How is Hackenberg an NFL prospect?

[daneblazer]

He looks terrible against a good defense

[t-wizzle]

He looks terrible against a good defense

He's not in the game...

[sjm5122]

Hes very overrated

[Dirty Sanchez]

When you look at his numbers they're really not bad....and his durability is incredible with the trainwreck of an offensive line he's had for three years. This is the first time he's been out of the lineup in his career. The reason Mel Kiper and the other talking heads have him in the Top 5 QB's is because of all those "intangible's" you hear like size, reading defense's, arm strength, extremely smart in the classroom, etc

[pavyracer]

If Mel Kiper likes him his stock will go down on draft day. Maybe someone will draft him in 7th round as an understudy.

[tony_come]

Soft

Injury prone

Pass no thank you

[Dirty Sanchez]

Soft

Injury prone

Pass no thank you

He never missed a game in college...until today's injury...lmao....damn harsh label

[Harry N. Lloyd]

If he were a pro prospect wouldn't he have had a monster game at some point in his college career? Penn State was one of the most pathetic offenses in all of college football for the past bunch of years. Vegas posts their totals in the high 30's, low 40's. And they go under! Wake up. Kiper and those other talking D-bags will probably love him because he'll look good at a combine. Big, strong, reasonable arm strength. There's only one problem--he's a crappy QB.

[jjgold]

average

nothing special

move on

[Dirty Sanchez]

If he were a pro prospect wouldn't he have had a monster game at some point in his college career? Penn State was one of the most pathetic offenses in all of college football for the past bunch of years. Vegas posts their totals in the high 30's, low 40's. And they go under! Wake up. Kiper and those other talking D-bags will probably love him because he'll look good at a combine. Big, strong, reasonable arm strength. There's only one problem--he's a crappy QB.

You're looking at it from a gambling prospective...the last couple of years shockingly he was 2nd and 3rd in the Big 10 in Passing Yards...and this Year he had 16 TDs and 5 Interceptions with a dog crap offensive line. Dude was running for his life every game and never missed one. I'm not a Penn State apologist..never bet on them...just saying the guy is being considered for a reason...his numbers and size 6/4 240 are the reason he's on the board

[Chi_archie]

because of all those "intangible's" you hear like size, reading defense's, arm strength, extremely smart in the classroom, etc

those things are mostly very tangible

for instance

he is tangibly 6'4

do you know how many college qb's are 6'4 or better?

[Renegades]

Ive been saying how overrated he is. He has physical atributes, thats it. He's not a gamer. Russell Wilson is a gamer

[Renegades]

Hackenberg finds a way to not get it done, thats not a gamer. Whether its taking a sack at the wrong time, missing a read, not throwing the ball away, throwing a pick in the endzone, not seeing the clock and getting a delay of game etc etc etc

[grease lightnin]

Sucks for him he has not had a decent OL in college. Terrible terrible

[rake922]

is Vernon Adams going to NFL?

[TheMoneyShot]

Some of these QB's are simply average.

[Dirty Sanchez]

Some of these QB's are simply average.

Trust me...being in Kansas City I've seen average for many years....they've got Aaron Murray from Georgia on the roster behind Smith and Chase Daniels, he can't even get active for a week

[BriGuy]

I am baffled by the belief that this guy has a shred of NFL caliber talent or readiness about him. The only person more retarded than Hackenburg for coming out early is the GM that drafts him.

[chico2663]

He reminds me of plunkett.

[Dirty Sanchez]

This was from CBS just this evening...and it is a mixed bag at best:
Some NFL scouts are encouraged by his pro upside. Others think he is already damaged goods. And others are still unsure what to make of Hackenberg at the next level. “Hack is an enigma,” said one AFC scout. “He has a power arm, but his hose doesn't have much direction. I'd love for our coaches to work with him. He's a good kid, but what's his value? He probably goes in the first round with those skills. He'll light it up in shorts.” NFLDraftScout.com currently ranks Hackenberg as the No. 7 draft-eligible quarterback, although his upside will push him up the draft board for some teams.


