C.J. Stroud
Pros
He has a good arm and is mostly accurate. Stroud can throw with excellent touch on downfield throws.
Furthermore, he can make some accurate touch throws even with the occasional off balance feet.
Stroud can spot vacant areas from where defenders are blitzing from and throw to that area. Also, he can make opposite hash mark throws that require the right amount of touch and also velocity on it with good ball placement.
Furthermore, Stroud can pass with good anticipation, especially on intermediate throws. The National Championship Semi-finals was unique for Stroud since he flashed some ability to get out of pocket with pressure and then extend the play a bit as well as maneuver in the pocket and then reset his feet to throw. The issue is whether he is capable of doing this more often or not because he hasn’t shown these abilities as much in other games.
Cons
On occasions, he can be fooled by defensive ends dropping back in coverage guard against quick game routes.
Stroud is usually good at scanning the field and going to the right places but not always. It is hard to determine how can perform on a consistent basis against pass rush pressure since he has had mostly tremendous pass protection at Ohio State. Stroud has the habit of drifting and bailing out of pockets a bit early at the sense of pressure rather than navigating the pocket and then resetting to throw.
There are concerns about how he can perform in bad weather, specifically windy conditions, due to the Northwestern game.
Bryce Young
Pros
Young has a quick release and can throw with very good zip, especially as a red zone passer.
He has shown the ability to make 30 yard opposite hash mark rope sideline passes.
He is great at scrambling out of the pocket to find open guys.
Young can usually throw on time and in rhythm but not always. He has a nice arm as he can throw a very good deep ball post route in stride to a receiver.
Cons
He has a tendency to miss defensive back blitzes but at least can bail himself out since he has the mobility to get out of that pressure and extend plays downfield.
Young doesn’t handle constant pressure well, especially up front, as it leads to bad footwork and then his accuracy deteriorates. His size can also impaired his vision in the pocket when there is pressure up front.
Sometimes, Young will hold onto the ball for too long before finding someone or even extending to find someone whereas there are open guys he could have found.
There are concerns about not just height, but mostly his weight as it pertains to whether he is big enough.
Will Levis
Pros
Levis throws with good zip on short and some intermediate throws in the congested middle of the field.
Levis can display good anticipation in some of his intermediate throws that require velocity in closing windows.
Levis is capable of being a tough runner. He is capable of making good throws in stride with intense pressure in his face as he is about to get hit.
Cons
Levis can sometimes display a decent sidelines deep ball that requires an arc. However, he has far too many of those types of throws that are underthrown and float. It is noticeable even if his receivers struggle to consistently gain separation.
Levis can occasionally maneuver within and around the pocket to avoid blitzing defenders. However, there are times that he doesn’t navigate the pocket well and it leads to sacks or him rolling out and throwing it away. Meanwhile, had he navigated the pocket better, it would have allowed for him to extend the play from within the pocket which would buy him enough time to find someone.
Levis is not consistent in diagnosing coverages, especially post snap. As a result, he is not always going to the right places with the ball and it can lead to bad interceptions.
Anthony Richardson
Pros
Richardson has the ability to throw with great velocity and overall has a very powerful arm that can test all parts of the field.
He has excellent pocket presence and pocket movement which is crucial since it has allowed him to play with struggling offensive lines.
He is good at deciding to throw hot on out breaking routes in anticipation of blitzes.
Richardson is able to still throw downfield while anticipating getting hit. He has great size and mobility.
Cons
Richardson struggles a lot with being consistently accurate.
It is often tied to his footwork issues and also putting too much heat on the ball even on basic checkdowns.
He generally tends to go to the right places against coverage based on his presnap reads but is prone to making a few mistakes.
Hendon Hooker
Pros
Hooker has good mobility and can pass with some good zip in the congested middle of the field.
In addition, he can have solid ball placement on side sideline deep balls.
He can flash good pocket movement to buy time before throwing.
Cons
Some of Hooker’s sideline deep passes that require touch and an arc can instead drift or sail on him.
Hooker can miss regular passes due to ball placement issues.
Hooker tends to get a lot of completions from the unique way the Tennessee offense lines up their receivers in extremely wide 2 by 2 sets in an effort to create massive spacing. Aside from flashing a good zip throw on the occasion, there haven’t really been many great throws from him.
Tanner McKee
Pros
McKee throws with good zip across the field and has good placement on sideline throws downfield.
His eyes and reads are generally in the right place and can sometimes be accurate on tight separation throws.
His mobility is actually solid and his ability to throw on the run is quite underrated.
Cons
McKee has inconsistent pocket presence and pocket movement as he sometimes runs into sacks in collapsing pockets or hold onto the ball for too long.
However, he can sometimes sense pressure and have good pocket movement.
McKee’s throwing motion can be a bit deliberate, comparable to that of Jared Goff, but he has a good follow through on his passes.
