This will be a terribly unpopular thought, but I’d personally feel more comfortable giving up 3 high round picks including the two firsts, to take Barkley, who I think could be more of a “sure thing” than any of the QBs. This is all hypothetical anyway, since none of these scenarios will happen and 3 high round picks wouldn’t be enough, but I think a franchise RB who can produce both as a bell cow back and a shifty receiver a la Elliot/Bell is worth quite a bit.
We’ve all seen what a superb rushing attack and strong defense can do, and I think you could take a flier on a guy like Falk, White, etc, with less of a gamble. I’m not all that sold on any of these so-called “franchise” QBs. I watched Darnold look like a bad high schooler at times. He looked downright pathetic in some of the bigger games. Allen and Jackson seem to have accuracy issues. Mayfield is already a loose cannon and has some questions due to his height and maturity. Rosen may be the safest choice.
I’m not suggesting that all of these QBs will fail because they won’t, but I’m pondering the idea of the RB being less of a gamble, and I haven’t seen anyone bring that possibility up, yet. Again, it’s a pointless exercise, but with all of this talk about moving up into the top 4-5, it’s something that I’m surprised didn’t at least get some discussion.