Tag: Devin Leary

2024 NFL Draft: Could Raiders be looking quarterback on Day 2?

Could Raiders be looking quarterback on Day 2?

Sitting at pick 13, the Raiders were in a precarious position considering their need at quarterback. There were six quarterbacks who were considering worthy of a first round pick and all six of them were gone by the 12th pick.

When looking at scenarios pre-draft, this always seemed like a distinct possibility considering the needs of the teams ahead of them. It was the Falcons taking Michael Penix that seemed to shake things up, but there’s no guarantee that had they passed on Penix that another team wouldn’t have taken him or even jumped up ahead of the Raiders to take him.

The result was the Raiders were the only QB-needy team left without a chair when the music stopped, prompting them to take the best player available in tight end Brock Bowers.

This isn’t to say there is literally no decent quarterback talent left in this draft. Just none that were deemed worthy of a first round pick. Or, in some views, not even worthy of a second round pick.

It would not be good if the Raiders get through this draft without adding some young competition to the quarterback room to go with former fourth round pick Aidan O’Connell and journeyman free agent acquisition Gardner Minshew.

The question is when they decide to pull the trigger on getting that quarterback.

The next highest rated quarterback in this draft is South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler, who draft analyst Dane Brugler gives a third round grade and the consensus big board has as the 93rd overall prospect, which is late third round.

Brugler describes Rattler as an “Aesthetically pleasing passer with his fluid release and impressive arm talent” but points to the interview process as the key to how teams will view him.

If the Raiders go strictly on value on the board, they might wait to consider taking Rattler until their pick at 77 overall in the third round. But with this being the quarterback position, would they ignore his place on draft boards — that is to say if they even agree with these boards — and take him at 44? We are talking about quarterback, after all. Which if what happened at the top of the draft is any indication, it should be (and is) treated differently than other positions.

Keep in mind, there were reports the Giants, Saints, and Seahawks were among teams looking at adding a quarterback in this draft as well, so the Raiders could have some competition.

Let’s say the Raiders go with board value (again) and pass on Rattler at 44. And let’s say another team takes him before they’re up at 77. What then?

Well, after Rattler, there appears to be another dropoff at quarterback. With only Tulane’s Michael Pratt rated as a borderline Day two pick. Brugler has him as a Round 3-4 talent and the consensus big board has him at 127 (4th round). The Raiders next pick after 77 is 112 in the 4th round.

The next tier consists of Kentucky’s Devin Leary, Tennessee’s Joe Milton III, and Florida State’s Jordan Travis — all of whom are considered at best Round five prospects. But, again, who could possibly go at least a round higher based on the fact that they play the most premium position in football.

For those counting along at home, that’s just five quarterbacks left in this draft deemed worthy of a pick ahead of the sixth round. So, yeah, not much depth left, which isn’t all that surprising considering the crowd at the top of the draft.

If you’re the Raiders, it would somewhere between unwise and downright irresponsible not to take a quarterback in this draft. And it could be very risky to wait until Day three to consider taking one. We’ll see how the draft plays out and see if we have to revisit this conversation tomorrow.

There’s ‘some buzz’ that Panthers could draft a QB

Joe Person of The Athletic said that he’s heard “some buzz” that the Panthers could draft a QB this weekend.

Well, maybe the spot behind Bryce Young and Andy Dalton will have room for growth after all.

Last month at the Annual League Meeting, Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales gave a little insight into how he wants to fill the QB3 vacancy that still exists on his roster. He seemed to be favoring a veteran for the position, suggesting that he wanted the quarterback to have prior NFL experience.

That, however, may not ultimately be the case, according to Joe Person of The Athletic, who noted the following on Tuesday morning:

A month after Dave Canales indicated at the owners’ meetings the Panthers would keep three quarterbacks, we’ve heard some buzz that Canales and general manager Dan Morgan could take one during the draft.

Person went on to add that the team could look into a number of Day 3 prospects — including South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler, Tennessee’s Joe Milton and Kentucky’s Devin Leary.

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2024 Scouting Combine: Five quarterbacks detail their favorite college plays

The 2024 scouting combine was the place to ask five quarterback prospects for the best plays of their collegiate careers.

INDIANAPOLIS — Unless you are somehow able to gain access to one of the rooms in which NFL teams meet with draft prospects during the week of the scouting combine, there’s no way to know what’s really discussed. One thing that is almost always happens is a tape-watching expedition in which the NFL people will have play examples dialed up that hopefully show what the prospects can do.

Here at Touchdown Wire, we do not possess the required juice to crash those rooms, but we are able to ask these prospects during their combine media sessions which plays from their college careers best typify their potential.

We’ve already done this with six tight ends and seven cornerbacks here at the combine, and now, it’s time to get into the favorite plays of five quarterback prospects — Oregon’s Bo Nix, Kentucky’s Devin Leary, Florida State’s Jordan Travis, South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler, and Tulane’s Michael Pratt.

