Category: 2019 Player Profiles

STRENGTHS
Zack is a complete defensive lineman who plays the run as well as he plays against the pass. He has the size to play inside or outside in multiple styles of defenses along your defensive line. He shows good lateral agility to stretch out plays and plays with a high football IQ understanding his assignment and playing good overall team play. Zack shows on film, effort on every play and shows leadership skills with his play on the field. He has good quick feet and excellent balance when rushing the quarterback. Zack is a power pass rusher very much like former Giants Justin Tuck using mature hand fighting tactics and pass rushing moves. This is a high character player who will never stop trying to improve and work to continue to get better. Most will suggest that he is one of the safest picks in this draft but for me I think he might be one of the most complete defensive linemen in a draft loaded with Defensive line talent.

CONCERNS
Zack will have to learn when playing against the run or holding the pocket, to get off his blocks quicker using his hands, strength and leverage more to his advantage. I have no doubts that he will accomplish this very quickly.

TALENT BOARD ROUND 1.52
If your looking for defensive lineman who can play the run and the pass equally as well and also play any position on the line of scrimmage, then look no further than Zack. He has the power, strength and size and the mature pass rushing techniques to impact right away for your defense. He comes off the ball with excellent leverage and understands how to set his man up to impact in the 4th quarter. Like I said before, Zack is a complete defensive lineman and almost Robotic like with his consistency but with the human element needed to become a leader or follower and have human instincts to adjust to any play on the fly. That’s why I call him Zack (Robocop) Allen. Because like in the movie you can’t Destroy him but he will destroy your offense and he must be accounted for on every play for all four quarters. I can just see him standing over a player he has just tackled in the back field for a loss or a QB he has just sacked saying, “ Your move creep”. Zack Allen is a football players definition of… a football player…. Believe it.

STRENGTHS
Clayton has the potential to become a starting quarterback in the NFL. He has the size and athletic ability to extend plays when needed. He has solid arm strength and good accuracy. He is QB board smart and does a good job reading defenses. He has the ability to throw on the run and moves well and throws well on sprint out packages. When he is set and balanced to throw against zone coverages Clayton shows the ability to make impact plays in the passing game. He shows the instincts needed to adjust mentally to plays when they break down and that shows me that Clayton has the potential to become a starting player in the NFL given the time to continue to develop.

CONCERNS
Clayton is coming off a bad knee injury and this has affected his overall performance and consistency this year. His mechanics are sloppy compared to other years and he is not as quick in and out of the pocket like in years past. Clayton confidence has taken a hit and will take another hit at the next level until he can prove to himself that he can handle the speed at the next level and learn how to better protect the ball. He has to cut down on his interceptions. He will need time and be in the right offensive system to succeed.

TALENT BOARD ROUND 3.44
Clayton has what I call Nathen Peterman/Christian Ponder disease. He is an excellent practice player and does an excellent job throwing against zone coverages but against single coverages he struggles to anticipate the open receiver and this lack of trust makes him lose velocity and accuracy and makes for a lot of interceptions as his college career stats show. He has good arm strength but if he expects to start he will need a lot of repetitions at “game speed” and not “practice speed” to learn to adjust his thinking on how and when a receiver is open against man to man defenses. The catch is, if you start him he becomes a liability quarterback, throwing interceptions and that lesson’s his ability to be starting games and getting the repetitions at “game speed” he needs to improve. That being said, he is worth a shot later in the draft or as a priority rookie free agent to develop because Clayton could become a solid starting quarterback very much like former Vikings playoff quarterback and now starting Broncos quarterback Case Keenum. Adding Clayton to your quarterback room would be a smart move and keeping him as a back up would be smart also but, thinking he is going to start early in his career and be productive might be a bit of a stretch because although Clayton has the intangibles to lead… he will struggle to produce consistently until he learns to throw against single coverages and protect the ball.

STRENGTHS
Will has done an excellent job this year improving his overall quarterback play. He has a good arm and can make most of the throws needed to become a starting quarterback for the team that selects him. Will does a good job throwing in rhythm and has excellent accuracy when given the time in the pocket. He has good size to play his position and solid athletic ability to make first downs running when necessary or extending plays out of the pocket. Will’s biggest improvement this year was in protecting the ball, limiting turnovers, and in general playing better from the pocket. He has matured in his overall game management and seems to understand what is expected emotionally, from the player who plays the position of quarterback at the college level.

CONCERNS
Will, at the college level still struggles under adverse conditions to process what he is seeing in front of him. He still has a tendency of holding on to the ball too long and inside the red zone making poor decisions. Also, when Will is under duress he loses his mechanics taking velocity off his ball and that is not good in the red zone were the windows are tighter than they are at the college level. Turnovers have been a big problem in the past for Will and this will bite him in the buttocks in the red zone at the next level for sure.

TALENT BOARD ROUND 3.11
Will is the type of quarterback that plays better with the talent around him but not the type of quarterback that makes the talent around him better. He can be as inconsistent as Ryan Fitzpatrick is with an exciting come from behind win one game, and the very next game, looking like he never played the position ending in a demoralizing losing disaster. There is good developmental talent to be a starting quarterback in the NFL but Will has to continue to improve as he has done this year and be in the right system with the right coach. In the past Will has been a turn over machine but this year improved dramatically and that makes me think that becoming a starting quarterback at the NFL level is possible with that right team and the right coaching. Could Will be selected in the first round of this draft? Absolutely but… I hope it’s by a team that is willing to give him time to develop because putting him under center with a team that doesn’t have the talent around him needed for him to become successful will be a recipe for failure. For me personally I’m not convinced selecting a player who is inconsistent at the quarterback position (just because he can play far beyond his talents in one game) is smart drafting because I know the next game he could play like he doesn’t deserve to be on the practice squad. That being said he could be a steal if selected late in this draft and is given the time to develop…in the right system and with the right coach. How’s that for hedging my bet? Way to cover your ass…Drew.