Day three QBs

[ctpatsfan77]

Since the Patriots will have a boatload of late picks (I'm guessing 5-7 sixth- and seventh-rounders), I'd say trying to find another Cassel or Hoyer would not be a terrible use for one of them.

Any thoughts as to QBs who might be available then that might be good fits in Foxboro?

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

There are two on now battling it out in the GMAC Bowl.

2009 ALL-MAC FIRST TEAM: Quarterback - Dan LeFevour, Central Michigan, has been selected to the Mid-American Conference First Team for the 2009 college football season. LeFevour was named to the All-MAC First Team Offense for the third time in his career. He has completed 257-of-362 passes (71.0 percent) for 2,788 yards and 25 touchdowns in 2009. He also has rushed for 650 yards and 14 touchdowns.

2009 ALL-SUN BELT CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM: Levi Brown (Troy, Sr., QB), has been selected First Team All-Sun Belt Conference for the 2009 college football season as voted on by both the Sun Belt Coaches and Media. Brown’s 2009 season included twice breaking the 41-year-old school record for passing yards in a game. His 477-yard effort against FAU is tied for the ninth best passing game in the country this year. He has, or will, set new school season records for pass completions, passing yards, passing yards per game, total offensive yards and total offense per game. In addition to his school marks, Brown set SBC records for passing yards and total offense in a season and also set a new league mark by being named SBC Offensive Player of the Week six times during the year. His seven career SBC weekly awards is the most by any offensive player in league history. Brown needs just 132 passing yards in the Trojans GMAC Bowl game against Central Michigan to become the 40th player in FBS history, and the first at Troy or in the SBC history, to pass for more than 4,000 yards in a season.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

I watched these two kids in earlier games:

2009 ALL-BIG TEN CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM (COACHES): QB Mike Kafka, Northwestern, has been selected Second Team All-Big Ten for the 2009 college football season as voted on by the Big Ten coaches. Despite suffering an injury against Penn State on Oct. 31, Kafka rallied to start all 12 games for NU and lead the Wildcats to a 3-0 November with wins over a pair of nationally ranked foes. He has totaled 2,898 yards passing and 12 touchdowns with a .657 completion percentage on the year. He also has racked up 3,163 yards of total offense, the fourth-best total in school history. In Big Ten play, Kafka hit the 300-yard passing mark four times, went 6-of-8 conference contests without throwing a pick and finished the year with 116-straight pass attempts without an interception.

2009 ALL-BIG EAST FIRST TEAM (COACHES): QB Bill Stull, Pittsburgh, has been selected First Team All-BIG EAST Conference for the 2009 college football season as voted on by the BIG EAST head coaches. Stull (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-LaSalle) enjoyed an outstanding final season, throwing for a Big East-high 2,470 yards. He completed 65% of his passes (192 of 297) with 21 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. Stull ranks sixth in Pitt history with 5,089 passing yards.

 

[BritPat]

Tim Hiller, Western Michigan. Borderline day 2 - day 3 prospect.

 

[FreeTedWilliams]

I like LeFevour, he just ended his college career by scoring (by pass or run) his 150th touchdown, think about that for a minute, 150 touchdowns for his college career. He has the size to be a NFL QB, he plays in a modified spread offense, but he seems to have the arm strength to play QB. Plus he can run, which is always good to have in your back-up QB.

Unfortunately, I think that he will be gone long before the Pats will consider drafting a QB. But iif he could be had in the 5th round or later, I would take him in a heartbeat. The Pats already have Hoyer and they have the time to delevop LeFevour as a QB.

 

[Metaphors]

Tim Hiller, Western Michigan. Borderline day 2 - day 3 prospect.

Ditto. WMU had a horrible year and lots of 2nd-tier QBs to pick from, so he should slip into the 4th round range.

 

[NePatriots]

I watched these two kids in earlier games:

2009 ALL-BIG TEN CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM (COACHES): QB Mike Kafka, Northwestern, has been selected Second Team All-Big Ten for the 2009 college football season as voted on by the Big Ten coaches. Despite suffering an injury against Penn State on Oct. 31, Kafka rallied to start all 12 games for NU and lead the Wildcats to a 3-0 November with wins over a pair of nationally ranked foes. He has totaled 2,898 yards passing and 12 touchdowns with a .657 completion percentage on the year. He also has racked up 3,163 yards of total offense, the fourth-best total in school history. In Big Ten play, Kafka hit the 300-yard passing mark four times, went 6-of-8 conference contests without throwing a pick and finished the year with 116-straight pass attempts without an interception.

Kafka is a decent prospect that can really give teams fits.

Pat Devlin from Delaware St. also looks like a great prospect, however, he probably will wait 'til the 2011 Draft.

 

[BritPat]

Ditto. WMU had a horrible year and lots of 2nd-tier QBs to pick from, so he should slip into the 4th round range.

