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18. Connor Cook, QB, Michigan State, 6-4, 220, 4.89, Redshirt Senior: Cook comes out of a pro-style attack which features plenty of challenging downfield throws, making him theoretically more NFL-ready than the other top-rated quarterbacks in this draft. He is a polarizing prospect, whose chance at the first round could be heavily influenced by how he performs against Alabama in the New Year’s Eve Cotton Bowl. Never voted a captain by teammates, Cook also had an awkward encounter with Ohio State legend Archie Griffin on live television. Cook doesn’t possess elite traits but he has shown the poise, arm strength and accuracy to start early in his pro career.
AgamemnonStrengths Weaknesses
STRENGTHS: Possesses ideal size for the next level with the build to take consistent punishment, including as a short-yardage rusher with his deceiving athleticism.Cook scans the entire field and is a confident passer to all levels, showing touch, anticipation and toughness in the pocket. He has effortless arm strength when he steps into his throws with proper mechanics and torque through his hips to deliver the proper trajectory on downfield passes.
Mastered Michigan State’s offense, firing quick passes underneath with the ability to thread the needle on deeper sideline throws. Has excellent experience, and his poise in key situations has improved throughout his career.
WEAKNESSES: Once moved from his original spot, he attempts to “arm” everything and abandon his base footwork, often content making throws with his weight falling away from his target. Cook isn’t fully comfortable with a muddy pocket, which forces his eye level to wander and confuses his internal clock.
He will make a handful of high risk throws each game and is too willing to deliver into high traffic areas after staring down receivers.
Apologized for an awkward encounter with legendary Archie Griffin in accepting the game MVP award following Michigan State’s victory in the Big Ten title game, but only after a social media backlash. It would seem minor, but Cook had already drawn mixed reviews from scouts due to his “different” personality, with some thinking it might be tough for him to acclimate himself in a NFL locker room. NFL teams will be doing a lot of background work on Cook to answer the questions they have, including why he wasn’t voted a team captain.
IN OUR VIEW: While he has his flaws, Cook shows a number of reasons to be encouraged about his potential in the NFL. Bottom line with Cook, he has the physical traits ideally suited for the pro game with tape that shows off a number of NFL throws.
–Dane Brugler & Rob Rang (12/8/15)
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1868391/connor-cook
AgamemnonI like Mannion and Cook about the same, so why not get both? In this draft Cook is worthy of a first round pick, Mannion would be too, if he was in this draft. No one else is pro ready, well, maybe Hogan, but you can get him much later. imo
AgamemnonCowboys, 49ers, Rams best NFL fits for Cal QB Jared Goff
By Rob Rang | The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com
December 29, 2015 5:40 pm ETWith California cruising to a 55-36 victory over Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl on Tuesday, it is likely only a matter of time before junior quarterback Jared Goff officially announces that he will forgo his senior season and head to the NFL.
As such, the time has come to begin projecting which NFL team Goff — who completed 25 of 37 passes for 467 yards and six touchdowns without an interception in the win — projects to fit best.
Before taking a team-by-team approach, it is important to recognize what separates the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Goff from the other quarterbacks atop NFLDraftScout.com’s board.
When projecting quarterbacks to the NFL, so much attention is spent evaluating arms. While velocity and accuracy are obviously critical for success at the position, footwork and poise are equally important. These are two elements in which Goff excels.
Goff has enough velocity to make every NFL throw and he has spectacular touch on intermediate and deep routes, as demonstrated by this drop in the bucket for a touchdown Tuesday.
And this one a few moments later.
As was highlighted by ESPN’s commentators during the Armed Forces Bowl, however, it is Goff’s fundamentally sound footwork which earns his accuracy.
While Goff isn’t a true dual threat, he possesses the light feet and spatial awareness to buy time in the pocket, subtly side-stepping pass-rushers and stepping up when needed.
This is an important differentiation from stronger-armed passers like Michigan State senior Connor Cook and Penn State junior Christian Hackenberg, who occasionally spray passes because they fail to consistently step into their throws. These quarterbacks have the rifles to simply zip passes through the tight windows. Goff, conversely, relies more on anticipation and terrific ball placement to hit receivers as they make their cuts or simply lofting throws over the top of defenders.
