QB Guru John Beck Talks NFL Draft, Jaxson Dart, JJ McCarthy & More with Rich

John Beck walks in looking sharp, and Rich teases him about coming straight from the 15th tee. The QB guru of 3DQB settles in for a full draft week conversation, and within minutes he is rattling off the depth chart of his own coaching stable. Drew Allar, Garrett Nussmeier, Taylen Green, Preston Stone, Miller Moss, Bryson Barnes, and (after a rolling memory bit that Rich enjoys far too much) Jake Retzlaff. Pros he has shepherded include CJ Stroud, Bryce Young, Jayden Daniels, Zach Wilson, JJ McCarthy, Mike Penix, and Justin Herbert.

Beck answers Rich's nature versus nurture question with a coach's honesty. There are talented guys who survive bad situations longer, but no one walks into the NFL bulletproof. Talent around you matters. Decision makers above you matter. The roster, the staff, the offense, those things make or break a draft slot. He tells his guys to chase the safest realistic landing, not the dream slot, because draft day disappointment poisons the start.

The heart of the interview is the Jaxson Dart segment. Beck has known Dart since he was 15, a dual sport kid from Roy, Utah, raised by a former Utah linebacker dad to play tough. Rich pushes the worry he has voiced before. Dart keeps saying he will not change, and Rich wants him to learn the slide. Beck quotes Steve Young back at the room. Your athleticism has to be part of your game because that is who you are, but it has to come at the right time. He admits, if I were coaching him, I would absolutely sharpen the finishing point of those runs. Be there every play. He name checks the Christian Elliss hit against New England and the Hard Knocks audio of the Commanders telling defenders to take the shot Dart will give them.

On JJ McCarthy, Beck is calmly realistic. The Vikings did not pay Kyler Murray's reported number to bench him. Beck's coaching message to JJ is to remove outcomes from the table and focus on daily reps. On Penix, working back from surgery. On Jayden Daniels, ripping the ball around in throwing sessions, undeterred by year two volatility. On Bryce Young and CJ Stroud, both fourth year stories about the pieces around them, with T-Mac as the receiver who unlocked Bryce.

The button is Beck's dark horse pick. Asked who the next Sam Darnold could be, he says Mac Jones. He hints he saw Mac fitting Kyle Shanahan's room on draft day instead of Trey Lance, and after watching Mac keep San Francisco alive for a one seed run last year, he believes the right system gets him a fourth franchise and a real shot. Find me at 3DQB, he tells Rich, and the conversation closes with a Tommy Lasorda Fletch reference Rich cannot resist running into the ground.