Of course there’s the easy explanation of Fields truthers. But I don’t believe that’s a majority. Let’s look at some of the most hyped prospects at both positions since the turn of the century. There will be a couple of interchangeable ones, but based on media hype and scout evaluations this is what I think.
QB: Lawrence, Luck, Eli Manning, Bradford, RG3, Winston, Burrow, Cam Newton and Carson Palmer.
I’d say Caleb slots in here above Eli and Bradford. Maye probably doesn’t make the top 10 yet, but based on some people liking him ahead of Caleb, who’s the most hyped prospect since T Law, He probably makes that list by the end of the draft year.
The busts here are probably Winston due to his high interception rate, but scouts knew that and liked his physical talent. However, as turnover prone as he is, his 2016, 2019 and 2021 years were pretty good. 5000 yards even with a lot of turnovers shows he had talent. And both Bradford and RG3 got ruined by injuries. So that’s 3/10, certainly not a bad rate. The other 7 were/are franchise QBs.
WR: Megatron, AJ Green, Julio Jones, Larry Fitz, Charles Rogers, Chase, Braylon Edwards, Amari Cooper, Justin Blackmon, David Terrell.
Rogers busted due to off field issues. Braylon Edwards had one solid season but had a bad attitude, Blackmon was incredible but had off the field issues, David Terrell was bad. There’s a few you could add here (Jeudy, Corey Davis was a bit of a reach but still a good prospect, maybe Crabtree). That’s 4/10 busts. MHJ probably slots just behind Larry Fitz.
Of course Megatron, Fitz and Julio are hall of famers, and Chase and Green could be. Cooper is solid. But you can say the same for the QBs to a degree.
Luck was clearly on hall of fame trajectory, Eli may get in one day, had some great years. Lawrence looks good with a 26 TD 8 INT showing last year, and Palmer, Burrow and Cam Newton are all/were franchise QBs.
Not to mention WR is a much less valuable position.
This begs the question, why the hesitance with Caleb/Maye, but the “can’t miss” tag on MHJ?