The team headed down to Mobile, AL for the Reese’s Senior Bowl and now we will break down the best of the best at each position. Justin Stephens (@JustinFF_) covered the QBs and those that stood out to them. The NFL draft this season is projected to have one of the strongest pools of talent that we have seen in a long time. One intriguing aspect of this draft is the need for solid Quarterback play for many teams in the NFL paired with the depth of talent at the position. We all know about the top tier prospects such as C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young, Will Levis, Hendon Hooker, and Aidan O’Connell. I’m not wasting your time writing about the guys you already know about. Instead, this week at the Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile Alabama, the crew from Toilets to Titles and CFB Nation were able to see some of those fringe Quarterbacks in this draft that are trying to fight to prove themselves to NFL General Managers across the country. Six Quarterbacks showed up this week. Here is how they shook out in reverse order of Bad Assery. Ok. Maybe Bad Assery is a poor term considering how critical I am about to be, but here’s your list…
Max Duggan, QB, TCU
That’s correct. Not only is the Quarterback from a Championship contending Horned Frogs team not considered a top tier guy with the players listed below, but he also looked more like a toad this week in Mobile. While there may be some potential for Duggan to turn into a prince one day, it’s going to be difficult for him to find a team willing to kiss him to find out. At least not in the draft anyway. I love the moxy and grit he showcases and I’d love to be able to believe that a fellow Ginger could pull off some big surprise with his draft stock, but unfortunately he left little on the field during this week’s practices to make me believe.Here’s the deets on Duggan, Max mostly stayed locked in to one receiver every time he dropped back. He really didn’t go through any read progressions. When Duggan did, it was a check down. And if that wasn’t there, Max was running. We already knew Duggan could run, so we really needed to see more of his arm this week and he really didn’t show us much. While he was decently accurate in mid-distant situations and while throwing on the run, he still consistently under threw his targets and never attempted any downfield throws in 7-on-7 or scrimmaging situations. Max Duggan was trying to play it safe and still came out looking bad which makes it even worse. I would’ve really liked to see him take some chances downfield.
Jake Haener, QB, Fresno St.
I was overall disappointed in most of what I saw in Haener this week. He does have more of a pedigree than Bagent and he outperformed Duggan by a decent margin. The only reason he is 3rd on this list is because of how bad all of the QB’s as a whole performed all week. Haener would surprise me immensely if he makes an NFL roster 2 years from now. He doesn’t have the size (no matter what the measurements try to tell you) or overall skills that it takes to play at the next level. So, what happened with Haener this week, you ask? Let me start with the good things. He did show a great ability to sense pressure this week and threw a beautiful ball on the run from both sides of the field. This was also a great display of his talented footwork. This is extremely important considering he is a bit vertically challenged. I’m sure he can throw better outside the pocket where he doesn’t have to look over linemen that tower over him. He also lacks deep ball accuracy, had trouble leading his receivers, and didn’t make quick enough decisions. If there was some plus side to his inaccurate deep throws, he seemed to at least throw it in a manner that defense didn’t have a chance to get to it. Unfortunately, neither could his receivers.
Tyson Bagent, QB, Shepherd University
That’s right, I have the Division II Quarterback from the Rams rated a notch higher than Max Duggan. Now, don’t hear what I’m not saying. I still was not at all pleased with what I saw from an NFL Quarterback aspect. However, I have to hand it to Bagent for taking more risks than Duggan did. He was willing to put himself out there and because of that, there were some surprises he was able to pull out of his hat that I wasn’t expecting to see from him against some of the top notch defenders that will be first round picks in April. To sum it up on Bagent. Due to the fact that he did air it out just a bit more than most of the other Quarterbacks, we were able to see that his deep ball was a bit too deep at times and he had a tendency to overthrow his targets. I could potentially blame that on the fact that these guys only play with each other for this one week and they have no chemistry before meeting in Mobile, but unfortunately he had the opposite problem on the short routes and was causing the receivers to stop their routes to catch the ball. Tyson’s mid-level accuracy was good, he had good read progressions and great anticipation. His 2 minute drill was potentially the best in this class which is surprising considering his 2 minute drill skills were only needed 3 times all season.
Jaren Hall, QB, BYU
Watching Jaren this week was frustrating. He showed so many flashes of brilliance, and followed that up nearly every time with a dose of disappointment. The BYU Cougars had a solid 8-5 season that was capped by a 24-23 thriller against the Mustangs of SMU in the New Mexico Bowl. Jaren’s numbers this season were pretty good, but nothing outstanding. Kind of like his performance this week in Mobile. Here is the Jargon on Jaren. I truly feel like he is the only thing holding himself back from being great. I know this sounds silly to hear at this point in his football career, but Jaren Hall does not prescribe to the “Practice like you play” mentality. He was lackadaisical during warmups and individual drills. His footwork was basic and he simply looked like he didn’t even care to be out there. Then everything (including his throwing style) looked completely different when it was time for 7-on-7 drills and the scrimmages. Admittedly, during these times he had very impressive moments. He has a beautiful deep ball and was highly accurate in mid-distance situations. His biggest knock for me, however, was his lack of quick decision making all week. Had these practices been game situations he would’ve been the most heavily sacked QB at the Senior Bowl.
Malik Cunningham, QB, Louisville
It was a refreshing boost to see Cunningham cleared to play by day 2 of practices. Day 1 brought little more than disappointment from all of the Quarterbacks at Hancock Whitney Stadium. While Duggan and Bagent were still disappointing on day 2, all of the others did show some improvement. Cunningham on the other hand had a much better outing for his first day by comparison to the first day of the others. He looked like he at least came to show out. Unfortunately, his leap in day 2 wasn’t as big as the leap of some of the others. As a passing QB goes, he was the worst of the 6 Quarterbacks on this list at a 66.2% completion rate this season. This week was no different. But his legs are borderline Michael Vick-esque already! Now for my coverage on Cunningham. Let’s face it, Malik isn’t going to be drafted with the thought of him being a starting Quarterback in the NFL. If he is drafted it will be a late round pick at best as a backup. With that in mind, you don’t need a backup Quarterback that will come in and win you games. If that’s what you have in a QB, then you have a starting QB. You need a backup that won’t lose you games when called upon. With his running ability and nearly exceptional short and mid-range accuracy, Malik seems primed to be that guy. When in the pocket, this guy didn’t have steps, he had strides. He had amazing footwork and scrambling abilities. The only real knocks I have on him is that his throw seems a bit delayed like there was something wrong with his throwing mechanics and his deep ball was consistently to the wrong shoulder or thrown behind the target.
Clayton Tune, QB, Houston
Clayton didn’t exactly impress in Day 1 of practices, but by comparison he was the best in the class at the Senior Bowl. He showed more improvement in Day 2 than the other Quarterbacks as well and was by far the most consistent man both from under center and in shotgun formations. The Houston Cougars QB was projected early on to be the 13th ranked QB in the class by most lists before the season started. Most recently he is consistently around number 10. Personally after seeing him perform this week, I have him slotted as the 7th best QB on the board. I know he will be a 6th or 7th round pick at best, but he should be taken in the 4th or 5th round in my opinion. I believe whole-heartedly that we will see Clayton Tune starting on Sundays one day. Clayton was crowned the King of the class this week because I really didn’t see anything I didn’t like. He had the best 2 minute drill of the 6 QB’s here in Mobile. He had great mid-level and deep ball accuracy. He led his receivers and hit them in stride. He took more downfield chances than the others (albeit still not as much as one would like to see). He was very decisive. In short, he just throws a sweet, sweet ball.