2024 NFL draft: 3 potential backup quarterbacks to Justin Herbert for Chargers to watch at Combine

Here are a few quarterbacks expected to test well at the Combine who the Los Angeles Chargers could target to back up Justin Herbert.

The 2024 NFL Combine begins this week, with 321 prospects due to attend the event in Indianapolis.

The Chargers, along with the league’s other 31 teams, will use the results to solidify their draft board, bringing their plans for April into greater focus.

Here are four quarterbacks for Los Angeles to watch at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Six Wildcats get 2024 NFL Combine invites

There were six players from Kentucky invited to participate at the 2024 NFL Combine

Super Bowl LVIII is in the books, and the NFL off-season is officially here for all 32 teams. The NFL Draft is the most popular event of the upcoming months, but the NFL Combine isn’t far behind it.

The Combine kicks off with on-field drills on Thursday, February 29th in Indianapolis, and continues through the weekend. Teams will work out over 300 players total in an audition to scouts, coaches and general managers. Each player has NFL dreams, and the Combine officially starts of the draft process.

The Kentucky Wildcats don’t figure to have any prospects taken in the first round, but that doesn’t mean they’re not represented well at the Combine. Six Wildcats were invited, which is tied for 14th most among schools. Here are the six who were asked to participate.

Countdown to Kickoff: 8 impact transfers in 2023

The Countdown 2 Kickoff series continues with the top transfers in college football.

College football has changed with the addition of the transfer portal. Free agency at the collegiate level has changed the way that coaches build their rosters. Just look at Colorado who totally flipped the roster in a single offseason.

Some players are looking to get a fresh start due to coaching changes, not being a good fit, or just looking for a shot to win a national championship. Whatever the reason, there are plenty of good and bad reasons why the transfer portal has forever changed the landscape of the sport.

As the start of the 2023 college football season gets closer, College Sports Wire breaks down eight impact transfers.

2024 NFL Draft prospect Devin Leary talks upcoming season at Kentucky, football future

Crissy Froyd caught up with Kentucky quarterback Devin Leary on his transition and goals for the 2023 season.

Former North Carolina State quarterback Devin Leary was seen as one of the best signal-callers in the nation during the 2021 college football season, capping it off with one of the most memorable last-minute wins of the year with a 34-30 victory over in-state rival North Carolina.

Injury caused him to largely fall off the radar in 2022, but he’s in a perfect position to remind analysts why he was a top signal-caller with the perfect landing spot in Lexington, Kentucky.

He describes the transition as a smooth one.

“I love it so far,” Leary said. “You know, everyone here really just welcomed with open arms. My teammates, coach Stoops, all of the rest of the coaching staff and the entirety of the fan base. I’m just really looking forward to going out on the the field to play and getting to strap up.”

One of the biggest assets of playing quarterback for the Wildcats comes with the return of offensive coordinator Liam Coen, who had immense success with turning around the Kentucky offense in his first stint, and can keep that trend going.

The system he runs is a bit different than the offense Leary was in at NC State, but that’s a positive thing in some aspects, and Leary is picking things up well.

“Coach Coen does a great job of really, you know, translating the college offense that we’re in right now to what it’s going to be like in the NFL,” Leary said.

“A lot of the installs and cut-ups we watch are based off of what the L.A. Rams did last year,” Leary said. “Pre-snap, I don’t think much is too much different is identifying the defense and kind of going through that whole sequence. But from a terminology and just really understanding the system has been really new for me, but it’s something that I’m really trying to grasp before the season just gets up and going.”

Heading into his last year of eligibility, Leary is an incredibly experienced college football player, but all of the relationships he’s building are new from everyone from the front office staff to the teammates around him.

One of the most important of those will be the one he has with Coen, which he feels is progressing at a great rate.

“You can tell from the unit that you got here the type of energy that he brings around himself,” Leary said. “You can tell that he’s on a mission and you can tell that he expects a lot out of us as players.”

But while Coen makes his standards clear and holds those playing under him accountable, he’s equally personable.

“At the same time, he’s a guy that, you know, is very open to being able to sit down and ask him questions about anything,” Leary said. “That’s exactly what we needed as an offense. I think he is happy to be back and that all of Big Blue Nation is excited about what we can do under him this year.”

Leary is equally as confident in what he can accomplish as a quarterback for the Wildcats as he is in Coen’s guidance and offensive philosophy.

“I just bring in a lot of experience, playing a lot of snaps,” Leary said. “I  understand what it takes to win. I understand that it takes a lot and that it’s very hard to win football games regardless of where you’re playing.

The senior views himself as a mentor figure to some of the younger players, which plays a huge part in team culture.

“With my experience, I understand that the preparation comes first,” Leary said. “That the film study comes first. Pulling guys along to make them understand that whatever they’re doing or the hard work they’re putting in now, there’s always more that they can do.”

As where he specifically is concerned, Leary knows how much every game counts as he goes up against the best competition college football has to offer with hopes of being an early-round draft pick.

While the former Wolfpack starter does not pay much attention to the narratives that surround him — positive or negative — ahead of the season, he goes into it with a lot to prove.

