A mixed bag from the quarterbacks

There’s a definite thirst among draft media’s big players to talk up the quarterback class. I still think we’re seeing familiar issues on tape.

Take Arch Manning. In my season preview we noted he hesitates too long in the pocket and needs to learn to throw with better anticipation. Yet he’s started this year in exactly the same fashion.

Look at his red-zone pick against Texas State. He pumps then throws way too late over the middle into traffic:

The commentator says the defender reads the eyes but in reality, the receiver is wide open. There’s no reason not to get that out — Manning’s delay and late throw made it an interception. That has to be a see it, get it out of your hands and execute play. You cannot ever throw late into that area, in that much of a shortened field. That’s a basic fundamental flaw that he still hasn’t fixed, clearly.

You can clearly see his mobility on tape and he has a good arm. I would say he threw with far better touch in this game than we saw in 2025. To me though, it’s way too early to be talking about him as a high first round pick. Name recognition is doing a lot of heavy lifting at the moment — but let’s see how his season progresses.

Oregon, who give off a distinct ‘good not great’ feel again, toiled a bit against Boise State. That at least created a good test for Dante Moore, who barring something unforeseen will be the first quarterback drafted next year.

He’s well sized, he has an ideal combination of height and bulk (he’s 6-5 and can easily play at +215lbs). In this game he showed off the most natural mechanics — a drop, set and throw that is extremely polished. His release is smooth and he has easy arm strength. Generally he makes it look easy throwing to all areas of the field.

The offense at Oregon is still restrictive though for evaluation and you’d like to see more challenging reads. It’s a lot of half-field stuff, or over-matched defensive backs struggling to cover Evan Stewart.

There’s also not much in terms of ‘wow’ moments — little crazy improv or downfield magic off platform. In the NFL things will break down and you need to make things happen in that instance. Can he do this? Or is he going to need to need to be a very effective ‘execute the system QB’ supported within a top offense?

He’s also not fast — he is not going to be a big running threat. This does mean he often sticks and climbs in the pocket rather than taking off, so it’s not always a negative (see: Sam Leavitt in a moment).

In the pre-season preview I discussed Nico Iamaleava as being arguably the most naturally gifted of the draft eligible quarterbacks. However, he needed to play with greater consistency, take a step in his overall play and stay on the field. I don’t think we saw a great deal of evidence of that against California.

Iamaleava played with far too much hesitation — he kept patting the football, unnecessarily hitching and that led to his interception in the game. You’ve got to be able to play on time, with anticipation and accuracy. He has the tools to be a very good player — but that pick, along with several other plays where he just wasn’t processing quickly enough, stuck in the memory.

Someone who had no problems playing with timing and anticipation, delivering several ‘wow’ throws, was Trinidad Chambliss. He ended last year brilliantly for Ole Miss and in a weirdly open, back-and-forth second half against Louisville, he stood out.

There are very few of the quarterbacks we’re talking about for 2027 with the ability to anticipate this route, throw on time and execute. This is the kind of thing you have to do, albeit remarkably sped up, in the NFL:

In a world of wide open receivers running free and reads where you only have to hold the safety in position then peal off to your only target on the play-call, this is a wonderful example of what makes Chambliss so impressive. He is currently playing at a far greater, more NFL prepared level than anyone else.

Against Louisville he threw over the middle into tight areas. He layered throws. He attacked downfield, using the extreme speed of Deuce Alexander in 1v1 situations to gain junk plays and/or score points. He can scramble to extend, throw on the run, make gains with his legs. The only downside is purely his lack of ideal size. Other than that, there’s a ton to like here.

I was not similarly impressed with LSU’s Sam Leavitt, despite the lopsided win against Clemson. His first two throws were off target and behind, leading to one interception. He seemed to throw into dangerous areas with bad ball placement too often and largely got away with it.

He drops his eyes far too quickly when he feels pressure and immediately sets off to escape. Where was the poise in this game? Stand tall, execute the system. He’s not a dynamic enough athlete to get away with this approach in the NFL.

There’s not enough arm strength. He under-threw badly a second quarter fade to the right sideline and then had a similar very average throw deep right. There’s hardly any loft or touch to his longer range throws, the arc is too flat and there isn’t enough punch.

Look at this screen grab below. It’s an attempt to Trey’Dez Green wearing #7. He is open and there is a lot of space in front of him:

This throw goes incomplete. Why? Because Leavitt doesn’t have the juice to just rocket that into Green. Instead the pass is too floaty and the defender can recover and he has more than enough time to come across and break it up. That was a big play waiting to happen and should’ve happened. It didn’t because Leavitt doesn’t have the arm.

The Lane Kiffin system has always featured a lot of high percentage throws and this game was no different. I didn’t see one complex, highly impressive completion against Clemson. He ran around and contributed, yes, but from a pro-evaluation stand point there’s very little to get the juices flowing here.

I thought it was very difficult to glean anything from Darian Mensah’s performance against Stanford. The Cardinal were no match defensively. Mensah really spent most of the game looking off to one side, then coming back to Malachi Toney and then just throwing him the ball. He ended up with 12 catches for 234 yards and three touchdowns. Toney is a cheat code — a clear very high first round pick who could already play in the NFL even as a second year player. His presence will clearly aid Mensah this year but it also might create a red herring situation where mass production through Toney is being viewed as Mensah driving forward his own stock.

For what it’s worth, I think it’s mildly insulting that Mensah is the current Heisman favourite. Toney, the man doing the Heisman pose after his touchdowns against Stanford, really is the one deserving of that attention.

Other quick non-QB notes

— Deuce Alexander had an electrifying performance for Ole Miss against Louisville and was virtually uncoverable in a foot race. Alexander consistently burnt-off defenders to run deep and he collected five catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns. He also used his speed well to drive downfield, fake the deep route and comeback to the QB. I think he’ll need to show a bit more polish and variety with his routes, plus he needs to clean up his catching technique, but there’s a dynamic player here. Per Bruce Feldman he’s been timed at 23mph on the GPS and can deadlift three times his weight. He is clearly a freakish athlete.

— I continue to fail to understand why Oregon’s A’Mauri Washington gets so much attention in draft media. Sure, he’s a good athlete for a defensive tackle. But there’s still little sign on tape that he’s actually good at football. Against Boise State I thought he was typically poor vs the run despite his size and he offered very little as a pass rusher. He missed a tackle too. He needs to reach a whole new level of performance to justify the hype and I don’t think we saw it in week one.

— Kenyatta Jackson at Ohio State is the opposite of Washington and perhaps deserves more love in the media. He had a fantastic eight pressures against Ball State — plus six hurries and two QB hits. Admittedly it’s weaker competition but that’s when you need these players to shine. Jackson isn’t ever going to fly around the EDGE and win with pure speed but he does everything else well — he’s tough, can work speed-to-power, he can set an edge, he’s well sized. He’s a good football player.