GRAYSON: DARK HORSE
QB has skill set to succeed in NFL, one executive says
A veteran NFL personnel executive was breaking down the great Jameis Winston-Marcus Mariota debate when he offered an unsolicited nod to a quarterback who hasn’t gotten nearly the same attention leading up to this week’s draft: Colorado State’s Garrett Grayson.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Grayson was better than all of them,” said the executive, who spoke with USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity for competitive reasons.
“I just think he’s got the intangibles. He’s got a good presence about himself in the pocket. He’s got the physical traits. His arm’s strong enough, and I think he’s got the right temperament.”
The executive isn’t the only one, even if the infatuation with Winston and Mariota — the last two Heisman Trophy winners and most logical candidates to be taken No. 1 overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday — has made this seem like a twoquarterback draft.
Former NFL head coach Jon Gruden, an analyst on ESPN’s
says he ranks Grayson as the draft’s No. 3 quarterback, ahead of Baylor’s Bryce Petty, UCLA’s Brett Hundley and the rest of a thin class scouts view as somewhere between average and awful.
The ranking is the same for former Chicago Bears college scouting director Greg Gabriel, who was impressed with Grayson’s performance against top competition at the Senior Bowl and thinks he’ll be taken in the top half of the second round.
“His supporting cast has been less, yet he’s done just as well, if not better,” says Gabriel, who writes for NationalFootballPost .com. “He’s a smart kid. I think he can take coaching. It wouldn’t shock me if two to three years down the road he ends up being the best quarterback in this class.” Who is Garrett Grayson? “I guess just kind of a bluecollar guy,” Grayson tells USA TODAY Sports. “I grew up in a middle-class family. My dad worked two jobs for about 12 years, and my mom worked very early in the morning until real late at night. I saw hard work my whole life.”
Grayson ran an offense that used many pro-style concepts and, by his senior year, he says, “I was about as in-charge as you can get” at the line. In 2014, the Rams had their first 10-win season since 2002 and Grayson was Mountain West Conference offensive player of the year.
“He’s played for two coaches that have been in the NFL, Steve Fairchild and Jim McElwain,” Gruden said in a media conference call. “I got a feeling he’s going to be a good pro quarterback, provided that he gets on the team where there’s some continuity.”
Not everyone is a fan. Officials for three NFC teams told USA TODAY Sports they have middleto late-round grades on Grayson. Even the executive who thinks so highly of his potential ranks him fourth in the class and thinks he’ll go in the third or fourth round. Two AFC scouts echoed others that there was a huge gap on their teams’ draft boards after Winston and Mariota.
That anyone is musing about Grayson developing into the best of the bunch is at least partly an indictment of the class as a whole. Teams are scrutinizing Winston’s decision-making on and off the field. Mariota, like Petty and Hundley, faces a complicated transition to a pro-style offense.
“I met with the Rams last week and got up on the board drawing some of their offensive plays,” says Grayson, who turns 24 next month. “Some of their plays were literally the exact same plays, same verbiage (as Colorado State’s). Things like that have definitely helped me up through this process.”
Some teams have told Grayson they would expect him to compete to start right away, he says. Today, the New Orleans Saints will work out Grayson, who has worked out for the Rams, Miami Dolphins, San Diego Chargers and Dallas Cowboys and visited the Chicago Bears and New York Jets.
Grayson isn’t a huge guy at 6-2½ and 214 pounds. He says he needs to keep improving on throwing with timing. He has spent the offseason trying to quicken the windup scouts note on tape, which Grayson attributes to a joint injury in his throwing shoulder that created bad habits last season.
But he has big, 101⁄ inch hands. He has enough mobility to get by. Unlike several other top prospects, he has experience in a huddle and under center.
“He’s got some natural leadership skills. People gravitate toward him,” Gabriel says. “Is he perfect? No. But he’s got tools to work with.”
231. Left school after redshirt sophomore year, but probably the most NFL-ready QB in the draft, at least on the field. Good arm. High football IQ.
“I think Winston has special anticipation. He’s been coached up in a pro-style offense. But everyone’s coming out (of college) now too early, and he’s one of them. You’d like to see him stay. You’d like to see him progress and develop and cut his turnovers down. Jameis has the lower-body strength in the pocket.” — NFC offensive coach
6-4.
222. Rare athlete for the position with exceptional straight-line speed (4.52 seconds in the 40-yard dash).
“He’s unconventional. Not great in the pocket. He’s going to take a lot of time, unless he’s in a Chip Kelly offense. He can probably just step right in there (with the Philadelphia Eagles). But he’s a unique athlete.” — NFC executive
6-4. 226. Redshirt junior entry who started all 40 games (29-11) over the last three seasons. Threw a schoolrecord 75 touchdown passes in UCLA’s spread offense.
6-3.
“He has enough talent to be a legit quarterback. He is not a confident passer. ... When you watch him throw at the workout, it’s just average. ... There were just things you didn’t like from a mechanical standpoint. He’s a project.” — AFC personnel man 230. Another product of a quick-paced, quickread offense. Two-year starter who set 31 school records.
“He looks like a tough kid. He played through some pain. He took some shots. He’ll have to get used to (an NFL offense).” — NFC offensive coach
6-3.