Quarterbacks took center stage at the NFL scouting combine on Saturday, as the annual overreaction to prospects throwing in shorts against “air” defenses got underway.
The 2016 draft could end up being a showdown between Cal’s Jared Goff and North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz, as both had very good days throwing the ball. Memphis’ Paxton Lynch, believed to be in the first-round picture as well, displayed a strong arm but was scattershot on some passes and likely didn’t boost his stock significantly.
If there’s a fourth first-round possibility, it could be Michigan State’s Connor Cook. Although he had a long first step on his drops from center during the combine throwing session, he showed good throwing ability on a variety of routes — even with some possible linger aftereffects of a should injury that plagued him down the stretch of the season.
After that, it was a bit of a mixed bag among the other quarterbacks.
First, on Goff: After spending the week facing a litany of questions about his small hands — and even getting a bit testy with the media over it at one point — he delivered a smooth, fluid, rhythmic throwing session with good footwork, quick release, nice touch and the kind of accuracy teams are seeking. It might not have hurt that Goff was throwing to, among others, familiar targets in Cal receivers Kenny Lawler and Trevor Davis, but Goff looked good throughout.
Wentz first turned in an impressive athletic performance by running a 4.77-second 40-yard dash (second among the 17 QBs to Louisiana Tech’s Jeff Driskel at 4.56) and broad jumping nine feet, 10 inches (second among quarterbacks who tested). It was all the more impressive considering his 6-5, 244-pound frame. He threw the football with zip and confidence, connecting on a few nice deep balls that hit his receivers in stride.
Lynch also showed off a nice gun but also looked clunky at times with his drops and misfired on some throws he likely should have made. In addition, NFL teams had issues with his medical evaluations at the combine, with teams a bit “spooked” (his word) about his AC joint/clavicle in his throwing shoulder, as well as both knees. Lynch’s athleticism is good, but the idea that he could be a Day 1 starter in the league — especially emerging from a crude college offense — might be unrealistic.
Perhaps the worst performance of the day was turned in by Penn State’s Christian Hackenberg. Coming off back-to-back disappointing seasons, Hackenberg missed badly on several throws — high, low and wide — and appeared to be doubting himself, shaking his head after a few misfires. For a prospect whose stock appears to be so volatile, perhaps even with having one NFL head coach in his corner, Hackenberg did not appear to help himself Saturday.
Ohio State’s Cardale Jones, who stood to impress some onlookers after an interesting but incomplete body of work in college, came up lame at the end of his second 40-yard dash attempt and had to bow out of the rest of the drills. That took away one opportunity to improve his stock.
Other quarterbacks who seemed to help themselves included Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott, Arkansas’ Brandon Allen, North Carolina State’s Jacoby Brissett and Western Kentucky’s Brandon Doughty. Those who failed to wow with their throwing sessions included TCU’s Trevone Boykin, Stanford’s Kevin Hogan, Wisconsin’s Joel Stave and Driskel.
Right now, it appears to be a two-horse race for the top quarterback honors between Goff and Wentz, and Goff’s good day on Saturday helped stanch some of the comical media bleeding over the measurement of his throwing hand.
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