Phil Simms knows a thing or two about playing quarterback. Before joining the announcing team at CBS in 1998, Simms spent 14 years as a quarterback for the New York Giants.
The CBS announcer has been keeping his eye on this year's crop of quarterbacks and like most people, he's a big fan of Carson Wentz. However, unlike most people, Simms doesn't see Jared Goff as the second-best quarterback in the draft.
During a recent interview CBS Sports Network's Time to Schein, Simms revealed the three quarterbacks at the top of his draft board.
"If I had to rank them, just where I see them down the road in the NFL, it would be Wentz, Paxton Lynch, Jared Goff," Simms told host Adam Schein.
It's easy to see why Simms likes Wentz: Both came out of a small school. Simms was a first-round pick out of Morehead State in 1979. Simms also added that the the size of the school that a quarterback attended doesn't necessarily matter when it comes to a player's draft status.
"I'm not drafting the team and I'm not drafting the coach, I'm drafting him," Simms said.
Although Simms has Goff ranked at No. 3, he did admit that his opinion might change if he were able to throw the football with each one of the prospects.
"It’s always tough to [rank them]," Simms said. "Would I love to throw with them in person and see them one time to get a great feel for what they're natural ability is? Yes. I say this to you right now, Jon Gruden, I'm jealous every time I watch him with a quarterback on TV."
Simms says that Gruden gains two big advantages when he deals with the quarterbacks in person.
"There's two things, you can see the skill right away, but you can feel the personality and the person," Simms said.
Putting Lynch ahead of Goff isn't the only surprise on Simms' draft board, the two-time Super Bowl winner is also high on another quarterback.
"My next one [after Goff at three], I would take Kevin Hogan of Stanford before I would take Christian Hackenberg or Connor Cook," Simms said. "I would have them ahead of those guys because watching him play, he's fairly mobile, he's been taught well, he's a good decision maker and he kind of runs a pro-offense now."
As far as putting Lynch ahead of Goff, Simms explained that in a separate interview.
"I think he's extremely talented," Simms told Colin Cowherd. "I think he has borderline-superstar qualities. His arm -- it's a good motion. One thing I always say about quarterbacks, if you've got a good motion, you can see they’re natural throwers, they can get better in the NFL. In other words, he can improve his quality of throwing. I've seen it with many, many guys. Ben Roethlisberger, I saw it with Aaron Rodgers, I see it with Tony Romo. Tom Brady this past year maybe threw the football better than he's ever thrown it in his career physically."
Lynch actually seems to be one of the biggest mysteries in the draft.
Of our five mock drafts here at CBSSports.com, the Memphis quarterback is slotted to go anywhere from No. 7 (to the 49ers) to No. 31 (to the Broncos). It's worth noting that all five mock drafts have Lynch going in the first round.
Simms' rankings probably won't sit well with Vernon Adams. The Oregon quarterback says he's the second-best QB in the draft, ahead of both Lynch and Goff.
Simm's ranking probably won't sit well with the Rams either because as of right now, most NFL teams believe that Goff to Los Angeles is a 'done deal.'
