Current ESPN Monday Night Football analyst and former NFL head coach Jon Gruden hosted a conference call on Wednesday to discuss what he learned during the filming of his series, Gruden QB Camp. Gruden sat down with 10 of the quarterbacks in this year's draft to dissect the X's and O's from their college game film and also give the prospects a chance to showcase their personality for NFL teams and future fans.
Here is Gruden's analysis of some of the quarterbacks not named Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III since they are virtually set to be selected with the first two picks of the 2012 NFL Draft.
Kirk Cousins, Michigan State
"What you're getting is a three-time team captain at Michigan State, so that tells you what type of leader he is. He does have, I think, NFL prototype size (6-3, 214 pounds). He's in a very good offense at Michigan State. They ask him to do a lot of different things. He's under the center, he's in the shotgun, there's a two back attack, there's a no back attack. And quietly Michigan State has become one of the premier football programs in college football. They're the winningest team in the Big Ten over the last three years.
"So you're getting a winner ... I see him going in the second round, and I think he's got a very bright future in the NFL because he's all business, all the time. He's a meticulous preparation freak. I think he's got very good athletic ability, and he's got a lot of experience as a starting quarterback in a big arena."
Nick Foles, Arizona
"Nick Foles is another quarterback much like (Arizona State's Brock) Osweiler who had a difficult season. Coach (Mike) Stoops was replaced in the middle of the season. So as a captain of the Arizona Wildcats, obviously Nick Foles went through a lot this year. He did not have the supporting cast that some of these other quarterbacks had, no disrespect to anybody. He got hit a lot. One of the few Pac 10 or Pac 12 quarterbacks to ever throw for 10,000 yards, tough pocket passer. He's going to be reliant on a system. He's going to have to know his protections better than everybody because he's not the scrambling, get out of trouble and create-type quarterback.
"What he is is an excellent pocket passer, and he might be - from head to shoulders, he might be next to Osweiler the biggest quarterback in this draft. Very big for the quarterback position, NFL size (6-5, 243 pounds). Coaches, GMs covet that size. He's accurate. He's just been hit a lot. He's going to have to really get in a system that he can develop in, I think, and learn the protections and try to develop within that offense as quickly as possible."
Kellen Moore, Boise State
"Kellen Moore is 50 and 3. You could say he's 49 and 3, but really, he won 50 games at Boise State, 6 and 0 against BCS teams. The statistics are marvelous. The system of football at Boise is very demanding. They shift more than any team in the country, maybe other than Stanford. The volume of different running plays, passing plays, formations ... it's incredible. They do more than a lot of NFL teams under Coach (Chris) Petersen there.
"Kellen Moore is a coach. He could probably be an offensive coordinator for a lot of teams. This guy knows the game inside and out. I never really got a chance to get behind the scenes with the Boise State football team, but Kellen Moore, he's the ringleader of the Boise State Broncos. His poise, his anticipation, his accuracy is outstanding.
"Is he big enough? Does he have enough arm? And can he get away from pressure well enough? Those are the challenges ahead for Kellen Moore. But what a quarterback, what a game day clutch performer he is. He's only a couple plays away from being 53 and 0. You've got to put him in a lot of different situations where he can use his greatest strengths, and that's above the neck.
"He can see coverages. He can make audibles, he can get you in and out of plays, he can manage a no huddle offense, he can manage any grouping of formations that you want to give him, and he can do it all in week-to-week fashion. This guy has a tremendous football background, son of a coach, wants to be a coach himself."
Brock Osweiler, Arizona State
"He's just a kid. He's only really played 15 starts a year under his belt at the college level. It was a difficult season at Arizona State, as you know. Coach (Dennis) Erickson was fired before the Bowl game. I think they lost their last five games. He's playing in an offense where he's basically a read-option style quarterback. You never see a lot of pure drops at Arizona State.
"You have an intelligent 6-7 quarterback that can make a lot of throws. He's tough, he's smart, and he really wants to be great. And those are some things that you want to develop, obviously."
Ryan Tannehill, Texas A&M
"He's an outstanding athlete, and he's also been tutored by an NFL coach in Mike Sherman. So when you do watch Tannehill, every time you watch him you're seeing an outstanding young man who's been tutored by an excellent offensive coach in an outstanding system. That I like. So the arrow is going up on Tannehill.
"There are some issues you wish you could see. You'd like to see more tape. You'd like to see Tannehill and the A&M offense finish games in the second half when they have a lead. Some of the losses they had this year, I'm not blaming Tannehill, I'm not blaming anybody, but they lost the lead a lot this year in games, and it cost them, because I thought Texas A&M was going to be a top 10 team this year."
Brandon Weeden, Oklahoma State
"I think the Oklahoma State Cowboys have the most unique offense in college football. ... (I)f you counted the top 20 throws that Andrew Luck made, the top 20 throws that Robert Griffin made, the top 20 throws that Tannehill made, Weeden, Kellen Moore, you walk away and you say Brandon Weeden makes the most difficult throws in college football. He's got a tremendous arm, great anticipation. They have a go to guy in (Justin) Blackmon, and whenever it's man to man, they turn the two of those guys loose. It's a pleasure watching Weeden throw the football. The only downside of Weeden right now is his age. I think he's the same age I am, 48 years old." (Weeden will be 29 in October.)
Russell Wilson, Wisconsin
"The only issue with Russell Wilson is his height. He's got tremendous mobility. I've got him at 4.50 in the 40. He's mastered two different offensive systems. When do any of us remember a kid transferring from N.C. State to Wisconsin in July and breaking every Wisconsin Badger record? The Badgers could have won every game this year if not for a couple Hail Marys.
"This is a tremendous kid. His intangibles are off the charts. He walks into Wisconsin, he's a team captain. We all know what a great athlete he is. He's a high draft choice in baseball.
"The only issue is his height, and we use Drew Brees as the classic example. If you just look at one inch or an inch-and-a-half, that's the height difference in Russell Wilson and Drew Brees. But he's got a lot of questions and answers. There are not a lot of quarterbacks under six feet that are playing in the NFL today or who have played the game, period.
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