The kid went from a round 2-3 QB to attracting only 1 team to his pro-day which was the Colts. Whats going on?
Well... He plays QB which is probably the position in which scouts give the most value to a wonderlich test and intelligence. Reportedly, Davis has a learning disablility...which means a lot of teams think he'd struggle to learn a complicated playbook. In the NFL, they ALL are complicated! Supposedly, the rumor is he had a low Wonderlich though no one seems to have a #. He doesn't have great size for an NFL, wore gloves all the time (even when not needed) and doesn't throw a football with his fingers on the laces. It has been said that he has resisted changing his throwing style (while Hunter Cantwell changed his throwing style in a week). Add it all up and not a lot of teams believe in him. There is also the thought that with his team pressing at the end of last season, he doesn't play well under pressure. I'm not saying he's a bad prospect nor that he can't play in the NFL...just what I'm hearing. On the plus side, he throws one of the best deep balls of the QB's in this draft class. I'm not a big fan, but he DOES have some skills to warrant getting drafted though his learning disability could really be a problem! I wish him good luck! Gut
Nate davis is suffering from omar jacob's syndrome. Jacobs was considered a certain first rd pick early in the draft process in 2006. Broke every bowling green passing record, big strong great arm and somewhat athletic. But once jacobs got to the combine and scouts got to see him throw they realized his unusual side armed delivery made it unlikely he could succeed in the nfl. What is more is that jacob's was not nearly as athletic as they thought and had a poor 40 time. They also were disappointed in his arm stregth which was only ordinary not byron leftwich like. Jabobs as some will remember was drafted in round 5 by the steelers who cut him. Davis like jacobs played in a spread offense in the MAC. Davis has an unusual very unorthodox grip on the ball and like jacobs had a horrible 40 time barely cracking 5 flat. The learning disability really hurts. My guess is the colts went to his pro day simply because it was close. Maybe they will take a chance on him late. At least that's what i'm "hearing"..
By the way... if we are looking at taking a developmental QB in the later rounds, I would love to see us pick up Hunter Cantwell. I think he has a chance to be a starter after a few years on the bench.
What? If I remember, Jacobs numbers got worse from his breakout season and he was more hesitant with the ball. Supposedly they even tried to simply his reads... The scouts knew about his 3/4 release long before the combine. Did Vince Young's unusual delivery force him to drop in the draft? Did THAT hurt him much if at all in the NFL? And while scouts don't like Davis' unusual grip, he still holds the football like a football...just not on the laces. >>>The learning disability really hurts.<<< This, more than anything else is the cause for him dropping! Glad you have your own group of draftniks to talk players over with Gut
If you had asked me who the top 4 senior QBs drafted would be last year I would have said (in no order): Hunter Cantwell, Cullen Harper, Curtis Painter and Todd Boeckman. All of them had poor senior seasons that took them out of round 1 or 2 to 5th or later. I was really disappointed because I was anticipating a great group of college QBs. Now each of them still have upside but it's hard to say which is the true them, their junior year or senior year. A guy who I'm intrigued by is Jason Boltus from Hartwick a D3 school. Has maybe the strongest arm in the draft and can make plays with his feet. Scouting reports show he's a long term project but worth a look I think.