Five potential NFL landing spots for Notre Dame quarterback Jack Coan
Notre Dame quarterback Jack Coan has his NFL Combine behind him with a March 25 pro day still ahead. He entered last Thursday’s combine in Indianapolis as a fringe Day 3 pick, potentially on the outside looking in. He performed well, with some saying he could now go on the earlier side of the Day 3 festivities.
Regardless, I feel confident in saying Coan will end up with an NFL team come this summer, either as a draft pick or a free agent. The teams that need a Day 1 starter are likely to grab one of the top prospects, but there are several teams that could use a smart, accurate, hard-working backup. They would find that in Coan.
The teams are listed in alphabetical order.
Atlanta Falcons
Legendary Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is coming up on the end of his career, but he still has another year or two in him. Atlanta would be wise to wait until next year to take a quarterback given their current deficiencies at other positions but; in the mean time, adding an intelligent, willing-to-learn backup in the form of Coan with a later draft selection is not a bad contingency plan. At the very least, he can learn from one of the wisest quarterbacks in the game for a year or so.
Buffalo Bills
Josh Allen is there to stay in Buffalo. He is the clear No. 1 quarterback, meaning the Bills will not take a signal-caller in the early rounds of the NFL Draft. However, the only active backup on the roster right now is free agent Mitch Trubisky, and he is all but gone from Buffalo and moving on to another team. The Bills will need to add someone at the position.
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Cleveland Browns
Like Buffalo, Cleveland has a clear QB1: Baker Mayfield. But after that, there are questions. With Mayfield’s 2021 injuries, they had to dive into their quarterback reserves, and they do so with mixed results. Case Keenum, who is 34 years old, is in the No. 2. It would be unwise if Cleveland wasn’t at least looking around at what is available at quarterback, especially with the question marks around Mayfield and the long-term impact of his shoulder injury.
Indianapolis Colts
For now, Indianapolis has Carson Wentz at the helm, but to say he has dealt with injuries would be a great understatement. There are massive questions about his future, and put simply, the Colts could use another backup quarterback. Coan could certainly learn from the adversity Wentz has faced, and even if he doesn’t see the field, the Colts are a quality franchise experiencing a fair amount of success right now. He’d surely learn a thing or two as a rookie.
New York Giants
The Giants have come out and said quarterback Daniel Jones is their guy, but they are definitely looking to add someone else in free agency or via the draft as a contingency plan. Mike Glennon and Jake Fromm are the current backups and did not play well when Jones’ 2021 season was cut short due to a neck injury. New York has bigger issues than quarterback right now, so they won’t take a signal-caller with an early selection. However, Coan, who is a Long Island native, could be a nice, local addition.