Asking Goff to fire deep outs from the opposite hash or battle fierce winds in an outdoor stadium could lead to struggles in the NFL, which is why the Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears or Buffalo Bills might want to look elsewhere if any of those franchises chooses to add competition at quarterback during the offseason.
While the ball-hawking secondaries of the NFC West would present a formidable challenge for Goff, the commitment to young running backs Todd Gurley and Carlos Hyde (when he’s healthy) for the St. Louis Rams and San Francisco 49ers could make the Cal quarterback an intriguing option. With opposing defenses committed to stopping the run, Goff’s technically sound footwork, accuracy on the move and touch on deeper passes could make him effective quickly — in much the same way that the similarly slim-built Teddy Bridgewater has performed for the Minnesota Vikings.
Goff, who grew up a 49ers fan in nearby Novato, California, and wears No. 16 in tribute to the great Joe Montana, would seem an obvious candidate for San Francisco general manager Trent Baalke. The 49ers are currently projected to take Goff with the fifth overall pick.
While being selected by his “hometown” 49ers would certainly make for a terrific human interest story, teams draft players based on schematic fits, not zip codes.
Because Goff has good accuracy and enough athleticism to keep defenses honest as a runner, a creative offensive mind like New York Jets offensive coordinator Chan Gailey could find Goff especially intriguing, as could Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien, who worked wonders with Hackenberg while at Penn State but is likely to be out of the Goff sweepstakes with his Texans fighting for a playoff spot.
While Goff shows some upper level traits (like the ability to look off defenders) to get scouts excited, it is worth noting the relative simplicity of the offense he starred in at Cal, a spread attack with plenty of predetermined reads.
As such, like most young quarterbacks, Goff would be best served learning for a year or two before getting pushed onto the field. Serving as an apprentice behind Tony Romo in Dallas, for example, could be ideal.
In summary, Goff isn’t a transcendent talent with the traits to wow scouts the way that Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota did a year ago. His blend of anticipation, accuracy, subtle athleticism and poise, however, project well to a quick-hitting offense that allows him to challenge down the seam and sidelines with his deft touch.
Jared Goff is the No. 2 QB in the NFLDraftScout.com prospect rankings. (USATSI)Jared Goff is the No. 2 QB in the NFLDraftScout.com prospect rankings.
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings/2016/QB
For some reason they forgot Hackenburg. So here he is. AgamemnonTx, I had the wrong time on that. They will probably replay at some point. Probably the Goff game too.
Agamemnonhttp://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-rose-bowl-hogan-20151229-story.html
Stanford’s never nervous Kevin Hogan can just relax and play — and win
Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan strolls into the end zone past USC cornerback Adoree’ Jackson in the Pac-12 championship at Levi’s Stadium. (Shotgun Spratling / Los Angeles Times)
Mike DiGiovannaMike DiGiovannaContact ReporterThe low point of Kevin Hogan’s season came in the fourth quarter of a Nov. 14 game against Oregon, when the usually sure-handed Stanford quarterback fumbled away two center snaps, the second with two minutes left and the Cardinal deep in Ducks territory driving for a potential game-tying score.
The mistakes were costly in a 38-36 loss that derailed Stanford’s national title hopes, pushing the Cardinal out of College Football Playoff contention and toward Friday’s Rose Bowl game against Iowa. But they did nothing to demoralize Hogan, who has learned a thing or two about dealing with adversity.
Hogan, a fifth-year senior, played the 2014 season knowing his father, Jerry, 64, was dying of colon cancer. No one at the university, not even Coach David Shaw or Hogan’s closest friends, knew because Jerry wanted to keep his illness private.
Not until early November, when Jerry’s condition worsened, did Hogan’s mother, Donna, call Shaw with the news. A month later, on Dec. 8, 2014, Jerry, a Washington lobbyist for AT&T, died in McLean, Va., with Kevin and other family members at his side.
See the most-read stories in Sports this hour >>“It changes your mind-set on a lot of things; it changes your perspective,” Hogan said Monday. “At the end of the day, it’s just a game we’re playing. You have to treat it that way. Have fun with it, relax. You can’t tense up. That’s what I’ve been trying to do all year, and I feel comfortable out there. I’m never nervous.”
