As Josh Freeman pushes forth in his NFL career, Kansas State has ventured back to his hometown in pursuit of the next great Grandview Bulldog.[details]
The Good: A smart, instinctive field general who has been one of the most productive quarterbacks over the past three years. Is accurate underneath and does a great job throwing receivers open, allowing them to run after the catch. Does a nice job deciphering defenses and getting the ball out on time. Displays nice touch on all levels of the field. The Bad: Lacks height at only 6 feet tall and struggles finding throwing lanes at the line of scrimmage. Played in the shotgun consistently at Missouri and needs to learn to take snaps from center. Does not have an NFL-caliber arm.
Positives: Has rare size, good athletic ability and looks every bit the part. Has a very strong arm and can drill the out with velocity and make every NFL throw. Can see the field well from the pocket. Has a strong pocket stature and can escape the rush and shake off tacklers - does not go down easily. Shows some scrambling ability and rifles the ball on the run. Very tough and consistently popped back up despite taking a beating behind an average offensive line. Has been very durable and will play through pain to a fault. Negatives: Inconsistent mechanics and accuracy. Lacks poise. Can be short-circuited with complex coverages and too often pulls down the ball to run when his first read is taken away (see Kansas game). Struggles to digest zone blitzes and combo coverages and too often waits for receivers to come open before he pulls the trigger. Not a confident decision maker. Can be blindsided by pressure - needs to show more awareness in the pocket. Has some wasted movement in his throwing motion that could be tightened to hasten his delivery quickness. Does not know his own arm strength and struggles to temper the ball speed from short range. Makes a lot of bad throws and throws a heavy deep ball without a lot of spin on it. Looks more comfortable in the shotgun than he does under center. Summary: A big, strong, athletic dropback passer loaded with upside, Freeman has everything a coach could desire physically, possessing all the tools to develop into an elite passer. Performance tailed off as a junior with a poor supporting cast, but most of his flaws are correctable and his overall skill set will excite good NFL QB coaches. The big question evaluators must figure out is whether the game will ever slow down enough for him to be great. A cross between Byron Leftwich and Jason Campbell, Freeman could require some patience. Grade: First-round talent.
var CurrentYear = 2013;
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