Is Colt McCoy a first round talent?
Two things have become apparent in scouting the quarterback position for the 2010 NF Draft: that all the top quarterbacks face some serious questions, and after Sam Bradford and Jimmy Clausen there is quite arguably a dramatic drop-off.
However, in reference to Colt McCoy, when talking about pure ability and results, that isn’t particularly the case.
McCoy certainly has some questions to ask about his durability and the shoulder injury that knocked him out of the NCAA title game, while also keeping him from throwing balls at the 2010 NFL Combine.
But is he getting a raw deal from scouts?
Strengths
Despite his huge knocks against his size and durability, there is a ton to like (if not love) about McCoy, as he’s an extremely athletic and mobile quarterback with good speed for the position.
He has the ability to make things happen with his feet at any time, but also has great pocket awareness and an uncanny ability to get his head up and find the open guy, even when on the run, and/or being chased down.
While McCoy doesn’t have the strongest arm in the world, he still has adequate strength, and has a nice zip on his ball. He worked out of an offense that beefed up his numbers (as most college passers do), but he still has shown great awareness and accuracy against elite competition, suggesting that he’s not nearly as over-rated in this areas as many would have you believe.
McCoy has an outstanding body of growth, leadership, and production. He ran into an unfortunate circumstance this year in the BCS Championship game, but otherwise has come through in some big games throughout his career, and overall has proven to be a tougher quarterback than he appears.
Weaknesses
McCoy faces the same criticism as every other college quarterback, as he operated out of a very quarterback-friendly offense, which may protect his moderate arm strength or questionable accuracy.
While he’s still likely on an NFL level in these two areas, these are still questions that need to be answered.
Despite those concerns, McCoy has proven through game tape and in big games that he can make all the throws, and that he doesn’t have any major accuracy issues. Durability and strength, however, are two things that are huge question marks, and won’t be going away anytime soon.
McCoy is marked down as 6’3” by some scouts, while others have him closer to barely 6’1”. Considering his small stature and thin frame, McCoy’s height could actually play into him losing ground as a top-five passer in this draft.
A height hovering around just six feet could pigeon-hole McCoy as a small, weak, athletic-dependent passer, and could also have many teams viewing him as a guy with little potential, average arm strength, and as an injury concern.
Overall
Considering his shoulder injury, his inability to throw at the Combine, and his already questionable accuracy and arm strength, McCoy is currently being packaged as a pre-determined bust version of Alex Smith (also arguably considered a bust).
And until we can see him prove all his doubters wrong, there isn’t a lot to say those skeptics would be wrong.
However, with his value hovering somewhere around a second-rounder, and possibly even dipping as far as the fifth round, McCoy could actually end up being the steal of the draft at the quarterback position.
In terms of overall athleticism and production at the college level, he is still easily one of the most talented prospects in this year’s class. A laundry list of questions, however, continue to hold him back.
NFL Player Comparison: Alex Smith
