Pickett or Bust, if the Broncos pick a QB at #9

Read Time:6 Minute, 12 Second

The Denver Broncos quarterback situation has been a nightmare for six seasons, and they are on the clock in the 2022 NFL draft at pick number 9. The QB class in this draft doesn’t get a lot of coverage and many are saying this is a bad quarterback class. Would the Broncos pick one of them at pick nine?

I wanted to go over a the top prospects, review their highlight tape, and make some flash judgements based on what I see. I wanted to attempt to detail a few positives for each QB and a few things that stick out as red flags.

Kyle Pickett – Senior – 6’3″ – 220lbs

Positives

Low Turnovers this season with a ton of throws to his name
Scramble Ability, but not elite NFL top-end speed I don’t think
Appears to throw on the run well outside the pocket
Can get the ball down field easily, but maybe thinks he can hit balls that are outside his range
Most NFL ready of the three but still has to polish his skills
Quick enough to be elusive and can make people miss, like Jay Cutler / Baker Mayfield level athleticism.
Keeps his eyes downfield when scrambling, not simply looking to run
Good active feet, shows the ability to take small and deep drops
Seems to be good at manipulating the pocket and defenses with his eyes and micro movements

Negatives

Not an elite athlete, but also not dependent on elite athleticism
A good majority of his throwing highlights are in a clean pocket and without any pressure, concerned this could be leading to overestimating his ability to manipulate the pocket or deal without a clean pocket
Jordan Addison the WR at Pitt, helped him a TON, 3/4 of his highlight film is completions to this young man.
His deep shots on many occurrences are forcing the receivers to slow down and wait for them
Small Hands, not a huge issue, it’s not clear sign of non-NFL talent, but it’s something.

He has arm talent, he has a solid release, he played at Pitt and was a 4-year starter, however his first three years were not anything to write home about. He took a huge leap his senior season, and the Panthers scored a TON of points and were ranked 13th at the end of the season. They did only play two ranked opponents on the year and went 1-1 in those games… He threw a ton of touchdowns and a not a lot of interceptions. To me, he passes the numbers test, he passes the winning test (ish), he doesn’t get a hard pass on the pedigree test, he has flashes of passing the eye test, measurables are pending at the combine and intangibles only his career will tell. I feel like I was able to detect some reliance on a clean pocket, not the strongest arm I’ve ever seen, lots of highlights to WIDE open receivers which seems hard to gauge, and he didn’t really play against much high end talent to get a better read on if his talent scales up against elite competition. Top of this QB Class in my opinion and it isn’t particularly close, but still some risk with those unknowns.

Matt Corral – Junior – 6’2″ – 205lbs

Positives

Ranked as high as 8th during the 2021 NCAA Football season
Seems athletic and built for the RPO offense
He can throw the ball downfield, but will prioritize running over taking a shot
Only threw five interceptions on the year

Negatives

Quiet feet, doesn’t appear to be active on his toes or with his footwork.
RPO dependency, and lead his team in rushing attempts but not yards.
Lots of his highlights were receivers YAC and making plays with the ball in their hands
Smaller QB who likes to run the ball, seems like a bad recipe for NFL injury history
2-3 vs ranked schools this season, finished the year 10-3 ranked
Ankle Injury history
I don’t love his passing mechanics or his arm talent today, could be improved and his selling point could be his athleticism and the potential of having a gifted athletic qb.

I’m not sold on him at all. I don’t hate running quarterbacks, but I don’t think he really even wants to throw the ball if not forced to. My interpretation of his game based on this reel, is that he’s athletic, he can rip the ball if his read tells him it’s open downfield, otherwise he’s going to keep the ball and run it himself. He seems to be a single read offense kind of quarterback; RPO, Play Action, QB options. Seems to be a good college QB. He need an offense tailored to him or he needs to develop the ability to make more than a single read and complete more balls on more spots of the field to be NFL ready. I didn’t see anything exciting about his arm talent in his highlight film, I did see two wide receivers that made his numbers look damn good though!

Malik Willis – Junior – 6’1″ – 215lbs

Positives

His highlights do a good job of capturing his best throws and appears he hits receivers in stride
Athletic, and has big run agility and scrambling skills
Keeps his eyes downfield even when scrambling does not rely on his legs only
12 interceptions, but spread across only 5 games, went 8 games without throwing a single pick
850+ rushing yards last two seasons

Negatives

8-5 record at a small school… 0-1 vs ranked opponents
Offense was not particularly explosive, didn’t score at will
Lowest completion percentage of the three QBs
Takes a lot of sacks (6 games with 5+ sacks)
Not the strongest arm, seems to take a lot of effort to get a 30-40 yard ball
Only game vs a ranked opponent was versus Matt Corral’s Ole Miss and Willis had a bad game throwing three interceptions

Of the three QBs, I think he is the highest risk but the highest ceiling. He appears to have elite athleticism, good qualities about his game like patients, being a throwing QB that can run over a running QB that can throw, accuracy. From what I could tell he runs the ball with intelligence, where he isn’t seeking contact or trying to run people over. I think his arm strength is questionable, I think his stats don’t jump off the page, could be because of the talent around him at Liberty. I, for some reason, say he passes the eye test, but does not pass the statistics test, the winning test, the pedigree test, measurables we will see at the combine, and the intangibles will be determined in the league.

Conclusion

I am inclined to say the Broncos are better off taking a BPA at this selection in the draft, but if they do take a quarterback, it better be Pickett and nobody else. After reviewing the tape, Pickett is the only QB that shows NFL readiness and the only one that I could see being worthy of a top 10 selection. Corral and Willis are both middle to late first round picks in my opinion, that have upside but also have big development curves and will not be successful their first few years in the league. Broncos are better off drafting a position of need and the best player available if Pickett is not there at pick number 9.

About Post Author

Aaron Hubert

Major Colorado sports fan who was once, for an entire year, a paid writer covering the entire Colorado sports scene. I grew up in Fort Collins, Colorado, a huge fan of all the professional sports Colorado had to offer. I played Football and Basketball in High School. I attended Colorado State University for undergrad, earning my degree in Business with a concentration in Computer Information Systems. I work as a professional Product Manager in the software development space for Fanatics.com the sports apparel company. I am a Fantasy Football and Fantasy Hockey participant, not sure if that will ever be worked into these writings, but keeping my option open! I really enjoy the process of being a huge fan of sports, being a passionate Colorado sports advocate, and using social media and writing to express my beliefs and opinions about sports.

aaronh92@hotmail.com

http://www.centennial-sports.com