Brock Osweiler’s NFL Draft Chances

Updated: January 10, 2012

Ever since Brock Osweiler shocked everyone and threw his name into the 2012 Draft he has been a heated discussion in the draft community. Literally, there are multiple four plus page threads on him on NFL team forums. Everyone has an opinion on this guy, and they range all over the place.

Some people see Osweiler as a can’t miss first rounder, others see him as a more athletic Josh Skelton (who was a fifth round pick). So why shouldn’t I throw my two cents into the mix?

The reason why the verdict on Brock is all over the place is because of two things. One is his physical stature. Two is a lack of National coverage. All in all, I believe most of the hype comes from the fact that he is 6’8. People immediately see 6’8 and go “OMG he is tall! Draft him.” Not so fast.

When you look more into Osweiler you see a quarterback that has a 7-8 starting record, plays in a spread, and isn’t required to make a lot of reads. That’s pretty much my same problem with Nick Foles. These collegiate spread QBs aren’t making post snap reads, and are simply snapping the ball then going to the receiver in one motion without sitting in the pocket and deciphering any post read of the defense. That isn’t a knock on him, but more so the state of college football.

Brock does some things you really like. He’s very elusive for a 6-8 guy. He isn’t Ryan Mallet back there. He can move well and avoid taking knockout shots from blitzes. He throws the ball with a nice spiral. His passes drop in kind of like a teardrop due to being 6-8 but that’s a nitpick. He also overthrows a lot of his longer throws. All in all he has some talent to build on.

If I had to bet, I’d say Brock Osweiler will be a mid 3rd to 4th round pick. As far as late round Quarterbacks go I still believe Boise’s Kellen Moore has a lot of the “football smarts” (making reads, etc.) you want that Osweiler doesn’t display. The thing is Moore is 5-11 and Osweiler is 6-8. It will be very interesting to see where they all stack up once the draft is said and done.