"QBs in the draft" thread 3…Lynch, Cook, etc.

PFF’s rankings of qb prospects

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2016/02/18/draft-round-by-round-ranking-of-2016s-best-nfl-qb-prospects/

Our positional rankings kick off with a look at the quarterbacks — perhaps one of the deepest positions in the draft. While the QBs at the top end of the range are not flawless, there are both starters and developmental backups to be found in this draft class. It’s an intriguing group at the bottom range as many of the QBs came into the season with previous warts or little hype, yet they developed just enough in 2015 to possibly warrant a late-round flier.

The NFL has an exclusive club of backup quarterbacks bouncing around the league, but this class may shake things up a bit as there are a number of players who appear best-suited to sit for a few years with hopes of developing into a starter down the road.

Here are the top quarterbacks in the 2016 draft class:

Round 1
Jared Goff, Cal
There’s a lot to like about Goff’s game, from his pocket presence to his game-changing throws under pressure, to his ability to elevate an overmatched Cal team in the Pac-12. He posted the top grade among all quarterbacks in 2015 after ranking eighth in 2014, showing well whether pressured or facing the blitz. He can throw his receivers open with anticipation and creativity, and he’s fearless in making these throws even when getting hit. Goff’s short area accuracy could stand to improve, and his decision-making was questionable at times in 2015, but his overall body of work and three-year progression at Cal are too much to pass up for a QB-needy team at the top of the draft.

Carson Wentz, North Dakota State
One of the biggest stories of the draft, Wentz ticks all of the boxes in the “looks-the-part” department. He’s much more than that though, as we’ve done an initial grading of his 2015 and there’s plenty to like on film as well. His arm strength jumps out as a positive, and he often needs it as his timing in the passing game is not always up to par. His deep comebacks are a thing of beauty, and his entire skillset screams “vertical passing offense.” If put into that type of scheme, Wentz looks like a quarterback that can win a game by pushing the ball down the field, but at this point, he can also lose it for you with questionable decision-making. He has better touch than other quarterbacks that possess his type of arm, though his accuracy wanes at times when using the change up. Wentz’s athleticism is icing on the cake, and it should be an effective tool at the next level. Wentz’s upside is immense, and he’s best-suited to sit and learn before seeing the field, and that proposition will play an important role in his development. There’s some inherent risk with banking on upside, but the combination of current on-field play and the physical skillset may be too much to pass up.

Rounds 2-3
Paxton Lynch, Memphis
The first thing to note about Lynch is his development from two-star high school recruit to NFL prospect as he’s done an impressive job of improving every year since entering college. His +30.5 overall grade ranked seventh in the nation in 2015 as he did a fine job of taking care of the football while flashing the big-time throws you’d like to see from a future NFL quarterback. He’s athletic for 6-foot-7, throwing well on the move (a huge part of Memphis’ offense) and moving the chains as a runner both in the designed game and as a scrambler. The athleticism isn’t a game-changer at the next level, but it certainly won’t hurt. There are some accuracy concerns, particularly at the intermediate level outside the numbers where Lynch posted one of the worst accuracy percentages in the nation. Lynch only averaged 7.9 yards per target — one of the lowest numbers in the nation — so while he has the arm to challenge the intermediate and deep level of the field, he was only asked to do so sparingly at Memphis. He only attempted three passes beyond 40 yards on the season, two of them were well-placed post routes that showed Lynch’s potential. Quarterback stock will always be inflated on draft day, and while Lynch feels more like a second-round prospect, we wouldn’t frown upon his name being called in the first.

Rounds 4-7
Brandon Allen, Arkansas
Size and hand size be damned, Allen put together one of the best second halves in the nation, including two monster games against Ole Miss and Mississippi State. His quick release and intermediate accuracy was on display in those games and he carried that into a strong bowl game and Senior Bowl week. He’s a little too quick to leave the pocket – also on display when he continually tried to scramble during team drills at practice – but the plays he’s made within the scheme are impressive enough to warrant a mid-round pick.

