Did he leave SMU because Jones left? I have a concern about his height(6/0.5 - 6/1)and he plays in the spread. I am not saying that you can not make it coming out of the spread, but the track record in the NFL is not great. With that said, I like his athletic ability and mobility. He definitely has an arm. His comment about thinking he most resembles Brees is spot on. The first thing I thought when I watched the video is that he reminded me of Brees.
He left SMU because he felt like he lost his starting job due to injury, rather than poor play. He had already been the starter for a season and a half until he got his shoulder knocked out of socket against Houston I believe it was. He popped his shoulder back into socket himself and tried to go back in the game, the trainers of course would not let him. He ended up losing his job to Kyle Padron and decided to transfer to E. Washington because he wanted to play football for what was left of his final 2 years.
I think he compares himself to Brees not only because of the height and style they play, but also that Brees lost his job in San Diego due to a shoulder injury in a way, and was redeemed elsewhere by winning a championship. Which is the same thing Bo Levi Mitchell accomplished.
Mitchell played in a traditional I-form offense in high school where he set records and went undefeated winning a state title. It was actually an adjustment for him to go play in June Jones spread offense at SMU.
He's certainly an underdog to ever make it in the NFL, which is why he's viewed as a developmental prospect. The difference is that he has a superior arm and ability to spin the football over most developmental prospects, no matter how tall they are. He appears to have a clutch gene in him, which was apparent in the title game vs. Delaware. He also lit up the Washington Huskies defense in the 1st game of the season to the tune of 473 yards and 3 TD's.... playing with scrubs and rejects all around him. For comparison sake, Robert Griffin III faced the same Huskies defense in the bowl game and threw for 295 yards and 1 TD.... with legitimate NFL weapons around him.
The spread system is always something to consider, but you have to consider it for most all these prospects. Most of them are coming out of spread systems.
Mitchell showed very well in my opinion in the NFLPA All Star Game earlier in January. Bo Levi Mitchell and B.J. Coleman are two of the developmental quarterbacks that started their careers at the D-1 level and finished at the FCS level that I think have legitimate tools to develope.
They're not guaranteed anything, nobody is. But at least they have the physical talent to potentially stick on an NFL roster. A few of these more popular QB prospects don't.
