Notes on the NFL combine QB throwing session

Did you think I wouldn't write about the quarterbacks in Indianapolis?

NFL Draft hopeful Jalen Milroe at the NFL combine

The NFL combine has come to a close, and the quarterbacks got the second-to-last day to take the stage in front of fans and NFL personnel.

Let’s call it what it is: I have been extremely low on this quarterback class. A combine throwing session is not going to change that, especially when Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders opted not to throw.

We saw from most of the class who got invitations to the NFL combine opt to perform at Lucas Oil Stadium though. Indiana’s Kurtis Rourke and Florida’s Graham Mertz are recovering from injuries and did not participate.

The quarterback and wide receiver day is the day that I opt to go to the stadium and watch in person. I like to see how the ball comes out of the hands of the quarterbacks and I can get a better look at the landmarks they can hit. This year was no different.

So here are the notes I have on each quarterback who threw live at the combine on Saturday:

What I heard during a busy week at the NFL combine

Group 1: Max Brosmer, Brady Cook, Jaxson Dart, Quinn Ewers, Dillon Gabriel, Seth Henigan, Will Howard

Boy, this group was rough.

Dillon Gabriel, despite his success at Oregon, could not hit an out route. Every deep ball he threw took every ounce of his being to get the ball down the field. This led to him straining and failing to find the mark deep frequently.

Brady Cook was better than anticipated after a Missouri career where wideout Luther Burden III could have filed a lawsuit for what the quarterback play did to his production. Not to be fooled with a draftable quarterback, Cook did cause a couple of head nods.

Putting it plainly, Memphis’ Seth Henigan has one of the worst arms I’ve seen live. No need for any other notes here.

Quinn Ewers was fairly accurate, especially throwing the ball along the boundary. However, the arm talent is just not there for the former highest-rated recruit ever coming out of high school. Every single one of his post throws was high and all of his deep balls hit an invisible barrier before flattening down to earth. Ewers is all name and a mid-to-late Day 3 player.

Max Brosmer was fine. He threw a catchable ball and has passable arm talent in a group where none of the quarterbacks could spin the ball. The biggest issue with Brosmer, while none of his misses were egregious, was that his landmarks were off. Comebacks were thrown inside and deep balls had wideouts re-routing their tracks.

You had to feel bad for Will Howard. The combine used to be a closed-off event, and fans booing players in the biggest job interviews of their lives is a good reason why. Mostly because he just won the national championship, Howard got lit up by the crowd after every miss. And he had a rough, extremely sporadic day, hearing a lot of boos as a result.

Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart was the most accurate and effective of the group. You could tell that Dart had rehearsed for this day and it paid off. The biggest issue with Dart continues to be (well, one, his film) that his tools are just middling. He’ll wind up going on Day 2 even if he shouldn’t.

Overall an incredibly uninspiring batch.

NFL Combine winners and losers are stupid

Group 2: Riley Leonard, Kyle McCord, Jalen Milroe, Tyler Shough, Matt Corral (yes that Matt Corral)

Every quarterback that did not participate was in Group 2. This led to former third round pick Matt Corral also throwing at the combine. And somehow he was the worst one there.

This group had some solid performances and they were headlined by Louisville’s Tyler Shough and Alabama’s Jalen Milroe. However, I even thought that Syracuse’s Kyle McCord and Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard made some throws in their own regard.

Let’s talk about Milroe first here. There is something to be said about watching for the process of players over the results. Milroe was putrid at the Reese’s Senior Bowl. There is no way around that. However, he is training with Jordan Palmer and there was evident emphasis on working through discomfort in his lower half and his feet versus just going out and trying to make plays in Mobile.

It looks like his lower half muscle memory is beginning to settle in a bit. While Milroe still had some Milroe-esque misses on the night, his upper and lower half were much more in sync. His throws were coming out on time, and there were even some corner throws and deep balls that reminded many of why teams are still willing to take shots on his tools.

Leonard looked more comfortable in shorts than he ever did in pads throughout his career at Duke and Notre Dame, and that’s the biggest issue. But he let his tools take over yesterday and threw with tempo and accuracy to his intended targets. It got a bit iffy when it was time to push the ball down the field.

Kyle McCord started shaky. It looked like he was aiming more than pacing and throwing on time and in stride. But like his college career, he experienced a change of pace and found some success later. McCord has one of the better arms in the class and the shot on him is warranted over some of the other names getting more hype than him right now.

Shough continues to get praise and he is earning it down the stretch of his pre-draft process. He was the best quarterback at the Senior Bowl, an event that all of Dart, Leonard, and Gabriel all attended, and he was the sharpest quarterback at the NFL combine too.

Not only did the elder of the group have a flexible arm with the ability to generate a great deal of zip on the ball, but he was on time and prepared for the combine. There was not a throw that I saw that was devastatingly bad from Shough.

This group lapped Group 1 by at least two laps.

Power Ranking throwing sessions

Power-ranking quarterbacks based on throwing sessions on air and in underwear is a stupid idea. But I’m going to do it anyway:

1. Tyler Shough, Louisville

2. Jalen Milroe, Alabama

3. Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss

4. Max Brosmer, Minnesota

5. Kyle McCord, Syracuse

6. Riley Leonard, Notre Dame

7. Quinn Ewers, Texas

8. Will Howard, Ohio State

9. Brady Cook, Missouri

10. Dillon Gabriel, Oregon

11. Seth Henigan, Memphis