Everett Golson (Notre Dame) Passing Charts

Notre Dame #5 Everett Golson

6001 200 8162

vs Rice

vs Michigan

vs Purdue

vs Syracuse (Neutral-East Rutherford)

Combined Chart 

Blake Sims (Alabama) Passing Charts

Alabama #6 Blake Sims

5116 202 NA

vs West Virginia (Neutral-Atlanta)

vs Florida Atlantic

vs Southern Mississippi

vs Florida

Combined Chart

Quarterback Spotlight: Sean Mannion (Oregon State)

vs SAN DIEGO STATE

[1st 6:32] Elongated motion becomes an issue here. In attempting the deep ball, he got strip-sacked. [1st 6:07] Missed the deep ball dropping. Stiff front leg killed the momentum coming forward from his hips.

Strong arm. Might be a see-it-and-throw-it type of guy. Surprisingly not Philip Rivers slow. [1st 2:50]  Deep ball thrown right over a defender with high velocity for a huge gain. [1st 0:54] DPI call, but threw a ball where the defender could have made a play on it without the call. Again, his stiff front leg keeps him from getting full momentum and staying tall in the pocket. Not a great decision to throw the ball. His man had maybe a half-step ahead of the defender.

[2nd 10:35] Steps up into the pocket nicely and throws a nice bucket pass in stride. [2nd 10:27] Throws into tight coverage on a short pass. Couldn't get the first down. Doesn't stand tall through his throwing motion. [3rd 11:33] Takes pressure, resets his feet quickly, then sent the ball off. Impressive that the ball left his hand and hit his target. [4th 12:00] Throws some passes that he just can't make. [4th 9:12] Throws a nice jump ball down the sideline in stride. [4th 4:25] Badly over-throws his target, resulting in an interception.

Quarterback Spotlight: Everett Golson (Notre Dame)

vs RICE

Very small, both in height and weight. [1st 2:13] Deep throw, about 60 yards from QB to WR. Hangs in the air a bit, and the ball is behind the receiver, but still an impressive throw. Off of a play-action and to a wide open target. Might be dropping the ball too low during the passing motion. [2nd 14:53] Throws with bad lower body mechanics (lifted foot instead of following through), but fired a nice pass into tight coverage. [2nd 13:37] Throws behind his man on a rollout. Almost an interception. [2nd 9:42] Saw pressure and bailed on the pocket. Kept his eyes up, though. Reset his feet to throw the 55-yard ball. Good placement again on the deep ball, but did lift his leg again. [2nd 5:07] Throws it with some zip 30 yards deep in tight coverage. Threw it before he saw it open. [2nd 0:31] Missed deep ball down the sideline. Lifted leg. [2nd 0:14] Escaped the pocket due to pressure. Set feet up again quickly and threw a 65 yard pass for a touchdown. Does drop the ball during his motion.

[3rd 2:04] This pretty much explains Golson in one throw. Rolls left, sets feet quickly, does weird things with his lower body, and throws a decent ball deep with accuracy.

vs MICHIGAN

[1st 12:37] Ill-advised throw into double-coverage in the short game, but with placement and velocity was completed. [1st 3:02] Quick release, high velocity pass. [2nd 12:10] Throws off of his back foot down the middle. Too high, could have been picked off. [2nd 5:30] Tight pass mid-range. All of those end up coming with the route breaking towards the middle of the field. [2nd 0:41] Threw it up on a deep red zone route for a score. [3rd 5:55] GOLSON. HITS. SMALL. WINDOWS.

vs PURDUE

[2nd 14:38] Missed a deep ball in tight coverage. Wasn't interceptable, but Golson isn't scared to throw any passes. [2nd 12:19] Rollout in the red zone. Missed on a pass to the point that he nearly threw an interception. [2nd] Nice footwork with his back to his end zone. Throws a beautiful deep ball for his target to go up the ladder and catch down the sideline. Unfortunately, a defensive back was able to get a hand on the ball by watching the eyes and body of the receiver, who jumps early. [2nd 0:51] Another tamed deep ball for a huge gain. Not sure there's a better passer of 25+ yard balls. [3rd 11:07] Tight coverage throw in the mid range of the field. Nice placement and velocity. [3rd 9:04] Nearly hits on another deep throw down the sideline. Just a step ahead of the receiver at full-speed. Follow through still looks odd. [3rd 5:38] Miscommunication on a back shoulder throw. [3rd 4:11] Throws it in stride for his man to make a play in the air in the red zone. [4th 8:19] Missed on a deep tight throw. Not scared to make any throw. [4th 6:30] Deep throw behind his target.

