Tag: Colt McCoy (Page 8 of 19)

Browns get great value, take McCoy in third round

One of the many reasons why the Browns hired Mike Holmgren to help turn around their franchise was because he knows the quarterback position. He knows what kind of player it takes to run his offense and he understands value when it comes to spotting players in the draft.

Take Texas quarterback Colt McCoy for example. He has enough talent to have been selected anywhere in the second round, yet he fell all the way to the 85th overall pick in the third. The Browns could have selected him at the top of the second, but Holmgren gambled that McCoy would fall and that’s exactly what happened. Not only did the Browns get great value, but they also took the best player on the board and one that fits their system well.

McCoy isn’t an elite prospect, which is probably why he fell all the way to the third round. He doesn’t have a strong arm, isn’t a real big kid and he was exposed by Ndamukong Suh in the Big 12 Championship Game. But he’s the perfect fit for the West Coast Offense because he reads defenses well, is extremely accurate and makes good decisions.

To be honest, I would have liked McCoy to the Browns at No. 38. So for them to land him at No. 85 represents tremendous value. Again, he’s not an elite prospect, but that could work to his advantage. He has no pressure to start with Seneca Wallace and Jake Delawful ahead of him, so he can learn the offense and mature at a natural pace. Plus, Cleveland fans should love him. He’s a great kid, a hard worker and a winner.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

Rams hold immense value with No. 33 pick

In no other year has the No. 33 pick held so much value than it does in the 2010 NFL Draft. That’s because general managers will have nearly 24 hours to think about how the player they covet is still on the board and there for the taking.

In the NFL’s new draft format, the second round will take place tonight at 6:30PM ET. Normally, the first and second rounds are back-to-back, leaving teams little time to wheel and deal at the top of the second round. But thanks to the lapse in between the first two rounds, the Rams have probably been fielding calls for the past two days about the No. 33 overall pick.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Bills and Browns have contacted the Rams about trading up to the top spot in the second round. Buffalo has its eyes set on Jimmy Clausen, while Cleveland wants Colt McCoy. Both teams are probably desperate, seeing as how they want to get ahead of Kansas City at No. 36. That’s great news for St. Louis, which can leverage their pick, pit the Browns and Bills against each other and not fall back too far in the second round. (Cleveland has the No. 38 pick, while Buffalo has No. 41.)

Of course, if the Rams don’t trade the pick, they’ll have some pressure on their shoulders to nab an eventual starter. After all, somebody wants that pick and if St. Louis doesn’t parlay it into extra selections, then it better land a damn good player.

Update: The Cleveland Plain Dealer disputes the report that the Browns have contacted the Rams about the No. 33 pick.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

Can we predict a quarterback’s success?

In the April 19 issue of ESPN the Magazine, Peter Keating discusses a way for NFL teams to determine whether or not a first- or second-round QB will have a successful NFL career. (Insider subscription required.)

David Lewin, formerly an analyst for Football Outsiders and now with the NBA’s Cavaliers, has found that games started and NCAA completion percentage accurately predict NFL performance for QBs drafted in the first two rounds. To be more specific, the Day 1 QBs who go on to have the best pro careers complete at least 60% of their passes and start at least 37 games in college.

This theory has been around a while and when I was researching it last week, I stumbled across a similar article from 2007, so I’m not exactly sure how far back it dates.

Using college completion percentage makes a lot of sense. It seems intrinsically true that a QB that has trouble completing passes in college is also going to struggle with his accuracy in the NFL.

The number of starts is another strong stat. For a prospect to start 37 games, he basically needs to be a three-year starter. This indicates that he’s been around the block a few times, is reasonably durable and opponents have had a chance to game plan for him (and he’s still completed a high percentage of passes). It also seems reasonable to think that most good NFL quarterbacks wouldn’t have to be a backup for more than one season while in college.

Let’s take a look at the QBs selected in the first and second rounds of the ten drafts spanning from 1998-2007 to see if this theory still holds water.

Continue reading »

McCoy a perfect 58-of-58 passing on Pro Day

Sam Bradford wasn’t the only one that was impressive during workouts this week, as Texas quarterback Colt McCoyturned some heads Wednesday at his Pro Day.

From NFL.com:

Colt McCoy might not have the strong arm that Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford displayed earlier in the week, but that shouldn’t detract from a fine performance in front of scouts from 30 NFL teams (the Lions and Rams were the only teams not in attendance).

Of the 58 passes that McCoy threw at Texas’ pro day Wednesday, none hit the ground. McCoy connected on every pass to his four receivers — Texas’ Jordan Shipley, ex-Longhorns WR Brian Carter, Bengals WR Quan Cosby and former Rams WR Nate Jones — none of whom dropped a single pass.

McCoy kept all of his workout numbers from last month’s NFL Scouting Combine, and he didn’t do any individual drills. However, the consensus was that he had really good feet and moved around well while throwing the ball.

If I were a GM, I wouldn’t hesitate drafting McCoy in the middle rounds based on the offensive scheme I run. He’s a class act, a hard worker, a good kid and he’s a student of the game. Is he the best quarterback prospect in this year’s draft? No. Are there question marks surrounding his game? Absolutely – starting with the fact that he doesn’t have a strong arm and played out of the shotgun in college.

But while I wouldn’t classify him as a franchise quarterback, McCoy could do very well as a backup or fill in starter at the next level. He’s an athletic player and a very accurate passer. Again, he doesn’t have the strongest arm but he knows where he wants to go with the ball and usually delivers passes on time. He might be an ideal fit for the West Coast Offense and he certainly improved his draft stock with his performance today.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

Report: Browns interested in Colt McCoy

ESPN’s Chris Mortesen is reporting that the Browns have genuine interest in quarterback Colt McCoy and could use their second round pick on the Texas product, or even package picks to move into the bottom of the first round.

So far this offseason, GM Mike Holmgren has done some major reconstructive surgery on Cleveland’s quarterback position. He released Derek Anderson, traded for Seneca Wallace, signed Jake Delhomme and dealt Brady Quinn to the Broncos. But anyone with 20/20 vision or a strong pair of prescription eyeglasses can see that Wallace and Delhomme aren’t the answer. Wallace is fine in small doses, but struggles to carry a team on a full-time basis and Delhomme has been a disaster since the 2008 Divisional Round playoffs. I know that some Browns fans are optimistic that Delhomme will return to his 2007 form, but watch him orchestrate an offense without Steve Smith, DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart at his disposal – and then evaluate how optimistic you are.

That said, I don’t think McCoy is the answer for the Browns. He’s a class act all the way and he did some tremendous things at UT, but there’s no telling what kind of shape his shoulder is in. He recently told NFL.com’s Gil Brandt that he’s 100% and will be able to throw at the Longhorns’ Pro Day on March 29, but that will be the first time he throws since the BCS title game. Even if he does throw well and his shoulder has healed, there are still question marks surrounding his arm strength and his unfamiliarity with a pro style offense.

Of course, the one thing McCoy has never been criticized about is his accuracy, which is vital for quarterbacks running the West Coast Offense. Maybe Holmgren believes McCoy is the right fit for his system and also likes the QB’s athleticism. Still, McCoy succumbed to Nebraska’s immense defensive line pressure in the Big 12 title game last season, raising questions about whether or not he could survive in the NFL.

I guess what I’m ultimately saying is that I’m not completely sold on McCoy as a prospect. I loved watching him play at Texas and I think he can be successful because he’s an incredibly hard worker with a great head on his shoulders. But will he be successful? As a starter, I’m not entirely sure.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

« Older posts Newer posts »