SAN DIEGO — If you want to understand the next NFL Draft as it relates to where the sport is and where it is going, Daniel Jeremiah is is worth your time.

Jeremiah is the former Eagles, Browns and Ravens scout who works as the NFL Network’s lead draft analyst. He likes to have fun in breaking down football, and that’s why, here, following, the journey begins with some colorful advice:

NFL teams need to respect the cyborgs.

Cyborgs are fictional humans with mechanical powers. Like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character in “The Terminator.” Or Darth Vader.

Several AFC stars are “cyborg quarterbacks,” Jeremiah said in a recent three-hour media call, so challengers must have “honest conversations in the draft room” when discussing a QB prospect.

“Is he going to be able to help your team compete against (Patrick) Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert?” said Jeremiah, who played the position for El Cajon’s Christian High School and at Appalachian State.

It’s often said that QB-needy teams that hold a high draft slot “don’t know when they’ll be back up there.” Logic says they should take a QB because a chance this good won’t come again for a long time.

Jeremiah doesn’t buy it. Drawing from in-house research, he gave several examples of teams returning to a high draft slot within a few years of passing on a QB who didn’t have star potential in their view.

The lesson is this: when picking in the big-money first round, don’t take a QB unless you love him. “Particularly in the AFC right now,” Jeremiah said, “it’s hard to go with the floor instead of the ceiling there.”

The cyborg QBs can be vanquished. And, as NFL teams should keep in mind in this predraft process, a QB drafted in the second round has done it.

Jalen Hurts, taken overall 53rd overall five years ago, won the Super Bowl MVP award this month. It was Hurts’ second excellent performance in a Super Bowl, the first one coming in a shootout loss to Mahomes’ Chiefs.

In the upcoming draft, QB-needy teams will be mindful of how the Philadelphia Eagles and Hurts were able to pull it off.

What can they learn?

For starters, NFL teams underestimated Hurts, who played for Alabama and Oklahoma. The QB said at the recent Super Bowl parade he’s learned that strength and endurance are the lead ingredients to becoming an NFL champion. Two good clues, there.

It helps that the Eagles built a cyborg-level offensive line. They also assembled a great defense, in addition to fielding stars at two receivers spots, tight end and running back.

Surprising me, Jeremiah likened a quarterback in this year’s draft class to Hurts.

He is Jaxson Dart, who improved throughout his Ole Miss career under coach Lane Kiffin. He transferred from USC just before incoming coach Lincoln Riley brought in Caleb Williams, who was taken first in last year’s draft.

Dart and Hurts have a similar build, the former scout said.

“They’re both really good athletes,” he added. “They’re both beloved by their teammates, say the right things, do all the right things, do all the stuff on and off the field.

“With Jalen, he got better every year … he just keeps getting better and better and better. He’s got great wiring. He works really hard, and there’s a competitiveness and a toughness to him. So, that’s some of the things that I really like about Jaxson.”

A starting QB playing under his first NFL contract enables his team to devote larger chunks of salary cap space to other positions. Those QBs taken after in the second round and later come a whole lot cheaper. Jeremiah projects Dart for the second round, same as Hurts.

New Raiders coach Pete Carroll went to a pair of recent Super Bowls with a QB who was on his first contract. He was Russell Wilson. Carroll got him in the third round with the Seahawks, after Wilson’s substandard height lowered his draft stock.

The Raiders don’t have a franchise QB. Going into their first draft with seven-time Super Bowl-winning QB Tom Brady, a minority owner who’s involved in the football operation, they hold the sixth pick in the NFL draft. Even if they sign a free-agent QB such as Sam Darnold, they’re among Jeremiah’s candidates to draft one of his top two QBs in the first round.

Those QBs are Cam Ward, who is Jeremiah’s top-graded signal-caller, and Shedeur Sanders. Jeremiah said Ward figures to go sooner.

If the Raiders and others like them don’t draft a QB in a high-money slot, they figure to consider less-expensive QB prospects such as Dart, Jeremiah’s third-rated QB. Jeremiah mentioned three other candidates: Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, whose speed Jeremiah ranked as the highest-graded physical trait of any QB in the class; Louisville’s Tyler Shough, a strong-armed 25-year-old who holds four college degrees; and Will Howard, a touch thrower who led Ohio State to the recent national title.

There may not be any cyborg QB in the whole group. But the Eagles and Seahawks have shown how the right second- or third-round QB drafted into the right situation can produce super results.

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