Quarterback Spotlight: Blake Sims (Alabama)

vs WEST VIRGINIA (Atlanta)

[1st 9:49] Creates space for him to throw. Rolls to the left, keeps his eyes down field, fires off a pass to DeAndrew White. [1st 2:49] Completes a quick pass against pressure on third down. His velocity is probably average to below average at the next level, but it's not poor. [2nd 11:25] Makes a great play to create space off a quick change of direction, but can't finish with an accurate throw. The ball dropped to the feet of his target. [2nd 5:50] Throwing into open space, but clearly isn't scare of pressure. [2nd 13:12] Misses a back shoulder comeback, likely due to chemistry. Does have a wide base on the play, though.

[2nd 12:05] On a designed rollout on a fourth down, Sims is unable to control his deep ball. Open on a smash concept, he had star WR Amari Cooper one-on-one on a corner route. This was his first deep attempt.

[2nd 3:58] Hits on a deep ball (dropped), but had a lot of air under it. Not sure he can hit the home run. Has a bit of a long draw.

[3rd 13:31] Here, Sims decides to throw about a 15 yard pass to the direction of his tight end. In cover three, once the boundary receiver is done with his route, the boundary cornerback is going to read the eyes of the quarterback. The tight end is just in his zone in Cover 3. Sims needs to send it off with some pop to complete it.

There's too much air under it, the linebacker from WVU sticks to tight end O.J. Howard pretty closely, and the corner comes over and hawks the ball for an interception. He just didn't have the arm to make that play.

vs FLORIDA ATLANTIC

[1st 5:23] PA rollout left, missed on another open target (barely). Beginning to wonder if he can't make throws while moving left

Makes calls at the LOS. Base continues to be a little too wide when throwing in the pocket.

vs SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI

[1st 5:22] Launches a deep ball with a too wide base and long draw. Sent deep and over the middle, it comes out with too much air under it. Defensive back tips it at the goal line (50 yards away.) Sims has a strong enough arm, but can he throw it on a rope? Is he Tajh Boyd of the 2015 class? [2nd 11:19] Throws a decent fade route, the defensive back couldn't make a play on the ball. Was a little outside, though, and Amari Cooper couldn't come down with it. [3rd 12:57] Here's a play where Sims' long release hurts him. 1st and goal, the team runs a PA rollout. The issue is that by the time he's able to get the ball out, his receiver is already planted in the very corner of end zone. If he could have gotten the ball out a little quicker, he could have potentially hit his man in stride for a touchdown. Instead, it was an incompletion. [3rd 8:05] Sims finally hits a nice deep ball in stride, nailing Cooper on a 27-yard gain. Drops right into a bucket.

vs FLORIDA

[1st 13:59] First play of the game and Sims connects deep. The running back Kenyan Drake gives the linebacker split out wide a little head shake, and he bites. The safety is out of position to cover the man going vertical and can't keep up with him. Results in a 87 yard touchdown.

[1st 7:00] Deep ball in the middle of the field thrown into decently tight coverage. Would like the ball there faster at the next level. [1st 6:05] Rollout to the right, thrown well above the head of a wide open man closing in on the right sideline. [1st 4:23] Another deep ball. A bunch of air under it, but hit in stride and show how strong of an arm Sims has. Ball goes nearly 60 yards in the air before Cooper runs it in for another 30. [2nd 11:17] One of the best passes of the season. Cooper can't come down with it, but the deep ball has a very small level of error allowed. [3rd 15:00] Hit Cooper on a perfect vertical down the sideline. Deep ball looks much better than previous games. [3rd 10:38] Base wide, long motion. Misses on a deep ball.