A three-year starter, Hackenberg had a promising freshman campaign in 2013 under the guidance of Bill O'Brien, but his development regressed with the new coaching staff the past two seasons. He didn't receive much help from his surroundings with questionable play-calling, inconsistent weapons and a leaky offensive line, but Hackenberg deserves plenty of blame as well. He has special arm talent, but the tape shows flawed decision-making, poor pocket presence and streaky accuracy due to unstable mechanics.


There is no question that Hackenberg will benefit from NFL coaching and probably made the correct decision to leave Penn State now. But the game still moves at light speed for him and hasn't show signs of slowing down. Overall, his physical traits, toughness and arm strength are ideal for the NFL, but Hackenberg's deficiencies with his touch, placement and decision-making create strong doubt regarding his NFL future. So while the tape shows a mid-round draft pick, his upside will put Hackenberg in the top-50 picks, and possibly even the first round, like the scout suggested.

[Mr KLC]

Bill O'Brien is licking his chops. Hackenberg did great under him during his freshman year. Kid just didn't fit under Franklin's system. Houston Texans are about to get their quarterback of the future.

[YOUNGBUCK]

He's awful

[jtoler]

Quarterback prospects headed to the NFL isnt like some raw athletic talent in college basketball, a guy who is freakish athletically and can get buckets on that alone, IMO you need to have some polish at the qb position in college before anyone talks about you being a 1st rounder, this guy has 3 years of film on him, I see the same thing those scouts see, he looks like everything you want until he releases the ball and you see it doesnt normally go where its supposed to, agree with the lack of pocket presence also and he's a slow runner not that thats a big deal but I bet he cant really scramble either. Funny because I use to like him, he has the look of a thoroughbred, but rides like a donkey. No shame in checking the mouth of this gift horse, but who knows somehow he may just pan out.

[El Nino]

College QB's garbage. Systems have ruined them. They have no time to call their own plays/audibles read coverages. Then, they get thrown to the wolves and murdered while trying to learn. Hackenberg is shit. He doesn't pass any eye test. Bust-o

[MoneyLineDawg]

Could be a Jay Cutler type.....He got beat around by SEC defenses on a bad Vandy team but ended up getting drafted in the 1st round

I don't think I'd gamble on him that high BUT if he lands in the right situation I wouldn't be surprised if he pans out to be a decent NFL QB

[existential]

Bill O'Brien is licking his chops. Hackenberg did great under him during his freshman year. Kid just didn't fit under Franklin's system. Houston Texans are about to get their quarterback of the future.

yes Franklin is trash, but you really need to slow down here. the kid doesn't have it between the ears and that's not something you can really coach up.

[astro61200]

I thought the samething about Matt Ryan coming out of college.. All the hype about being so great but his college stats didn't really show it. 25-18 TD-INTs for first 3 years.. Completed less than 60% of passes for his career. Threw for 4507 yards his senior year but had 654 (!) attempts in 14 games (46.7 attempts per game) so, of course, he is going to rack up yardage. Had 31 TD's his senior year but 19 picks.

Nothing shouted #3 pick.

[TheMoneyShot]

Guy lucky to be picked in the 5th round.

[terrortwylight]

Post 2013, Christian Hackenberg has looked terrible. Inaccurate and inconsistent. Whether or not you buy into the idea that Franklin's system was the reason for his rapid decline, he proved under O'Brien that he can be productive.

Personally, I think the problem was a combination of factors. He was a pro style QB playing in a spread offense (not ideal). Played in 3 different systems in 4 years. His offensive line and receivers were weak. If you can't give a pocket passer a pocket to make decisions, he's going to make bad ones. And even when he made good decisions, his receivers were a liability.

It's hard to say what he should be graded as, but I don't think that really matters. Where he will fall in the draft is largely dependent on the needs of the 32 NFL teams. He fits the pocket passer prototype perfectly. Strong arm, 6'4", 235 lbs. And he's already proved that he's best suited to a pro style system.

So how many teams need a QB? Houston is an obvious fit. His old PSU coach and current Texans coach Bill O'Brien knows how to put him in a position to be successful. Hoyer isn't going to get them anywhere. Losing TJ Yates registered as a near disaster. Sounds like a perfect fit to me.

