The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Missouri QB’s accuracy wins early praise
But a 57.8 percent completion rate raises questions.
Drew Lock is considered one of college football’s premier NFL prospects heading into the 2018 season. As a junior, the 6-foot-4, 225pound gunslinger threw for 3,964 yards and 44 touchdowns while only tossing 13 interceptions.
That has several draft pundits high on Lock. One draft analyst, Mike Detillier with WWL 870 AM Radio in New Orleans, had high praise for Lock during the recent Manning Passing Academy.
“I’ve never seen a quarterback more accurate throwing the football than Drew Lock from Missouri,” Detillier told FOX Sports NFL sideline reporter Jennifer Hale. “He’s the best. The best quarterback here on this campus. I told you this last year: Baker Mayfield, he was the guy. This year? No question. Drew Lock.”
Detillier pointing to Lock’s accuracy is an interesting take. As many things as the Missouri quarterback did well last season, he only completed 57.8 percent of his passes. That put him No. 9 among SEC quarterbacks in completion percentage.
Some of that deficiency was the result of Missouri’s offense pushing the ball downfield more than any team in the SEC, which can result in a lower completion rate.
There’s no doubt Lock has the chance to hear his name called early in the 2019 NFL draft. In fact, he could end up being the highest drafted Missouri quarterback since the Jacksonville Jaguars traded up to No. 10 overall to select Blaine Gabbert in the 2011 NFL Draft.
Pruitt hints at lineman’s return
Optimism about the Tennessee 2018 season continues to slowly build, and Jeremy Pruitt might have just added to the hype.
Pruitt gave an optimistic read of offensive lineman Trey Smith’s situation to a Birmingham, Alabama, radio station.
“We’ll be excited to get him back on the field this fall,” Pruitt said.
Smith missed spring practice with an unspecified health condition. The comments from Pruitt have been vague about what is going on with Smith.
Pruitt has made it pretty clear he wants to turn Tennessee into a winner sooner rather than later. He overhauled the roster with junior college and graduate transfers in the hopes of pushing for a bowl appearance.
Ole Miss lands JUCO transfer
For one reason or another, the immediate high school to Division I football route doesn’t happen for every recruit.
Such was the case for defensive end and linebacker Sam Williams, who played last season at Northeast Mississippi Community College.
His journey to a lower level paid off recently when he committed to Ole Miss on Twitter.
The Rebels are hoping they found a gem in the junior college ranks. Williams already stands 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds.
He was also ranked as the No. 1 JUCO recruit in Alabama and the No. 9 recruit nationally.
Auburn was another option for Williams, who was also considering Tennessee, Oregon and Florida Atlantic, according to 247Sports.
It’s hard to win at Vandy, Kentucky
There are some schools in the Power 5 conferences that have historically struggled to win.
And it’s hard to see some of those programs improving during the upcoming season.
USA Today recently ranked the 10 schools in Power 5 conferences that are toughest for a coach to come in and win at, due to their struggles, challenging conferences and more.
From the SEC, Vanderbilt and Kentucky both made the list. The Commodores ranked No. 2 behind only Oregon State of the Pac-12, while the Wildcats came in at No. 8.
As mentioned by USA Today’s Paul Myerberg, Vanderbilt has a losing all-time record as a program, ranking 92nd in the nation in career winning percentage.
The Commodores have struggled in SEC play, while frequently being among the bottom teams in the conference.
Kentucky may have made bowl games the past two seasons, but the Wildcats haven’t had much sustained success during their program’s history.
This could be a crucial year for coach Mark Stoops to prove he can keep Kentucky improving.
It will be interesting to see if these programs can finally turn it around completely in future seasons, or if both will continue to be in the bottom tier in the SEC.
Here’s the full list from USA Today: Oregon State, Vanderbilt, Duke, Indiana, Kansas State, Kansas, Iowa State, Kentucky, Texas Tech and Washington State.