Devin Gardner (Michigan) Passing Charts

Michigan #98 Devin Gardner

6035 218 8547

@ Notre Dame

vs Utah

Combined Chart

Quarterback Spotlight: Bryce Petty (Baylor) vs SMU and Buffalo

vs SMU

[1st 12:55] Has a stuff lead leg on this one. Causes an odd ball to come out that's nearly intercepted and his receiver can't make a play on. Might have been caused by a miscommunication between the receiver and Petty. Could have wanted him to go inside of the defensive back than outside. Either way, a straight leg makes force go the opposite direction of the momentum of a passing motion. This creates someone of a momentum stoppage throughout the motion and hunches the body over, losing velocity off the ball.

Strong, quick arm in the short game. Athletic quarterback who isn't tall, but his body is built to take some hits if needed. [1st 12:17] Missed a relatively routine screen pass. With a quick strike offense, though, he's not being asked to get his feet into position to make a well-motioned throw. Snap off, ball's out. [1st 9:21] One note I had on Bryce Petty from preseason scouting was that his deep ball is pretty off-and-on. While Baylor runs a lot of vertical routes, four of the five deep sections of the field (basically anything outside of the hashes) had less than a 60% on-target rate from my viewings of his 2013 season. Here, he misses another one. His ability to drop a pass in a bucket isn't as great as many say it is.

Later, he begins to change his throwing motion a bit. Instead of coming across his shoulder with the ball, he drops his wrist, making the ball the lowest point of his arm before bringing it back up to throw. It's not a super elongated motion, so it's not a huge deal. It was just interesting that it hadn't happened in the previous passes. [2nd 3:09] Petty has a very odd pass on this one, to the point where you think it's almost a miscommunication. His shoulders are very out of position on this play, too open before the pass is out.

Because of this, the ball drops short of the receiver and doesn't come out with high velocity. A back injury sustained earlier in the game could have been a reason why his shoulders weren't positioned correctly.

[2nd 2:28] Another misplaced deep ball from Petty with a vertical free receiver. [2nd 1:41] First sign of significant pressure. Petty's body is thrown backwards and off his back foot. There may be concerns about his ability against pressure, but Baylor rarely faces quality pressure. [2nd 1:26] Again, pressure comes, and he throws off of his back foot.

vs BUFFALO

[1st 14:36] Throws a nice deep ball. Clutches before throwing the pass, but throws tall in the pocket, which was missing due to a stuff leg. The slight bend he has in his front leg seems to help with both velocity and accuracy here. [1st 8:56] A nice bucket throw. They're there for Petty, they just come and go. [1st 6:19] Again, the leg comes back. Fully extending it through the motion, the ball loses some momentum. While he had a good gain on the throw, he left YAC on the field by throwing the ball into the dirt for his receiver to catch. [1st 0:48] Doesn't need to bail the pocket, but does. Directs his receiver while on the move and hits a nice intermediate throw down the right sideline. [2nd 14;16] His receivers win again with four verts. Hits a nice bucket pass against poor zone coverage. When he doesn't have a man being chased closely from behind, he's able to throw to a spot, which end up as his deep completions. [2nd 5:34] Nice intermediate throw into tight coverage. [3rd 12:34] Stiff front leg again and the ball dropped short and behind the receiver. The defensive back had a hand on the ball and was in a better position to make a play on the ball than the receiver. [3rd 9:05] Stiff leg, but able to rotate hips through it, not putting a pause on any momentum. Throws tall through the pass, which spins nicely through a sea of Buffalo players to his Baylor target in the intermediate range. A bang-bang play as far as the ball and defender are concerned. One of the best throws Petty's had. Seems to want to stick to his first read. Instead of moving to another, he often pumps at his first read, hoping that the action will move defenders around for his receiver to find open space.

All videos come from DraftBreakdown.com. They're awesome.

