DeShone Kizer QB, Notre Dame

Hope he throws at the combine... that'll make a statement.

http://mississippistate.247sports.com/Article/What-NFL-scouts-are-saying-about-DeShone-Kizer-more-college-foot-49803179

3. The first quarterback taken in the NFL draft will have major flaws
After watching Deshone Kizer in Notre Dame's season-opening loss to Texas, I predicted that Kizer would be the first quarterback taken in the NFL draft this spring. Now that the redshirt sophomore has declared for the draft, there's a real possibility that happens but if it does, it won't be a unanimous or even a consensus pick around the league.

I hit up a couple of NFL contacts to get the latest temperature on where Kizer's stock sits — and it wasn't positive. One contact said he "sucks," while another said he has more studying to do but has "serious reservations" about Kizer. That's not exactly first-round praise.

The good news for Kizer is that nobody is catching first-round praise right now. From Deshaun Watson to Mitch Trubisky to Patrick Mahomes and beyond, every potential first round pick draws as much questions as he does excitement in NFL circles.

It only takes one team to like him for Kizer to be the first off the board but he's going to have some work to do over the next few months to win scouts over. The same can be said for the entire 2017 quarterback class.

Originally posted by SmokeCrabtrees:

Hope he throws at the combine... that'll make a statement.

Ehh not really, throwing to wide open WRs not in a football game scenario doesn't really prove much to me.

All about the film and not a fan of it overall...he will check all the boxes while in his under armor at the combine.

But it's WRs he hasn't thrown to. If it was so easy for everyone to look good all QBs would do it,no?

This is a great article about Kizer, discussing the difference between his performance in 2015 and 2016. Pretty outstanding analysis about the minutiae of footwork and how minor changes can throw off a QB's entire game. Definitely check out the link for the photo examples of his footwork.

http://www.qbmecca.com/a-tale-of-two-quarterbacks-deshone-kizers-footwork/

Kizer's unsettling shift in footwork is troubling. The latter version of Kizer, the one seen in 2016, is frantic, rushed and seldom on time. Somewhere between 2015 and the back end of 2016, Kizer became broken. In 2015, head coach Brian Kelly was forced to play Kizer and be confident in him: Kelly had no other choice because Zaire was injured. With Zaire healthy in 2016, though, Kelly constantly threatened Kizer's job security and found stupid, unnecessary ways of getting Zaire into games when he absolutely should not have been playing over Kizer.

In addition, many believe that Kizer suffered an injury, likely to his throwing shoulder, against Michigan State that has stuck with him throughout the season. Considering that is about when Kizer's drop off became noticeable, it's plausible that an unsurfaced injury is partly to blame for Kizer's regression. It's hard to play with the same bravado when battling an injury.

No one reason can be blamed for Kizer's decline, nor can we be certain which of any of the plausible reasons are most to blame. But this much is certain: Kizer was not the same quarterback during the back half of 2016. Fear, panic and a lack of coordination were foreign concepts to Kizer a year ago, but recently, they have plagued him.

If I were a betting man (let me assure you, I am not), I would assume that these newfound struggles are not going to stick. Kizer played too well in 2015 and in the earlier parts of 2016 for me to abandon him as a top shelf NFL prospect. Instead, this streak of poor play is more than likely an aberration at the wrong time.

No quarterback is immune to stretches of poor play, and those stretches are almost always a direct result of one's surroundings. Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons, for example, was a shell of himself in 2015. He appeared to be injured (mostly apparent because of a drop off in velocity), the team around him was largely untalented and his mechanics eroded. Though, with a little help in free agency and some time to heal, Ryan came back in 2016 and destroyed the competition, leading the way for a Falcons offense that lead the league in scoring by a wide margin.

Ryan's "down" year feels almost identical to Kizer's at Notre Dame, but we look at prospects through a different lens than NFL quarterbacks. We are less willing to rationalize poor play, even when there is legitimate reason and precedent for rationalizing it, and even when we have seen the quarterback play at a high level before. We want these young players to play on a linear path, yet the best NFL quarterbacks do not always play on a linear path from year to year.

Regression be damned, Deshone Kizer is still one of the best young quarterbacks in the country. Something went wrong for him this season, but he did the right thing by leaving South Bend and putting himself in the NFL Draft pool, where a team will select him with the intentions of making him "the guy" that Kelly let him be at Notre Dame. It is not time to give up on Deshone Kizer — it is time to be patient with him and allow him to find himself again.

So will he be around for our 2 nd pick ??????

Could go garret. Kizer. Then top wr.

Originally posted by bors:

Could go garret. Kizer. Then top wr.

He won't be there in the 2nd round - he's still top 15 in almost every mock. The only place where he's ~30 is CBS's prospect rankings which are extremely volatile (he was ~10 not long ago).

One of the QBs (Kizer, Watson, Allen) could be available mid-late first round for a trade up.

Originally posted by eastcoast49ersfan:
He won't be there in the 2nd round - he's still top 15 in almost every mock. The only place where he's ~30 is CBS's prospect rankings which are extremely volatile (he was ~10 not long ago).

One of the QBs (Kizer, Watson, Allen) could be available mid-late first round for a trade up.

I gotta watch more on Allen he's kinda a unknown for me.

