QUARTERBACKS
Nathan Peterman, Pittsburgh, #4
Game Film Evaluated:
Clemson (2016)
Miami (FL) (2016)
Penn State (2016)
Summary: Willing to stand tall in the pocket without clean feet to make the throw. Comfortable working under center. Lacks an elite strong arm. Adequate athlete who can get out of trouble with his feet and beat teams with his arm. He does not look rattled when blitzed, he looks to beat teams downfield when given those chances. He will take the hit to make the throw. Throws off his backfoot too often when pressured. He keeps his eyes downfield instead of on pressure. He will climb the pocket when he feels the rush coming. He will make throws at all levels of the defense. He is not a check down machine. He feels the rush and moves well in the pocket to escape pressure. He acts like the leader on the field. He can look off the safety and look to hit the tight end down the seam. Poor thrower when going to his left. Bit of a gunslinger, he will throw it into tight areas. Nathan Peterman is a pro ready QB who is comfortable progressing on reads, working under center, looking off safeties and throwing the ball in small areas. He takes chances but he is willing to make a play instead of just settling for the checkdown. His pocket awareness is one of the best in the class. He needs to be taught to understand when to take chances to when the safe play is acceptable. His footwork needs work but he is comfortable against the blitz. There is a lot to like with his game that translates well to the next level. I think he will be a successful QB and would be a perfect successor for Drew Brees in the Sean Payton offense. Peterman lacks the elite arm but he is more than capable of getting it to all levels of the defense. First round grade.
Mitch Trubisky, North Carolina, #10
Game Film Evaluated:
Pittsburgh (2016)
Florida State (2016)
Stanford (2016)
Summary: Moves well in the pocket buying time. Excellent agility side stepping away from rushers. If his first read isn’t there, often he pulled it down and just ran it. Vulnerable to the blitz, he fails to recognize it presnap and make the quick throw to beat it. Inconsistent footwork. Needs to make quicker decisions. He holds the ball way too long. He trusts his athleticism to get him out of trouble instead of using his arm. Stares down receivers at times. He can make some unreal plays when the play breaks down, he can run all over the field to keep it alive and fire it downfield to make it work. He cannot beat the blitz, he consistently fails to recognize it presnap. Shows no ability to recognize and read the defense presnap. Mitch Trubisky has a good arm and impressive athleticism to match. There may not be a better QB in the class when the play breaks down. However he is extremely vulnerable to the blitz and struggles to see it presnap and beat it with his arm. His footwork is poor and accuracy drops as a result. He has such a quick release that helps him get rid of it quickly. He has got to become better when facing pressure, he needs to stand tall, take the hit getting rid of the pass. Too often he drops his eyes from his receivers when pressure gets to his face. He needs a year before he can really make a run at a starting job in the NFL but the tools are there to be a solid NFL QB. He needs to sit for a year or prepare for a lot of turnovers while he learns to read a defense. If he gets rush into the lineup, what happened to him against Stanford will be the norm and just hope it doesn’t break him beyond repair. Late first round grade.
DeShaun Watson, Clemson, #4
Game Film Evaluated:
Alabama (2016)
Ohio State (2016)
Louisville (2016)
Summary: Excellent footwork. Poor accuracy which is rare when his footwork is so good. He just misses badly despite having good mechanics. A one read type QB who is someone who can progress on his reads. He tucks the ball and runs with it too often when he should buy time and beat teams more with his arm. He has got to be careful to know when to run with it and when to throw it away. Kid really responds well to adversity, he played poorly vs Louisville with multiple turnovers and responded with clutch throws to secure a win. Looked off safeties vs Ohio State. Throws the ball with anticipation before the receiver has turned for the ball. Comfortable throwing the ball into tight areas. He is vulnerable to be blitzed, he will take his eyes off the receivers and on the pressure. He has got to understand to recognize blitz presnap and focus on beating the blitz. He takes a lot of hard hits which he cannot keep doing at the next level. DeShaun Watson is a puzzling prospect, he is the QB that led his team to back to back national championship games where his performance gave his team chances to win. He has no experience working under center but his mechanics and footwork are already pro ready. However he needs to recognize the defense presnap and be more comfortable facing the blitz or else he will get blitzed a majority of the time until he beats it. He seems to be a groove quarterback, once he gets settled into the game he can’t be stopped which is what happened against Alabama. However the performance against Louisville is most impressive as he played poorly throwing INTs but responded to adversity when he didn’t play well to still make the clutch throws late to win the game. He reminds me of Donovan McNabb but prefers to run a lot more than he ever did at Syracuse or in Philly. There is a lot to like with Watson and although he may not win the competition in workouts or combine, the kid finds a way to win in the games. Second round grade with a significant learning curve.