Bo Wallace (Ole Miss) Passing Charts

Ole Miss #14 Bo Wallace

6035 203 8355

vs Boise State (Neutral-Atlanta)

@ Vanderbilt

vs Louisiana-Lafayette

vs Memphis

Combined Chart

Quarterback Spotlight: Marcus Mariota (Oregon)

vs SOUTH DAKOTA

Athletic. Has an above average arm for a draftable prospect, but he's not Kaepernick in that area. Sometimes he doesn't follow his feet to his target, but depending on how the fast-release offense is coached, that could simply be a "get the ball out" type mentality the program instills. Another example is not using the laces, which Oregon does to get the ball out quicker. Throwing to open targets in broken coverage, but the timing is there. [1st 5:04] Mariota has a man down the sideline, but throws it late and short. He hit his target right on his shoulder deep, but an NFL defensive back likely makes a play on that ball. If he didn't take the extra gather to step into the ball, the result of the play could have been much more in his favor. [1st 3:26] One of Mariota's best balls. Tight coverage is tight coverage. Period. Mariota's feet follow his progressions, looking from the left to the MOF finding a target. He hit his third read before releasing. There, he put it right on his target, resulting in a gain of over 30 yards.

[2nd 13:36] A poor play from Mariota, he thought he had his target open with a second defender broke on the play and deflected the pass. Staring at the player from the moment the ball was snapped until it was out of his hand, the man in coverage was reading Mariota's eyes and not occupied by the running back releasing from the backfield. [2nd 13:33] Bobbing the ball and leaning back, as opposed to standing tall, Mariota's accuracy is off on his deep man streaking. [2nd 8:12] This play is interesting to me.

On a second and two, this play is pretty much given to Oregon. The linebacker can't reach the flats quick enough to cover the tight end, if the route is shallow. The safety is far enough off the ball not to make a play before the first down, either. There's one issue...there's a play action.

There's a couple things going on here. After the action, that safety closes on the ball. The linebacker got deep, but after seeing Mariota's eyes, he starting to close in on the target. Remembering he had the Pin concept on the left side, Mariota recognizes that he has a 2-on-2 to the left. That delay of the action exposed the coverage if it got to the second read. Looking at the in route, the linebacker closest to the potential target is out of position to follow him, as he's already past. The next closest defender is running in the opposite direction. When that second safety, who is sitting on the 20, makes a decision, the play is up for grabs.

The safety makes a decision, working onto the in route. This meant the third option should have opened up, the boundary receiver's post. Unfortunately for Oregon, though, the cornerback does a very good job at sitting on top of the route, putting an end to that. The fourth option is the running back swinging out of the backfield.

By the time he was able to get into position for the throw, there were two objects, a blocker and a defender, in the passing lane. Instead, Mariota rolled to the right, the opposite side of where his eyes were, and gained the first down and more with his feet. This was a good example of what kind of "play making" Mariota can do. The first and second reads dictated the ball should have went to the third read. The third read had a play made on him. When he went to the fourth, the play broke down completely, and he still got a gain of about eight untouched.

[2nd 5:19] Mariota is slow on the post-corner here. Also throws it too wide. It's early in the season in this game, but you'd want to see more confidence in Mariota to let that one rip. Big play ended up being an interception. [2nd 4:09] Mariota puts up a clinic on broken plays here in the red zone. Mariota has a post-curl from his two receivers to the left. By the time that his post is open, he needs to adjust in the pocket from pressure to his left. He dodges another defender on the way, rolls parallel to the LOS while keeping his shoulders squared and hits his man finding space for a touchdown. In this set of games, you can already tell that Mariota's emphasis on keeping his eyes down-field has been stressed more than previous season. [2nd 0:26] This is really when Marcus starts to rip it. Looking at the second receiver in, he's able to hit his most inward receiver on an intermediate route with some zip as soon as he gets open.

vs MICHIGAN STATE

[1st 13:55] On a pop, Mariota fires off a ball to his slot receiver. At the mesh-point, he pulls the ball when he sees the linebackers pursuing run. Keanon Lowe (UO WR #7) needed to get inside more, and Mylan Hicks made the play. There really wasn't a man open on the play, but I don't blame him for making that pass. [1st 13:51] Here's another play where pressure gets in the way of the left passing lane, Mariota rolls right, and pegs an open target. [1st 9:38] This is where Mariota staying in the pocket becomes an issue. If he bailed, which he could have several times, he had a first down. Instead, he visibly fought the urge and got sacked as the pocket collapsed. [1st 5:23] Two nasty jukes before running for the first down. [1st 5:03] Unaccounted pressure, turns a sack into a 0-yard gain. [2nd 15:00] Oregon's left tackle loses his man, allows a free defender in the backfield. Mariota plays off of him to get back out of pressure, steps into the pocket, and throws off-balance to an open man. The run-pass discipline he has worked out here. The play was completed for over 60 yards, and some would have just dropped their eyes and turned into a running back, like Brett Hundley. Mariota keeping his eyes up while moving is going to be crucial at the next level. [2nd 10:27] Throwing against seven rushers, the MSU blitz doesn't faze him. Off the action, he quickly gets into position to throw and let's one off in stride, hitting his man for a 70 yard score.