I explained elsewhere that I have a specific set of attributes I look for when looking at QB's for the Pats - and he fits the lot. Productive in College, leader, film rat, accurate, excellent mechanics, great football IQ, tall, good pocket awareness, doesn't panic in the face of a good rush, let's routes develop.

Love him.

 

[Metaphors]

I explained elsewhere that I have a specific set of attributes I look for when looking at QB's for the Pats - and he fits the lot. Productive in College, leader, film rat, accurate, excellent mechanics, great football IQ, tall, good pocket awareness, doesn't panic in the face of a good rush, let's routes develop.

Love him.

Agree with all this. Granted this is against MAC competition, but look at his stats through his junior year:

YEAR CMP ATT YDS CMP% YPA LNG TD INT SACK RAT
2005 98 150 1334 65.3 8.89 89 20 3 12 180.03
2007 267 421 3021 63.4 7.18 77 20 15 23 132.25
2008 339 522 3725 64.9 7.14 56 36 10 14 143.81

If he followed an expected progression during his senior year, he would likely be in consideration for the early rounds. But...

YEAR CMP ATT YDS CMP% YPA LNG TD INT SACK RAT
2009 309 514 3258 60.1 6.34 73 23 13 24 123.07

Dig a little deeper and you realize he lost all his receivers to graduation and his offensive line played way below expectations. Hiller should be around for the Pats in the middle rounds while other teams are gorging themselves on McCoy's, Pike's and LeFevour's.

To top it all off, dude is a serious Boy Scout and he acts like football is really important to him. I don't like his footwork very much, but once he gets set and throws the ball, there isn't much not to like.

 

[patchick]

Since the Patriots will have a boatload of late picks (I'm guessing 5-7 sixth- and seventh-rounders), I'd say trying to find another Cassel or Hoyer would not be a terrible use for one of them.

Agreed -- in fact, I think that's a good idea EVERY year. Given the Pat's track record, a late-round developmental QB is one of the best lottery tickets you can buy.

Off the top of my head, here are the rookie QBs of the BB era who made it to the end of training camp, by round:

3rd Kevin O'Connell
4th Rohan Davey
6th Tom Brady
6th Kliff Kingsbury
7th Matt Cassel
UDFA Matt Guttierez
UDFA Brian Hoyer

Maybe it's just chance, but the bottom of the draft has actually served them better than the middle.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

Agreed -- in fact, I think that's a good idea EVERY year. Given the Pat's track record, a late-round developmental QB is one of the best lottery tickets you can buy.

Off the top of my head, here are the rookie QBs of the BB era who made it to the end of training camp, by round:

3rd Kevin O'Connell
4th Rohan Davey
6th Tom Brady
6th Kliff Kingsbury
7th Matt Cassel
UDFA Matt Guttierez
UDFA Brian Hoyer

Maybe it's just chance, but the bottom of the draft has actually served them better than the middle.

Now why does BB use multiple draft picks on "developmental" QBs and have some success in developing these late round guys, yet completely ignore the giant black hole at OLB year after year?

 

[mgteich]

I agree. The 6th and 7th rounds (and UDFA's) are a fine spot to find backup quarterbacks. The other place is in the veteran free agent market. I like having a veteran and a youngster as backups. Belichick has chosen to rely on youngsters recently.

At this point, I think Belichick has won his bet. Brady has been able to play all of 2009 and Hoyer is now experienced enough to be our 2010 backup. However, I would like to have a #3 who would replace Stanback on the roster.

Agreed -- in fact, I think that's a good idea EVERY year. Given the Pat's track record, a late-round developmental QB is one of the best lottery tickets you can buy.

Off the top of my head, here are the rookie QBs of the BB era who made it to the end of training camp, by round:

3rd Kevin O'Connell
4th Rohan Davey
6th Tom Brady
6th Kliff Kingsbury
7th Matt Cassel
UDFA Matt Guttierez
UDFA Brian Hoyer

Maybe it's just chance, but the bottom of the draft has actually served them better than the middle.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

I agree. The 6th and 7th rounds (and UDFA's) are a fine spot to find backup quarterbacks. The other place is in the veteran free agent market. I like having a veteran and a youngster as backups. Belichick has chosen to rely on youngsters recently.

At this point, I think Belichick has won his bet. Brady has been able to play all of 2009 and Hoyer is now experienced enough to be our 2010 backup. However, I would like to have a #3 who would replace Stanback on the roster.

Isn't Rowe on the practice squad?

The other question is that BB seems to prefer dropback passers. Do we use a draft pick or sign a UDFA on a passer/runner type that projects to develop into a fairly accurate passer, but can use the feet while learning to throw?

If so then Colt McCoy seems like a great candidate in the 4th round. Lefevour sounds like a great candidate as an UDFA.