head and shoulders better than everybody.
Watch "Mock Draft Live" each Wednesday on NFL.com (5 p.m. ET) and NFL Network (8 p.m. ET).