Bills pick at 10, Saints at 11, Browns at 12, and Arizona at 13. I can see 2 of the top-3 QBs picked in these spots.

To get any of the top-3 QBs and not "wasting" the #2 overall, the 49ers best hope is to trade back to the Titans' #5 (although the fans want Mike W as expected) and do their QB selection there.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
This is a great article about Kizer, discussing the difference between his performance in 2015 and 2016. Pretty outstanding analysis about the minutiae of footwork and how minor changes can throw off a QB's entire game. Definitely check out the link for the photo examples of his footwork.

http://www.qbmecca.com/a-tale-of-two-quarterbacks-deshone-kizers-footwork/

Kizer's unsettling shift in footwork is troubling. The latter version of Kizer, the one seen in 2016, is frantic, rushed and seldom on time. Somewhere between 2015 and the back end of 2016, Kizer became broken. In 2015, head coach Brian Kelly was forced to play Kizer and be confident in him: Kelly had no other choice because Zaire was injured. With Zaire healthy in 2016, though, Kelly constantly threatened Kizer's job security and found stupid, unnecessary ways of getting Zaire into games when he absolutely should not have been playing over Kizer.

In addition, many believe that Kizer suffered an injury, likely to his throwing shoulder, against Michigan State that has stuck with him throughout the season. Considering that is about when Kizer's drop off became noticeable, it's plausible that an unsurfaced injury is partly to blame for Kizer's regression. It's hard to play with the same bravado when battling an injury.

No one reason can be blamed for Kizer's decline, nor can we be certain which of any of the plausible reasons are most to blame. But this much is certain: Kizer was not the same quarterback during the back half of 2016. Fear, panic and a lack of coordination were foreign concepts to Kizer a year ago, but recently, they have plagued him.

If I were a betting man (let me assure you, I am not), I would assume that these newfound struggles are not going to stick. Kizer played too well in 2015 and in the earlier parts of 2016 for me to abandon him as a top shelf NFL prospect. Instead, this streak of poor play is more than likely an aberration at the wrong time.

No quarterback is immune to stretches of poor play, and those stretches are almost always a direct result of one's surroundings. Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons, for example, was a shell of himself in 2015. He appeared to be injured (mostly apparent because of a drop off in velocity), the team around him was largely untalented and his mechanics eroded. Though, with a little help in free agency and some time to heal, Ryan came back in 2016 and destroyed the competition, leading the way for a Falcons offense that lead the league in scoring by a wide margin.

Ryan's "down" year feels almost identical to Kizer's at Notre Dame, but we look at prospects through a different lens than NFL quarterbacks. We are less willing to rationalize poor play, even when there is legitimate reason and precedent for rationalizing it, and even when we have seen the quarterback play at a high level before. We want these young players to play on a linear path, yet the best NFL quarterbacks do not always play on a linear path from year to year.

Regression be damned, Deshone Kizer is still one of the best young quarterbacks in the country. Something went wrong for him this season, but he did the right thing by leaving South Bend and putting himself in the NFL Draft pool, where a team will select him with the intentions of making him "the guy" that Kelly let him be at Notre Dame. It is not time to give up on Deshone Kizer — it is time to be patient with him and allow him to find himself again.

Notre Dame fan here so I come with some bias, but this article does sum it up nicely. Last year Kizer looked calm and poised and nothing seemed to rattle him. For a young QB that had to come in because Zaire got injured, Kizer never seemed fazed when he threw a pick or the other team took the lead late in the game, he always appeared to be in control of the offense, his emotions, etc.

THis year was completely different. Tons of mental errors. For Notre Dame as a whole. Hard to point out exactly what was so off but the Matt Ryan analogy is great. Earlier this year Aaron Rodgers was flat as well and looked God awful.

Where to take Kizer in the draft is a mystery but I think he has what it takes and can fix the bad habits from this last year. My biggest fear is he slides far and somehow New England steals him.

Originally posted by jacklegniner:
Notre Dame fan here so I come with some bias, but this article does sum it up nicely. Last year Kizer looked calm and poised and nothing seemed to rattle him. For a young QB that had to come in because Zaire got injured, Kizer never seemed fazed when he threw a pick or the other team took the lead late in the game, he always appeared to be in control of the offense, his emotions, etc.

THis year was completely different. Tons of mental errors. For Notre Dame as a whole. Hard to point out exactly what was so off but the Matt Ryan analogy is great. Earlier this year Aaron Rodgers was flat as well and looked God awful.

Where to take Kizer in the draft is a mystery but I think he has what it takes and can fix the bad habits from this last year. My biggest fear is he slides far and somehow New England steals him.

If he's getting rushed and making bad decisions against unranked college teams imagine what he is going to do against a Defense like the Steelers.

Taking a Peak at his numbers he Completed less than 60% of his passes in 6 of his 12 games this season...that's half of his season.

Avg Completion percentage in those 6 games...50.6%. Take out the Hurricane game....53.8%

Originally posted by jcs:
Taking a Peak at his numbers he Completed less than 60% of his passes in 6 of his 12 games this season...that's half of his season.

Avg Completion percentage in those 6 games...50.6%. Take out the Hurricane game....53.8%

IMHO he's the clear #3 QB. But he'll still go top 10.

He'll be the BEST backup QB in all of the NFL