NFL Draft 2020: Tua, Herbert and QB Predictions in Latest Expert Mocks

If NFL rosters were monarchies, quarterbacks would be the kings.

Teams don't just invest significant resources in them, they effectively build teams around them. Endless riches are showered on players who can either rush quarterbacks or protect them. Players who consistently get open and catch passes, and the best defenders at stopping them aren't hurting for cash, either.

So, with draft week finally here, there's no better topic worth tracking than all the latest buzz around the best passing prospects in this class.

Joe Burrow Can Start Looking for Cincy Real Estate?

There's no such thing as a complete consensus on the internet. If you look hard enough, you'll stumble across some "bold" mock draft that doesn't have Joe Burrow joining the Cincinnati Bengals as the first overall pick.

But there's an overwhelming amount of support for Burrow to the Bengals for a reason.

"At the end of the day, he's going to be the No. 1 pick whether people want to believe it or not," ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. said on First Take.

No one has ever engineered the kind of season Burrow just delivered. He led LSU to a 15-0 season punctuated with a national championship by completing an absurd 76.3 percent of his passes and throwing for 5,671 yards and 60 touchdowns against six interceptions. Those numbers are impossible to pass over, especially when the Bengals have a glaring need at the position.

Dolphins Taking QB Not Named Tua?

The "Tank for Tua" wheels never really got off the ground, as the Dolphins followed their 0-7 start with a 5-4 run to close the season. The closer this draft gets, the further Miami seems to move away from Tua Tagovailoa, at least as far as mock-drafters are concerned.

In CBS Sports HQ's final mock draft on Monday, the Dolphins grabbed Justin Herbert instead of Tagovailoa at the fifth overall pick. NBC Sports' Peter King also mocked Herbert to Miami, only King also had the Dolphins trading up to No. 3 to do it.

"My pick is based on Miami choosing to go conservative here instead of trying to hit a triple in the gap by picking Tua Tagovailoa," King explained. "... My theory is that Tagovailoa would have been the pick had he not dislocated his hip last November."

These are just the latest of many rumblings linking the Dolphins to Herbert, but this remains the draft's most fascinating decision. Might Miami really have major concerns with Tagovailoa's hip and now prefer Herbert? Or are these all smokescreens meant to diminish the need for a trade up for Tua?

If no team trades into the top four, then all eyes will be on the Dolphins at No. 5.

Jordan Love Makes Top 10?

Almost every mock draft you'll come across starts with Burrow at the top and then has Tagovailoa and Herbert as the next two quarterbacks off the board (in either order).

That usually clears the QB4 spot for Jordan Love, but his draft range is all over the map. ESPN's Todd McShay mocked Love sixth overall (and ahead of Herbert) back in March. Some other mocks don't even mention Love inside the first round.

But NFL.com's Chad Reuter found a novel way to get Love into the top 10—the New Orleans Saints trading up to No. 10 to take him.

"Sean Payton likes to get his man," Reuter wrote. "This trade is similar to the move the Chiefs made to grab Patrick Mahomes a few years back. Love is not Mahomes in terms of his skill set, but his promise is strong enough to make some team wheel and deal."

The 6'4", 225-pound Love is overloaded with physical tools, and he shows flashes of superstar potential. But he's also coming off a 20-touchdown, 17-interception season, so his decision-making could scare off some evaluators. There's a scenario in which he's the best quarterback in this draft and another in which he's out of the league in a few years. His draft range is by far the widest among the top quarterback prospects.