But even if it's not, there's plenty of other teams who need a change at QB. San Francisco was starting Blaine fukking Gabbert. Sam Bradford didn't work out at all in Chip Kelly's system in Philly. St. Louis benched Nick Foles. I don't even need to explain Cleveland.

Some less obvious teams could be in the mix as well. Fitzpatrick had a productive season in New York but he's turning 33. Geno Smith doesn't look like anything more than trade bait. Tyrod Taylor was the ultimate cinderella in Buffalo, but it wouldn't be surprising to see Rex bring in some competition.

Even a few longshots in the mix here. Drew Brees is turning 37 and Sean Payton's future in New Orleans is uncertain. Jay Cutler had a big turnaround in Chicago under Adam Gase, but Gase is in Miami now. At some point they have to start looking to the future. Last but not least, I don't think you can totally rule out Denver. Peyton Manning is a zombie. Brock Osweiler has shown potential but he's not a lock to become a franchise guy just yet.

To me, it seems obvious that there are plenty of teams who will be in the market for a quarterback. When you look at the other guys he's coming out with, I think it's very reasonable to put him in the middle of the pack. It's tough to imagine a team putting Cardale Jones or Carson Wentz on their big board ahead of Hackenberg. Jared Goff, Paxton Lynch and Connor Cook are touted higher than Hackenberg at this point in time, but a lot can change between now and the draft.

Either way it'll be interesting to see how it all plays out. I think he's got as good of a chance as anybody coming out with him to be successful at the next level.

[jtoler]

yes Franklin is trash, but you really need to slow down here. the kid doesn't have it between the ears and that's not something you can really coach up.

How is Franklin trash, in 3 years guy was 24-15 at Vandy, won 9 games twice in those 3 years, do you know how hard that is to do at Vandy? The last time Vandy won 9 games you have to go back to 1915, Vandy only has four 9 win seasons in its 125 year history and Franklin owns two of those seasons. He came to Penn State with it still in turmoil. Penn State had the 15th best defense in the country as far as yards allowed, State doesnt have a good O-line, dont run well and dont protect well, hard to win that way and they still finished 7-6 last two years, they had no bad losses this year all to ranked teams at the time except Temple and Georgia who arnt bad. Obrien's last year at State they had a veteran O-line, next year the O-line will be mostly seniors, should be better. Still the problem is alot on Hackenberg, he's not accurate, if you cant move the ball running and Hackenberg cant hit the broad side of a barn how are you supposed to win games.

[Calgunner23]

Is the Penn State offensive system NFL comparable or something? God knows I don't watch Penn State football. I rather go shoe shopping with the wife than watch a 10 point offensive performance.

[unde0087]

He is a prospect alright, he will fit right in as a 3rd string backup nicely on some team.

[Winston704]

I think the only reason he is coming out after his junior year is that his stock will plummet further if he plays his senior year at Penn State. The guy is a statue with limited physical ability. I think he watches ESPN and Kiper to much. Guaranteed O'Brien takes him in the 3rd round for the Texans.

[klemopixx]

I think the only reason he is coming out after his junior year is that his stock will plummet further if he plays his senior year at Penn State. The guy is a statue with limited physical ability. I think he watches ESPN and Kiper to much. Guaranteed O'Brien takes him in the 3rd round for the Texans.

I agree, he's got the size and arm strength to lure someone to take a shot at him. I say fourth round but does it matter? O'Brien will give this kid a chance, especially for the reason he'll drop in the draft. They can still get a top receiver and offensive lineman then pick up the project and hope he blooms by the end of the year.

[reigle9]

I think the only reason he is coming out after his junior year is that his stock will plummet further if he plays his senior year at Penn State. The guy is a statue with limited physical ability. I think he watches ESPN and Kiper to much. Guaranteed O'Brien takes him in the 3rd round for the Texans.

He's coming out because the ncca is braindead and the OL is useless because of it. He also doesn't fit the system JF wants to run. OB will 100% take him in the 2nd at the latest. That's how the draft works.