Patrick Mahomes, Texas Tech, #5
Game Film Evaluated:
Kansas State (2016)
TCU (2016)
West Virginia (2016)
Summary: Comfortable reading the field and finding the open man. His footwork is a mess but still able to put the ball on target at times. However consistency is an issue for him. No experience at all under center or reading the defense presnap. Plus athlete who can run well out of the pocket and going downfield. Throws the ball a bit sidearm but he makes it work. He has plenty of arm to throw it at all levels of the defense. He will hold it forever and a day and resorts to school yard ball just throwing it up for grabs. He can be baited into bad decisions with the ball. He fails to protect the ball when he escapes out of the pocket, just asking for the defense to take it away from him. Footwork is awful. Pat Mahomes is a frustrating prospect, the skills are impressive but good lord almost everything a professional QB has to do to be successful Mahomes does not do. Work under center, read the defense, footwork, accuracy, good decision making and protect the ball at all times. He just makes things happen and it will hardly ever go as it was drawn up. He will get a head coach fired if he starts in the NFL as a rookie. The kid will make a lot of mistakes but learning from them, weighing the risk and responding to that adversity will determine his pro career. He needs to go to a team that doesn’t need him to start and has a coach with high job security to survive the growing pains with this kid. I wouldn’t even consider playing him as a rookie under any circumstances and would prefer to wait until year 3 in an ideal situation. There will always be a balance trying to let him play his game and staying within the system. 3rd round grade.
DeShone Kizer, Notre Dame, #14
Game Film Evaluated:
USC (2016)
Stanford (2016)
Michigan State (2016)
Summary: Excellent pocket awareness, he has eyes in the back of his head to feel the pressure and get out of it. Holds the ball long. Resets his feet when throwing it after escaping pressure. Makes really bonehead decisions throwing the ball into coverage for no reason. He can progress on reads across the field. He will drop his eyes from receivers and turn to the pressure. Footwork can be good at times and then a complete mess. He suffers from quicksand syndrome. He can be baited into throwing balls that he shouldn’t, he needs to do better recognizing the coverage and where the holes will be. DeShone Kizer has good size with a live arm to make throws. He already can progress on reads across the field and can feel the pressure to buy time with his feet and beat teams with the arm. He can tuck it away and run with it well. His accuracy is poor but decision making is really what is lacking. He gets baited by the defense, he can stare down receivers at times and defenders will get a lot of picks off him. He should of stayed in school another year to work those things but decided to turn pro. Because of that, he needs preferably two seasons as a 3rd string QB before he is ready to compete for a job in the NFL. He might turn into something if given the patience he needs to work his tail off in the film room and prepare endlessly to take those skills he already has to the level he can be. His quick release and strong arm with pocket awareness and athletic ability is rare and that will get him drafted. 3rd round grade.
Chad Kelly, Ole Miss, #10
Game Film Evaluated:
Florida State (2016)
Georgia (2016)
Auburn (2016)
Summary: Competitive player. He can make some impressive throws and sets his feet prior to throwing. He has a bit of a windup when throwing downfield before the ball is out which will hurt him at the next level. Not someone who has experience under center nor making reads at the line. His accuracy is an issue, he can make just bonehead throws at times into coverage. He will fight off pressure and reset his feet to throw from the pocket. Needs to get comfortable throwing on the run and when he doesn’t have clean feet. Chad Kelly has had some off the field problems but he has worked hard to learn and move on from those incidents. Solid arm and can make throws at all levels of the defense and he can move effectively. However the accuracy is poor, no experience under center or reading the defense. Not comfortable progressing on reads. He is a project and needs a lot of work before he can compete for real playing time in the NFL. 5th round grade.
Davis Webb, Cal, #7
Game Film Evaluated:
Stanford (2016)
Washington (2016)
USC (2016)
Summary: One read spread QB. He throws a nice ball downfield with touch and can fire it as well. He refuses to stand tall in the pocket, he will keep retreating when pressured. He has got to keep the ball closer to his body when escaping, it is super loose dangling just asking to be striped away from him. Lacks the arm to throw it deep, multiple times it was badly underthrown. Davis Webb was an exciting college QB but he is no where close to ready to contribute as a NFL QB. He has no experience under center and almost no experience progressing on his reads. He lacks the arm to throw it downfield with any accuracy. He backs away constantly from pressure which will just make defenders continue to bring it if he ever gets into the game at the next level. Undrafted QB.
Brad Kaaya, Miami, #15
Game Film Evaluated:
Pittsburgh (2016)
West Virginia (2016)
Notre Dame (2016)
Summary: Good ideal frame and good arm. He is mostly accurate especially on intermediate throws. He understands when to fire it and when the touch pass is needed. Shotgun exclusive. Mostly a one read thrower but he did flash at times ability to work across the field. He is not someone who will stand tall and take the hard hit to make the throw. He looks to bail and protect himself and lets out a poor throw. He can be rattled when blitzed and just throw it up for grabs. Adequate footwork and steps up into his throws to help with velocity. Brad Kaaya can make all the throws effectively if he doesn’t have to deal with any pressure. His game completely changes when blitzed. NFL QBs have to deal with and beat the blitz as well as standing tall in the pocket taking the hit to make the throw. I have doubts that Kaaya will be able to do that at the next level. I compare his game to Jared Goff who lit up college defenses when he had clean feet and a pressure free pocket. He has no experience working under center nor someone who can make presnap reads and execute his reads on every play. He can make plays and would be successful but that all changes when pressure comes his way. He has starting ability but he has got to work on those areas before he can be successful in the NFL. 4th round grade.
No comments:
Post a Comment