Matt Johnson, Bowling Green
Speaking of size issues, as our own Sam Monson points out, Matt Johnson does everything “wrong” before the snap, but everything after is excellent. He’s too short, he plays in a Baylor-like offense that resembles a teenager playing Madden, and he rarely has to make anything close to an NFL read. But when he throws the ball, magic happens, to the tune of a +53.9 overall grade and the second-highest “big-time throw” total in the nation with 41. His downfield accuracy is breathtaking at times, dropping 40-plus yard bombs into buckets with regularity. Coming from an offense that is 40 percent bombs and screens is not an ideal translation to the NFL, but the term “arm talent” comes to mind when watching Johnson and he’s simply a player we’d like to see in an NFL camp to develop in the coming years.

Brandon Doughty, WKU
Back-to-back years of strong grades put Doughty higher than most, but he’s shown accuracy to all levels of the field. He shows the pocket movement and decision-making to be a capable NFL player, and he led the nation with an accuracy percentage of 81.8 percent while ranking fifth in deep-pass accuracy percentage at 53.1 percent.

Cody Kessler, USC
While the physical tools will never impress, Kessler did a fine job of distributing the ball accurately in 2014, leading to one of the highest passing grades in the nation. Unfortunately, he took a step back in 2015 as he remained one of the nation’s most accurate in the short ranges, but anything over 10 yards was below the national average, and that’s concerning. Kessler’s regression raises questions about whether or not the lack of physical tools caught up to him, but it’s difficult to ignore his 2014 play which rivaled the top QBs in the country. The upside may not be huge for Kessler, though he had the lowest percentage of negative grades of any QB in the country, so there is a skillset to work with at the next level.

Connor Cook, Michigan State
Week-to-week consistency has been an issue for Cook who posted four games “in the red” in 2015, but also had two of the better quarterbacked games we saw all season against Rutgers and Indiana. The potential is there as Cook pushes the ball down the field with a clear conscience, often putting the ball in tight, NFL windows in the 11-30 yard range. He’s less accurate on the short stuff, missing too many throws, particularly when pressured where his accuracy percentage of 53.4 percent ranked 55th in the nation. There are plenty of off-field concerns and rumors surrounding Cook, but if any of that checks out, there is enough to like from his on-field play to warrant a pick for a developmental role.

Trevone Boykin, TCU
The NFL wants Boykin to play wide receiver, but we’d love to see him get a shot to play QB. He’s still relatively inexperienced at the position, and he sprinkled in enough “wow” throws to keep us intrigued. He posted the seventh-best grade in the nation in 2015, a year removed from ranking 14th, so the arrow is still pointing up in his development.

Kevin Hogan, Stanford
Hogan’s development was the opposite of Kessler’s as he struggled for much of 2014 before finishing strong and carrying it into 2015. He struggled on a number of intermediate and deep throws, but his progression is intriguing and we’re working through our second pass watching that development.

Jeff Driskel, Louisiana Tech
Competition level aside, Driskel’s one year at Louisiana Tech was a huge improvement after three uneven seasons at Florida. Consistency can still be an issue as he’ll mix in impressive throws with passes that miss by a wide margin, and his 71.6 percent accuracy percentage (15th in draft class) is concerning. It was only a step up from last year’s 67.2 percent mark, so while the arrow is pointing up in his development, he’s also just a year removed from not even being considered a draftable prospect.

Undrafted free agents
Jacoby Brissett, NC State

Brissett’s two-year passing grade is well below most of the other quarterbacks on the list though he’s done a fine job of using his legs to move the chains. If you catch the right Brissett games, there’s plenty to like, but the bad ones occur far too often. That inconsistency is too much to risk with a draft pick.

Dak Prescott, Mississippi State

Strides were made in the passing game, but Prescott still sits behind most of the passers in this draft class. He does add an intriguing element as a runner, particularly in the designed run game, but there are still too many questions about him as a passer to warrant a draft pick.

