The Future 40, Prospect 19: Colt McCoy Scouting Report

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A new series was formed over a month ago here called The Future 40, and the next edition is here! The segment has and will continue to run every other day until late April as we provide you with in-depth scouting reports of some 2010 NFL Draft prospects, giving you information key to understanding some of the players’ strengths, weaknesses, projected round of selection, possibility of being picked by the Eagles, and much more! And because the Draft is an important event for the entire league, some of the top-ranked players not expected to go to Philadelphia will also be reported on. In the first look at a prospect, we evaluated Nebraska’s DT Ndamukong Suh, who many consider to be the best player in the entire rookie class. In the second, we examined powerful RB Jonathan Dwyerand in the other editions that have released, FS Darrell Stuckey, LB Sean Weatherspoon, CB Joe Haden, QB Mike Kafka, OT Ciron Black, DE Greg Hardy, WR Eric Decker, RB Joe McKnight, LB Micah Johnson, SS Earl Thomas, RB/WR Dexter McCluster, TE Aaron Hernandez, DE Brandon Graham, FS Taylor Mays, OG Mike Iupati, and DT Dan Williams. This time around, we will flip to the offensive side of the ball and look at Colt McCoy:

• Prospect Name: Colt McCoy
• Position: Quarterback
• College: University of Texas
• Height/Weight: 6′2″, 215 pounds
• Age: 23 years
• Class Status: Senior

Summary: Despite attending and playing football at the small-town Jim Ned High School, Colt McCoy has developed into one of the finest Quarterback prospects in the 2010 NFL Draft, and his success did indeed start in his early teenage years. Throwing for over 100 touchdown passes as a young leader of his school’s offense, McCoy helped lead his squad to a state championship, and was recruited with extremely high regards to the University of Texas. After receiving the redshirt tag in his freshman season of 2005, the New Mexico native earned an opportunity to play as the Longhorns’ starting QB…and he completely exploded (in a positive way, that is). A threat to run the ball nearly as well as he threw it, McCoy lit up many of the NCAA defenses he was matched up with in his sophomore campaign and gained immediate attention from fans and analysts across the league. Only a late-season injury turned his first shot at leading Texas’ offense for a full year into somewhat of a disappointing one. He returned in time for the following season, however, and–despite not besting his previous season statistics–was able to earn more recognition as a solid Quarterback and even helped his collegiate club capture the title of the Holiday Bowl. 2008 was clearly McCoy’s best season as a member of the Longhorns. In 13 games, he managed to complete nearly 80% of his pass attempts while compiling 45 total touchdowns and throwing only 8 interceptions. In addition, he earned honors for being one of the top offensive players in the Fiesta Bowl game, and also began to increase on many professional scouts’ rankings for Draft stock. McCoy chose to stay for a fourth and final season with Texas, but that may have been the wrong decision. He was able to put up decent numbers and solidify more starting experience, but sustained a shoulder injury in the final contest of the season–the BCS Championship. Nonetheless, he’s one of the better passers set to enter the Draft and could provide whichever team that selects him with a long-term option at the QB position.

Career Statistics:

Notable Achievements/Awards:

• All-American Honors (2008, 2009)
• All-Big-12 Honors (2008, 2009)
• Archie Griffin Award winner (2008)
• Heisman Trophy Award candidate (2008)
• Quarterback of the Year Award winner (2009)
• Maxwell Award winner (2009)
• Sporting News’ Athlete of the Year Award winner (2008, 2009)

Strengths:

• Is an experienced starter at his position
• Has a quick release on his passes
• Gets football out and towards a receiver very fast
• Is exceptionally athletic for a player at his position
• Contains accurate techniques in both short and long passing attempts
• Decides what he wants to do with the ball quickly
• Possesses a great sense of what is going on in the passing pocket
• Has leadership qualities and a solid work ethic
• Has the ability to run the ball effectively

Weaknesses:

• Lacks deep arm strength
• Might have a problem in the NFL with his average size
• Has sloppy footwork in the passing pocket
• Tends to try and aim throws and make them perfect, which results in ball misplacement
• His throwing directions can be identified by defenders with good awareness
• Has had some durability issues (multiple injuries)
• Sometimes floats deep passes too much
• Has a small upside

Projected Round of Selection: 3rd-4th round

NFL Player Comparison: Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

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We hope that everyone enjoyed the nineteenth report for The Future 40 prospect segment, and urge you to keep checking back for more scouting analysis as the series continues all the way up until the Draft! Also, remember that we will happily take and consider requests from our fans for this series! If you or another Eagle fanatic is interested in seeing a certain player be evaluated in The Future 40, be sure to contact us as soon as possible, and we will attempt to include your selected prospect!

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