Praise for Carson Wentz's performance at the Reese's Senior Bowl as a top quarterback prospect was prevalent, but it wasn't unanimous. The former North Dakota State star will still have some doubters entering the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis later this month.
Two of them, both NFL personnel executives, spoke to NFL Media analyst Lance Zierlein.
"One said 'Boy, that North Dakota State kid is way overrated.' And the other one texted me and said 'After watching him for a full week, there is no way I would draft Carson Wentz in the first round,'" Zierlein said on The Pick Is In podcast. "Now, by most media accounts, the draft media, Carson Wentz did just fine. A lot of people called him a winner of draft day. Depends on what you're looking for. But that's an example of how people can see these prospects very, very differently."
Wentz (6-foot-5, 233 pounds) won a pair of FCS Division I national championships at NDSU and went 20-3 as a starter. And while executives from at least two clubs don't yet see what all the excitement is about, others do. Senior Bowl director Phil Savage spoke with other club officials that see Wentz as a potential top-10 pick.
Wherever Wentz eventually gets chosen, he picked the right draft to make himself an appealing option early in the first round. NFL Media draft expert Mike Mayock believes three clubs with top-five picks could be in the market for a quarterback, be it Wentz or one of the draft's other top prospects at the position.
"This is the time where NFL-team guys get a little sick of media hype, and they become contrarian to some extent. At the same time, what they see is, he's not there right now. They have a hard time with this freight train of enthusiasm surrounding an FCS prospect who still has a lot of work to do," Zierlein said. "It's still early to me to say yes or no on a prospect who comes from the background Wentz comes from."
Translation: buckle in for a long ride regarding Wentz's draft standing. It could go in any direction between now and the 2016 NFL Draft.
Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter *@ChaseGoodbread*.