Thursday, March 9, 2017

2017 NFL Draft Profile: Davis Webb

Davis Webb, California
6-4, 229
Webb is another big number passer in the tradition of both Texas Tech and California Quarterbacks in the last 20 years. He started out at Texas Tech in 2013, and passed for 2718 yards, and tossed 20 TDs to nine picks. He was limited to eight games in 2014, and passed for 2539 yards and 24 TDs, to 13 INTs. He lost the job to Patrick Mahomes  III in 2015 and transferred to California after nearly signing with Colorado. He did play in five games before transferring, passing for just 300 yards and two scores. At California, in 2016, he passed for 4295 yards and 37 scores to 12 INTs.
The Good
He has plenty of arm strength to make the requisite throws. He has awesome size for an NFL type QB, which helps out a great deal.
He is strong in the pocket, and will hang in to make passes under pressure, but there are some issues here I will discuss later.
He has solid touch on his passes, and knows how to adjust his speeds in different situations well enough.
He has mobility and can move a pocket under pressure, and can score on his feet as well, as he did six times at Cal.
He has raw ability, and seems coachable.
The Bad
Webb is another system guy who ran a pass happy, minimal read offense at both Texas Tech and California. He was not a big winner at either school, finishing just 5-7 at California.
I have a real issue that he lost the job at Texas Tech to Mahomes, and then transferred out rather than fighting through it. When he had an opportunity to transfer, he stuck with a pass happy scheme rather than going to a program where he could play in a more pro set offense to show what he had in that environment.
He has virtually zero experience running huddles or playing under center, which is a recurring theme here.
He has thrown a high number of picks in limited experience.
He has a lock on attitude towards his receivers, and does not progress his reads well, and that is a bad habit based on the offense he has played in.
He will throw a pass to his number one option, whether the pass is there to be made or not, and will toss into traffic when he does not have to.
He does not stand in to pressure well enough, and will try to make something happen that is not there, Tends to get his foot work jumbled up as he can start to think run too early in progressions. His footwork basically needs a complete overhaul.
When pressured, his accuracy falls sharply, so playing behind an average or bad line will highly effect productivity from this player.
Final Overview
Webb has plenty of natural, raw talent, to get by, but his mental approach to the game has been soured by playing in those pass happy systems, where one read is all you get. He has the arm to make it work, but has too many bad habits, and is not ready to be tasked with running an NFL offense on the field. He will have to be broken down and rebooted to have any chance in this league, and at best, may translate to a career backup even then, if he is lucky. He is worth the developmental time, but only if you have someone credible in front of him for the next three years.

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