[2nd 6:35] Coverage is good, pressure gets there with four. Mariota kicks back to create space to roll-out and hits his man for a short gain. His feet are quick enough to think he has a fast drop-back, despite playing exclusively in the shotgun in college. [2nd 6:01 & 5:19] Able to throw off-balanced when dictated.

vs WYOMING

[1st 8:06] Here, Mariota shows good anticipation. Before he makes the second break, he begins his motion to pass it to a player on a double-move. The throw had too much air under the ball, though, allowing the defender to make a play at the catch-point.

[2nd 12:35] Feet don't move to adjust for the read, throws the crossing route behind where it needed to be. Ended up as a deflection by the linebacker. [2nd 1:51] Another good example of Mariota wanting to stay in the pocket. He moves between two defenders while stepping up in the pocket and is ready to throw on a dime. Another pressure comes to his face, so he rolled to his left while looking down-field. He took the ball off for a 20+ yard gain. [2nd 1:39] Oregon's running a double-post concept in the redzone here.

In one-on-one coverage, he takes the more aggressive of the two options, the deeper post.

He hits his pass right on the mark. For as much as Oregon gets "gimmick system" tags, that play is very much an NFL throw. A double-post concept is ideal in the NFL for putting stress on safeties.

[3rd 14:55] Again, what seems to be a reoccurring issue is double-clutching on the ball. He could have released the ball sooner, but he stalled before firing off the ball, which ended up in being a completion. This is probably *the* most concerning part of Mariota's game based on this three-game sample size.

@ WASHINGTON STATE

Not sure what happened, but I couldn't get the first five minutes of the game. Marcus Mariota ran for 8, passed for 6, and took a sack on the drive missed, but I highly doubt something happened that won't be revealed anywhere else during his 2014 season. [1st 7:36] Left guard not looking good. This offensive line plays like it allowed multiple, multiple, multiple sacks. It looks as though Mariota wants to throw a short in, but by the time he's ready, his guard is pushed back into his passing lane. [1st 3:50] Throws a nice deep ball in the middle of the field for a 80-yard TD (mostly YAC) off his second read. One thing I notice when Mariota runs is that he doesn't have thin hips like Robert Griffin III does. [2nd 13:08] Mariota finds space in the pocket (moves over a step from the pressure) and throws a nice ball with air under it. [2nd 8:24] Mariota spends too much time reading the corner route deep. Has a free man in the flats, almost gets sacked, and throws the ball away. He also threw down Xavier Cooper on the play, who is a 300-ish DT that'll play on Sundays. One of Mariota's worst plays of recent memory.

[1st 8:06] Alley-oop for the TD to his tight end. Nice play, though. Doesn't need to see it before throwing it. Saw man opening up behind guys and sent it his way.

[2nd 2:20] Dropped eyes when he saw a hole in the OL. Hadn't seen that from him in 2014. Looked almost like as soon as he saw the coverage drop deep, he decided he was going to take over. A near 55 yard game, but called back for holding. Long stride is evident.

[2nd 1:06] Throws in a muddy pocket, though not to any discernible target, hitting the ground. Mechanics weren't great, but had to throw off balance there. Still, should be near a target if it's throw in the middle of the field deep. This game shows some interesting traits for Mariota running. Before he faces either single-side edge pressure or pressure in the middle. When facing double-edge pressure, he looks like a running back. Dropping eyes, etc. That could be due to the early sacks caused by the OL, though.

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Brandon Bridge (South Alabama) Passing Charts

South Alabama #7 Brandon Bridge

6045 235 8449

@ Kent State

vs Mississippi State

Combined Chart