Jake Rudock, Michigan

We’re still working through our re-watch of Rudock, but his trend is one of the most interesting in the country. Through week nine, he was the 44th-ranked QB in the draft class at -13.5, but from week 10 and on, his +24.0 grade led all QBs in the class. Head coach Jim Harbaugh has lobbied hard for Rudock behind the scenes, and he’ll be one to watch during the draft process.

Vernon Adams Jr, Oregon

More work is still to be done on Adams as well, and he has a similar profile as Rudock’s. Adams battled a thumb injury early in the season that likely hindered his performance, but his +14.7 grade since Week 10 and an impressive performance in the East-West Shrine game have our analysts intrigued to break down exactly what changed in his game.

Christian Hackenberg, Penn State

“Looks the part” is the nicest thing that has been said about Hackenberg the last two seasons, and we’re not really sure how much that’s worth. The on-field play has been subpar by every measure, and most point to 2013 as the glimmer of hope in Hackenberg’s upside. We are in the process of going back to grade every play from that season, but the last two years of evidence that saw him rank among the worst quarterbacks in the country is not encouraging.

Nick Arbuckle, Georgia State

Another player we are going back to re-watch, the grades were strong this season and our analysts always came back impressed after watching him play.

LYNCH: “The schemes are going to be a little bit different. I’m going to have to call the plays from the huddle,” Lynch said. “But that isn’t something I see as an issue as long as I work on it.”

Boy is he wrong about that.

Now I ain’t no guru, ain’t no guru-man’s son, but this is a kind of open, common issue in the Era of the College Spread.

It’s a big transformation. It slowed both Bradford and Foles down in their respective development.

This is one of the reasons why Lynch keeps being called a developmental, 1 year away guy, not an instant starter.

.

MAYOCK AFTER SEEING LYNCH AT THE COMBINE

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/playerbreakingnews.asp?sport=CFB&id=134846&line=53193&spln=1

During the NFL Network telecast of the NFL Scouting Combine on Saturday, analyst Mike Mayock said, “I felt like [Memphis QB] Paxton Lynch, it didn’t come out as good as expected.”

Mayock had a very specific note for Lynch. Said the analyst, “I think the transition with the footwork has to get more consistent.” The 6-foot-6, 225-pounder’s somewhat flawed performance in throwing drills was made all the more glaring in the face of the strong performances from NDSU’s Carson Wentz and Cal’s Jared Goff. “This is kinda what I expected of him … big arm, and athletic kid. The more snaps he gets, the better he’s going to be,” Mayock concluded of Lynch. The former Tiger was already being viewed as something of a project prior to the combine. It’s not a huge surprise that he wasn’t quite as polished in his throwing as Goff or Wentz.

from off the net

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RockRam

Here’s the thing with Cook: a GM either likes him or not. The guy had tons of starts, won tons of games, has an NFL body, has excellent athleticism, and a strong enough arm to make any throw. He ran a largely Pro style system, so he had to read D, go through progressions, and take snaps under center quite a bit. About the only real knock on him is that he was not elected Team Captain and his accuracy was inconsistent at times. Today Kurt Warner said he thought that the accuracy issue was mostly about footwork. If Snead thinks Cook is an NFL starter, and the first 3 QBs are gone, you take him at 15 even if it is a few spots too early. The cost isn’t much due to the CBA. You have Keenum start, and then see if sometime during the year Cook progresses enough to take over.

Kevin Hogan is primed for pro-style offenses

Eric Branch

http://www.sfgate.com/49ers/article/Kevin-Hogan-is-primed-for-pro-style-offenses-6857381.php

