Team will scrutinize all QBs at combine
Falcons would have to trade up to get any of the top 3 prospects.
USC quarterback Caleb Williams has drawn some comparisons to Patrick Mahomes, but he developed some bad habits while “constantly chasing points,” one analyst says.
MICHAEL CATERINA/AP
MICHAEL CATERINA/AP
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FALCONS
FLOWERY BRANCH — The Falcons don’t plan to close any doors while evaluating quarterbacks at the NFL Scouting Combine, which started Monday with players arriving and will run through March 4 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Addressing the quarterback position is an offseason priority for the Falcons, GM Terry Fontenot has said. The Falcons hold the eighth overall pick in the draft.
If they want the top-rated quarterback, USC’s Caleb Williams, they will have to trade up with the Bears.
Williams is widely considered the best quarterback scheduled to attend the combine. He will be heavily scrutinized as the presumptive No. 1 overall pick in the draft, set for April 25-27 in Detroit.
“It’s a good quarterback draft,” NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said. “Caleb to me is a top guy.”
Williams, who was listed at 6-foot-1 and 219 pounds in college, is considered a generational talent by some.
“If we’re just looking at pure talent, you can put him up there with really any of the guys we’ve had just in terms of arm strength, athleticism, the creativity that he has and the playmaking ability that he has,” Jeremiah said.
Williams, however, has some issues with extending plays unnecessarily.
“He is not as clean or as polished as some guys we have had over the last few years,” Jeremiah said. “I think there’s still some more growth and some cleaning up to do with Caleb’s game, but talentwise it’s pretty special.”
Some draft analysts are going as far as comparing Williams to Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“Look, you don’t want to compare somebody to the best player on the planet, but just in terms of how he kind of plays with the creativity and a little flair, and in all the different types of throws he can make in terms of driving the ball, layering the ball, extending plays, all those things, there are some similarities there,” Jeremiah said.
“(Mahomes) needed some time to clean some things up and got a chance to sit for a year. Obviously, I don’t think Caleb is going to be afforded the same luxury in that department.”
Like Mahomes at Texas Tech, Williams developed some bad habits playing for a subpar USC team.
“Pat’s last year at Texas Tech, they were 128th in scoring defense,” Jeremiah said. “This year, USC was 121st. (Williams) was constantly chasing points. I thought that led to some of the bad habits that creeped in a little bit this year.”
USC finished 5-4 in the Pac-12 and 8-5 overall last season. “He lost eight games at USC,” Jeremiah said. “They gave up an average of 43 points in those games.
He was 12-0 when they managed to allow less than 34 points. It’s tough to play quarterback when you are chasing points like that constantly.”
If the Falcons can’t move up to No. 1 to get Williams, they also would have to trade up to get LSU’s Jayden Daniels or North Carolina’s Drake Maye, the second- and third-rated quarterbacks headed for the combine and the draft.
Daniels, who’s 6-4 and 210 pounds, won the Heisman Trophy last season after passing for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns and rushing for another 1,134 and 10 touchdowns. Maye, who’s 6-4 and 229 pounds, led the Tar Heels to an 8-4 mark. He passed for 3,608 yards, with 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also rushed for 449 yards and nine touchdowns.
If the Falcons don’t trade up and keep the eighth overall pick, Washington’s Anthony Penix Jr., Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy and Oregon’s Bo Nix are in the next tier of quarterbacks. Most analysts do not considered any of them worthy of the eighth overall pick. “I would probably lean more toward McCarthy,” Jeremiah said.
“I just think everything he does in terms of accurately delivering the football and his ability to move around a little bit. I think the way he sees everything and kind of plays under control.”
Penix had some dazzling plays against Texas in the College Football Playoff semifinals but was battered in the national title game against Michigan.
“The semifinal game was awesome,” Jeremiah said. “He moved around better in the pocket than I had seen him previously, which was good to see. I mean, he threw some seeds in that game. Just back-foot missiles where he just hangs on his back foot, and the ball jumps out of his hand.