It shows. Hogan has completed 194 of 283 passes for 2,644 yards, with 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions, to help Stanford (11-2) win its third Pac-12 Conference championship and earn its third trip to the Rose Bowl in four years.
“He’s a different player this year,” Cardinal offensive coordinator Mike Bloomgren said. “The confidence he has and how much he’s grown as a human being as well as a player in the last year is unbelievable. He grew up really fast in those few weeks with his father.
“He’s got a different outlook on life that he’ll talk to the guys about openly. I think he’s living his life to the fullest and trying to really attain excellence in everything he does because he knows that’s the way his dad did it and the way his dad would want it.”
“There’s so many things he instilled in me — the values, the voice, and how he carried himself as a person,” Kevin Hogan said. “He was always so humble and interested in other people. I’ve really tried to be like that myself.
“Football-wise, it’s just going out and having fun and enjoying the game I’ve been playing my whole life. I’ve been trying to keep it simple. It’s a game, so treat it like a game. It’s not like you’re going to war. … It’s allowed me to kind of relax my shoulders and just play the game I know how to play.”
Nothing has fazed Hogan this season. After an opening loss to Northwestern, Hogan helped guide Stanford to eight straight wins in which it averaged 41 points a game.
Included in that run was a 41-31 victory over USC on Sept. 19 in which Hogan, despite suffering a severely sprained left ankle early in the second half, completed 18 of 23 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns.
“He could barely even walk, and all of a sudden he’s out there scrambling and doing all these things, and the day after the game, his ankle just blew up,” Stanford linebacker Blake Martinez said. “It was like, ‘OK, that’s a warrior right there.’ He always gives you that extra oomph to get it to the next level.”
Stanford and Iowa to meet in Rose Bowl
Stanford and Iowa to meet in Rose BowlAfter his second fumble against Oregon, the Cardinal got the ball back and drove 51 yards in eight plays, Hogan teaming with Greg Taboada on a four-yard touchdown pass with four seconds left. But Hogan’s pass on a two-point conversion try fell incomplete.
Two weeks later, against fourth-ranked Notre Dame, Hogan led Stanford on a five-play, 45-yard drive in the final 30 seconds, and the Cardinal pulled out a 38-36 win on Conrad Ukropina’s 45-yard field goal as time expired.
“His preparation, his execution and his leadership have been unbelievable,” Bloomgren said of Hogan. “What makes him so effective is the way he attacks the game plan.”
Hogan, 23, took over as starter midway through the 2012 season and led Stanford to its first Rose Bowl win in 41 years. With considerable physical tools — he’s 6 feet 4 and 218 pounds, with a strong arm and enough speed to scramble for key first downs — Hogan projects as a mid-round NFL pick.
But as big a reason for Hogan’s success — he has 35 career wins, most among active college quarterbacks — has been his ability to master Stanford’s intricate offense, to identify defensive fronts, spot blitzes, change plays at the line of scrimmage and not rush through his progressions.
Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey runs with a purpose
Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey runs with a purpose“He drives the ship in everything we do,” Bloomgren said. “If we didn’t keep challenging Kevin and putting more on his plate, he’d get bored with it because he’s so smart. He doesn’t want it to be easy.”
A coach will often refer to a heady quarterback as a “coach on the field.” Hogan really is. The quarterback runs the weekly pass-protection meetings with the offensive line while Bloomgren and other coaches sit in the back of the room.
Not even Andrew Luck, the current Indianapolis Colts star quarterback, did that at Stanford.
“It’s his meeting — he’s running it, he’s in charge,” Bloomgren said. “That’s rare. I don’t know anybody that’s doing it in college football or who would want to do it because I don’t know if they trust their kids.
“We trust Kevin with everything in our offense. I don’t think I tell him ‘Thank you’ enough for making our job so easy.”
AgamemnonSo far, Goff looks good, Lynch and Cook don’t. Hogan plays tomorrow and Weintz plays in the Senior Bowl.
AgamemnonHow you wanta do this Ag?
Keep running this thread, or start a new “qb draft” thread and link this one in it?
This one will get big, not that it matters. Up to you.
We could start a new one periodically. After the Senior Bowl, Feb QBs, etc. Some of the old stuff gets out of date.
Agamemnon
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