INDIANAPOLIS — Cardinals head coach and noted quarterback guru Bruce Arians believes the NFL’s glamor position is difficult to evaluate because the most important traits are impossible to measure.
“You can’t evaluate the brain and the heart,” Arians said. “They’re the two you play with. … So much of it’s still a crapshoot. If you could analyze those two things, you could make millions of dollars.”
That said, Arians and other NFL evaluators at the combine can feel fairly confident about this: Stanford’s Kevin Hogan has a first-round brain.
After spending his four-year, 46-start career in Stanford’s pro-style offense, Hogan is viewed as one of the Rhodes Scholars of this year’s quarterback draft class. Unlike other prospects from shotgun-only spread attacks that populate the college ranks, Hogan has been operating under center in a system that directly translates to the next level since 2012.
NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock views Hogan as the most NFL-ready of the quarterbacks who will be selected after the first round.
“He’s probably the most ready, intellectually, of any of those quarterbacks,” Mayock said. “…He’s probably as close to what you’re going to see in the NFL as any of them. He’s going to come in and pick it up very quickly.”
Hogan was a quick study at Stanford. He became the starter midway through his freshman season, a campaign he capped by leading the Cardinal to four straight wins over ranked teams. That season-ending stretch included the program’s first Rose Bowl victory in 40 years and served as a springboard for a career that ended with the most wins (36) by a quarterback in Stanford history, 75 touchdown passes, 29 interceptions and a 65.9 completion percentage.
Stanford’s Austin Hooper, one of the draft’s top tight ends, said Hogan succeeded because of his savant-like knowledge.
“That guy knows more than anybody,” Hooper said. “He’s started so many darn games. He can tell you a blitz before it happens. Like I watch film with him and he’s not a route runner, he’s a QB, and he’ll teach me some things and I’ll just be like, ‘Wow!’
“There’s certain little things with timing, there’s some cases in the film where I give him a certain look, or he’ll give me a certain look and we’d be on the same page and see a certain change in the defense and we would just capitalize on it. He’s been a great part of my success.”
Of course, there are reasons Hogan isn’t being mentioned with slam-dunk first-round quarterbacks such as North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz and Cal’s Jared Goff.
Among the perceived shortcomings that figure to make him a mid-round pick, at best: average arm strength and a funky, too-long delivery.
Hogan has been training in Westlake Village (Ventura County) at Proactive Sports, with John Ramsdell serving as his quarterbacks coach.
Ramsdell’s 19-year NFL coaching career included a seven-season stint (2006-12) in San Diego, where he tutored Philip Rivers, another quarterback with an unorthodox throwing motion. Rivers’ delivery hasn’t prevented him from earning five Pro Bowl berths and throwing for 41,447 yards in his 12-year career.
Hogan said he’s not tweaking his throwing motion, but is focusing on footwork that will quicken his release.
“It’s something I’ve been working on, just trying to get the ball out quicker,” Hogan said. “I’ve been working on a lot of quick-release drills with coach Ramsdell. I think by tightening up my base — if your feet are in the ground and ready to throw, you’re going to be able to get the ball out quicker.”
Hogan acknowledged that weakness, but also noted the edge he has on many of his peers, who were far less independent during their college careers.
“I’ve called plays in the huddle,” he said. “I’ve had to manage tons of different looks at the line — not checking to the sideline to see what the adjustment should be.”
Not surprisingly, Hogan has enjoyed his conversations with NFL teams at the combine. Those sit-downs have allowed him to give teams a glimpse into his beautiful mind, and he particularly enjoyed an X’s-and-O’s heavy visit with the Bills.
It was nice to draw up some plays, draw up concepts and talk actual football,” Hogan said, “the stuff that matters.”

from LA Rams’ financial picture looks even brighter after salary cap bump

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/20160227/la-rams-financial-picture-looks-even-brighter-after-salary-cap-bump

LYNCH GETS A SURPRISE

Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch raised some eyebrows when he missed his media session on Thursday, but it turns out he had a valid excuse.

Although one that even he concedes spooked a couple of teams.

Lynch was delayed on Thursday by a prolonged medical evaluation session that ultimately turned up a small clavicle fracture he never knew he had.

Among other things – all of which meant delaying his media session by a day.

“I had an issue with my left knee and my right knee and an issue with my AC joint,” Lynch explained. “When I hurt my AC joint back in my redshirt sophomore year of college in Cincinnati, I didn’t realize that I had, I think they said it was just a small fracture in my clavicle. So that popped up on the X-ray, but it was healed. But there was just some like piece of the bone I guess just floating around in there. So it spooked a team or two, I think, and that’s why they requested the MRIs and all that. But I mean I didn’t miss a game or a practice or a single throw ‘cause of it, and none of those injuries bother me today. I’m 100 percent, so I was more than willing to do what they need me to do.”

