Is he your top "developmental QB"? I'm assuming he would be a mid-late round pick
Correct. He checks a lot of boxes.
Incredible agility and physically gifted athlete, which showed at the Combine where he was like 99th percentile on the cone/shuttle drills, not to mention running a 4.62 at 224 lbs.
In every single game you can find no shortage of throws that show pro level velocity readouts, which means he's already well practiced at squeezing his throws at the pace that NFL coaches will demand at the next level. You'd be surprised how few QBs in college have a lot of experience doing that, and it can be a problem.
Everything I've heard is that he's a coach's wet dream from an attitude, character, and work ethic standpoint. Ultimate team guy. Doesn't even know how to say the word "I". He and Brian Flores would certainly 'get' each other. Academic All America I think all four years.
He's a winner. I know some don't like to talk about that but he's won 49 games been part of 3 championships in 4 years. And when I say, "part of" I do mean that he took a very active role in all three of them. When he was a freshman he was thrust into 8 games of action in place of injured Carson Wentz. He won all 8 games, including 3 playoff games, getting his team into the FCS Championship Game. Wentz got healthy and played in the Championship (didn't play particularly well, team dominated and won). Going back to the 'team' guy thing, Easton Stick never questioned or said a single word about having to sit back down and give the job back to Wentz so that he could get all the glory. And from what I've seen of him, the very thought would just seem alien, like he couldn't even fathom being upset or voicing displeasure about it.
He went into Iowa back in 2016 when he was just a sophomore and beat the Hawkeyes when they were ranked #13 in the country.
He's run 372 times in his career for an amazing 8.9 yards per carry average. As I said, he's a hell of an athlete, and a very talented ball carrier. I was just thinking about this today because I've seen every single throw, and I've cataloged every single one. I can't remember a single fumble this year. I'll have to check my spreadsheet. But it's something I just realized.
He had a 118 passer rating this year. So there's that.
I charted his Uncatchable rate at between 15-16%. I actually had it 16.0% for the regular season (minus one game), but I hadn't yet charted the playoff performance yet. I know that when I do, that percentage is going to go down, because he completed 46 of 65 passes (71%) in the playoffs which was a lot higher completion than his regular season work. In the NFL, Uncatchable rates range from 13% on the high side (Brees) to 20% on the low side (Rodgers). And as implied, even the elite guys can fall into the low side every now and again.
Something to be said for elevating your game in the playoffs, too. He elevated as both a passer and a runner.
Really good mechanics. He looks and is structured like a passer. He's not one of these guys that looks more like a runner. VERY active feet in the pocket. Over top mechanics. Quick delivery. He carries himself as a passer in the pocket and as a runner like Russell Wilson. Except he's 3 inches taller.
Lots of pro style experience, operating a huddle, taking a TON of snaps from under center, executing hand-offs, executing play-action passes from under center, bootlegs, etc. He operated a passing game with a lot of 2-TE and 2-RB sets. This is extremely compatible with New England's offensive approach the last few years.
It's really tough to find boxes he doesn't check. He didn't play in the FBS or Power Five. He he's only 6012 so that will bother some folks. He had a bad Monday during Shrine week. He played on a dominant team behind a line that gave him lots of time, with a great ground game (of which he was an active driver), with a great defense to back him up. I think sometimes he struggles with ball placement throwing into tight man coverage.