“But to me ... (his) deep ball throw is beautiful. He can drive the ball especially to the perimeter. I thought that the thing that showed up in the championship game, No. 1, they hit the stuffing out of him.”
FLOWERY BRANCH — The Falcons don’t plan to close any doors while evaluating quarterbacks at the NFL Scouting Combine, which started Monday with players arriving and will run through March 4 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Addressing the quarterback position is an offseason priority for the Falcons, GM Terry Fontenot has said. The Falcons hold the eighth overall pick in the draft.
If they want the top-rated quarterback, USC’s Caleb Williams, they will have to trade up with the Bears.
Williams is widely considered the best quarterback scheduled to attend the combine. He will be heavily scrutinized as the presumptive No. 1 overall pick in the draft, set for April 25-27 in Detroit.
“It’s a good quarterback draft,” NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said. “Caleb to me is a top guy.”
Williams, who was listed at 6-foot-1 and 219 pounds in college, is considered a generational talent by some.
“If we’re just looking at pure talent, you can put him up there with really any of the guys we’ve had just in terms of arm strength, athleticism, the creativity that he has and the playmaking ability that he has,” Jeremiah said.
Williams, however, has some issues with extending plays unnecessarily.
“He is not as clean or as polished as some guys we have had over the last few years,” Jeremiah said. “I think there’s still some more growth and some cleaning up to do with Caleb’s game, but talentwise it’s pretty special.”
Some draft analysts are going as far as comparing Williams to Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“Look, you don’t want to compare somebody to the best player on the planet, but just in terms of how he kind of plays with the creativity and a little flair, and in all the different types of throws he can make in terms of driving the ball, layering the ball, extending plays, all those things, there are some similarities there,” Jeremiah said.
“(Mahomes) needed some time to clean some things up and got a chance to sit for a year. Obviously, I don’t think Caleb is going to be afforded the same luxury in that department.”
Like Mahomes at Texas Tech, Williams developed some bad habits playing for a subpar USC team.
“Pat’s last year at Texas Tech, they were 128th in scoring defense,” Jeremiah said. “This year, USC was 121st. (Williams) was constantly chasing points. I thought that led to some of the bad habits that creeped in a little bit this year.”
USC finished 5-4 in the Pac-12 and 8-5 overall last season. “He lost eight games at USC,” Jeremiah said. “They gave up an average of 43 points in those games.
He was 12-0 when they managed to allow less than 34 points. It’s tough to play quarterback when you are chasing points like that constantly.”
If the Falcons can’t move up to No. 1 to get Williams, they also would have to trade up to get LSU’s Jayden Daniels or North Carolina’s Drake Maye, the second- and third-rated quarterbacks headed for the combine and the draft.
Daniels, who’s 6-4 and 210 pounds, won the Heisman Trophy last season after passing for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns and rushing for another 1,134 and 10 touchdowns. Maye, who’s 6-4 and 229 pounds, led the Tar Heels to an 8-4 mark. He passed for 3,608 yards, with 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also rushed for 449 yards and nine touchdowns.
If the Falcons don’t trade up and keep the eighth overall pick, Washington’s Anthony Penix Jr., Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy and Oregon’s Bo Nix are in the next tier of quarterbacks. Most analysts do not considered any of them worthy of the eighth overall pick. “I would probably lean more toward McCarthy,” Jeremiah said.
“I just think everything he does in terms of accurately delivering the football and his ability to move around a little bit. I think the way he sees everything and kind of plays under control.”
Penix had some dazzling plays against Texas in the College Football Playoff semifinals but was battered in the national title game against Michigan.
“The semifinal game was awesome,” Jeremiah said. “He moved around better in the pocket than I had seen him previously, which was good to see. I mean, he threw some seeds in that game. Just back-foot missiles where he just hangs on his back foot, and the ball jumps out of his hand.
“But to me ... (his) deep ball throw is beautiful. He can drive the ball especially to the perimeter. I thought that the thing that showed up in the championship game, No. 1, they hit the stuffing out of him.”