Lynch is among three quarterbacks who seem destined to be drafted in the first round. And based on his performance Saturday during the quarterback on-field drills, there was no evidence of any injury carry over.

No matter what the X-rays showed this week.

Potential landing spots for first-round QBs & WRs

NFL Media’s Charles Davis and Daniel Jeremiah join “Combine Primetime” to give their ideal landing spots for potential first found quarterbacks and wide receivers in the 2016 NFL draft.

http://www.therams.com/videos/videos/Potential-landing-spots-for-first-round-QBs–WRs/392a93c5-6f10-4096-a132-8bc1f4126c64

from this…

Charles on Davis Paxton Lynch: “On building, he’ll remind people of Roman Gabriel.”

PFF: 5 TAKEAWAYS FROM COMBINE QB WORKOUTS

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2016/02/27/draft-5-takeaways-from-combine-qb-workouts/

The quarterback position isn’t one that normally fluctuates with combine performance, but outliers on either end of the spectrum can still give teams pause. Here are five guys who showed me something — whether encouraging or disappointing — in Indy:

Jared Goff’s hands are small, but he’s still accurate

The concerns about Goff’s slight frame have been out there for months now, but he added another red flag on Thursday when his hands measured in at 9 inches. That is a popular cutoff point for hand size in the NFL and it doesn’t give you confidence that his fumbling issues (23 career at Cal) will be solved anytime soon. When Goff actually had to throw the ball at the combine though, the hand size issue got put on the back burner. His ball placement was on point in drill after drill and he showed why he finished 2015 as PFF’s highest graded college quarterback.

Christian Hackenberg’s hands are small and he’s still inaccurate

Hackenberg’s hands were also 9 inches despite him having otherwise prototypical size. But unlike Goff, Hackenberg’s hand size might actually affect his ability to throw accurately. Hackenberg egregiously missed on back-to-back post routes against air at one point — a feat you’ll almost never see at the combine. The Penn State QB was our 119th in accuracy percentage (64.0) in the FBS this past season and 87th overall in our grading.

Jeff Driskel is athletic enough to play wide receiver

If you had predicted Jeff Driskel as the most athletic quarterback in this year’s draft class, you have a keen eye. After pacing all QBs with a 4.56 40-yard dash and a 10-foot-two-inch broad jump, Driskel blew away a mediocre field. Now scouts will have to decide if that athleticism, combined with a much improved senior season, is worth taking a mid-round flyer on. Driskel was a mess in 2014 at Florida, finishing with a -4.7 overall quarterback and a 67.2 accuracy percentage. After transferring to Lousiana Tech this past season Driskel improved by leaps and bounds to a +26.3 overall grade and a 71.6 accuracy percentage.

Trevone Boykin is not athletic enough to play wide receiver

After much consternation earlier this year about Boykin switching positions, few teams will have him on their board as a receiver after running a 4.77 40 and posting a 32-inch vertical. That’s a good thing. Boykin has more than enough ability to get a fair shake at quarterback. His ball placement is a bit of an issue, but Boykin consistently flashed talent throwing the ball downfield. He was PFF’s seventh-highest graded quarterback last year and fourth most accurate quarterback on throws 20+ yards down the field (53.7 percent)

Carson Wentz is no Cam Newton, but that won’t matter

There was some buzz about Wentz’ athleticism being comparable to that of the current MVP’s heading into the combine. While his numbers can go head-to-head with some of the tight ends in attendance, they were not all-world like Newton’s. He posted a 4.77 40-yard dash, 6.86 3-cone, 30.5-inch vertical, and nine-foot-10-inch broad jump — solid enough numbers that it wouldn’t change anything if you already envisioned him as a top-five pick. We don’t have any hard and fast numbers from his FCS games just yet (we’re working on it), but our top analysts thought enough of him to put him at No. 4 on our initial draft board.