STRENGTHS
Sam has the size the NFL is looking for in their Quarterbacks. He has good enough athlete agility to move in the pocket and extend plays. He runs like a fullback and if his team needs to move the chains running the ball, Sam can do that breaking tackles on the way. Sam has excellent mental toughness standing strong in the pocket. He has good arm strength and good enough velocity in the red zone. He also shows good accuracy when he is given the time in the pocket. Sam has excellent potential to be a starting quarterback for the team that selects him and he reminds me a lot of Dak Prescott when he came out. By that I mean, not in his play on the field but in his potential to be a better NFL quarterback than he is a college quarterback.
CONCERNS
Sam has a lot to learn. He needs to become more consistent with his mechanics throwing the ball, and before the snap, reading defenses, and changing his protection. In general, Sam like many others has to get much better in every phase of his game because he has a lot of bad habits. Sam is not disciplined in his play and has not improved from year to year as expected. In this aspect, he reminds me of Sam Darnold.
BOTTOM LINE 2.06
So, the question is, will Sam be selected by a team that will give him time to improve and hold him accountable to learn the quarterback position or will he be over-drafted and selected by a team with a poor coaching staff, that throws him on the field so that he continues to use all the bad habits he has developed and ultimately fail? The truth is for me, I think it’s a long road of learning and breaking habits and in general learning the way to play the quarterback position better, than he played it at the high school level. Unlike Dak Prescott I have not seen improvement in his play from year to year at the college level as I saw with Dak. The interviews will be very important for Sam along with multiple workouts to prove that he can take what they teach him in those workouts, onto the field of the next workout. If he shows that improvement then smart teams in the later rounds are sure to select him and develop him but if he does not pay attention to details and show more discipline then my guess is that most teams will think of him as backup material. I like him and I think he has excellent potential but for me, it’s in the later rounds very much like Dak was selected.