But that’s to prove to himself as he aims to stay healthy. If he does that, it’s easy to see a scenario where he could be talked about among the top five quarterbacks in the nation.

“I know what I’m capable of doing,” Leary said. “Football is a violent sport and that it’s what we signed up for.You never know what’s going to happen each and every year, whether that’s injuries or having success. I can’t wait to get back out there with my new team and being able to fly around and just enjoy the game that I’ve played since I was a kid.”

There’s little question that the standards at quarterback are high in Lexington after Will Levis transferred in for 2021, quickly entering the early Heisman Trophy conversation and going on to be selected by the Tennessee Titans in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

Everyone will be looking for the success to be repeated, but make no mistake about it, Leary is not trying to be the next Will Levis. From a tangibles and intangibles perspective, they’re completely different quarterbacks in just about every facet.

“Will Levis left his legacy here at Kentucky,” Leary said. “He did a great job of really setting the foundation of what it’s like to play quarterback at Kentucky. I think he’s a really great player and he’s going to have great success at the next level. Now, for me, it’s just kind of finding my own way of adding to that quarterback tradition.”

“It’s time for me to build my own story, my own journey and put my best that I can out there.”

Ranking Alabama’s 2023 opposing quarterbacks

Ranking Alabama’s opposing quarterbacks for the 2023 season!

Even though the 2023 college football season seems like a long way away, in reality, we are only a little over 100 days away until [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] and the Alabama Crimson Tide host Middle Tennessee State on Sept. 2.

With the offseason in full swing, it is time to shift our focus to some 2023 season projections. Depth charts and the transfer portal will likely dominate the headlines from now until August when fall camp arrives.

As we look ahead to Alabama’s 2023 schedule, I think it is important to know the opponents. One of the most important aspects of each opponent to learn is the starting quarterback. So I thought this was a good time to rank Alabama’s opposing quarterbacks from best to worst.

Let’s roll!

PFF Ranks Top 25 Players who Entered 22-23 College Football Transfer Portal

Just how big of a get was Sam Hartman for Notre Dame? Uhh, big.

The preliminary window for players in the college football transfer portal to sign with a new school is drawing to a close so we thought it’d be a good time to look back and see where the best players to enter it wound up.  Alright, we did think that but with Notre Dame adding quarterback [autotag]Sam Hartman[/autotag] from Wake Forest and so many national outlets loving the pickup for the Irish, we thought we’d compare him to some of the other top players in the portal.

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In an effort to eliminate any bias we went to the folks at Pro Football Focus who ranked the top 25 players to enter the portal this off-season.  That way it wasn’t just us reminding you how big Notre Dame’s pickup of Sam Hartman was, but instead using an objective party.  Here is how PFF ranked not just Hartman but the 25 best players in the portal this off-season.

Auburn among top schools in sweepstakes for Brennan Armstrong

Auburn is one of three schools that is in the hunt to land the former Virginia quarterback.

Auburn has been a hot name in the transfer portal market since its opening on Dec. 5, especially at the quarterback position.

The first quarterback portal battle for Auburn was between NC State’s [autotag]Devin Leary[/autotag] and Coastal Carolina’s [autotag]Grayson McCall[/autotag]. However, Leary elected to sign with SEC foe Kentucky, and McCall recently decided to remove his name from the transfer portal.

Now that the fate of those two quarterbacks has been sealed, Auburn appears to have two more names within its sights.

Reports surfaced on Dec. 23 that Auburn and head coach Hugh Freeze had been in contact with Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders about possibly earning his signature. There appears to be another name in the race, Virginia’s [autotag]Brennan Armstrong[/autotag].

ESPN’s Pete Thamel shared Monday during a segment on College Gameday that the Virginia field general has been contacted by Auburn, as well as NC State and Oklahoma State.

Thamel is led to believe that Armstrong is leaning towards staying in the ACC, and will be reunited with his former offensive coordinator.

“Brennan Armstrong had a down year with the departure of Robert Anae, his offensive coordinator (from Virginia),” Thamel said. “I was told (Monday), ‘Don’t be surprised if Armstrong reunites with him at NC State.’ Auburn and Oklahoma State are also in the mix there.”

Armstrong had his strongest season in 2021 under the direction of Anae. Despite Virginia finishing with a 6-6 record, Armstrong completed 326-of-500 passes for 4,449 yards and 31 touchdowns.

[autotag]Robby Ashford[/autotag], [autotag]Holden Geriner[/autotag], and [autotag]T.J. Finley[/autotag] return to the quarterback room from last season’s roster. Auburn also added three-star [autotag]Hank Brown[/autotag] to its’ 2023 signing class. However, Freeze is looking for experience at the position in his first season at Auburn. Quarterbacks such as Sanders and Armstrong fit the mold of what Freeze is looking for.

“Yes, we are (going to seek a transfer QB),” Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said during his early signing period press conference on Dec. 21. “If it’s the right one, that we believe we can win games with.”

Sanders and Armstrong are among the top quarterbacks that remain in the transfer portal, joining Arkansas‘ Malik Hornsby.

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