WKU QB Brandon Doughty: NFL Draft hot takes

Brandon Doughty is a future NFL quarterback. I don’t know if you are in the camp that feels he’s going to be a starter or a backup, but one way or another, he’s going to be in the league for a long time and I think he has the skills to be productive if given the time to adjust to the speed of the NFL game.

As a 6th-year senior at Western Kentucky due to medical hardships, there are certainly plenty of knocks against Doughty at this point in his college career, but this is a really good football player.

I’m here to give you the hottest possible takes on Doughty, since of course a certain group of people seem to think he’s not going to be an NFL QB or has career backup written all over him.

That’s a bunch of hot garbage.

Of course, you don’t base an entire evaluation off of just one tape, but over the course of the season, Doughty has been consistently phenomenal in 2015. Therefore, we’re going to look at the one tape that Draft Breakdown has available — his performance against Louisiana Tech.

Droppin Dimes

Here’s an early-game dime-dropping session from Doughty. This is a pretty ball. Coming off of a play-action in the pistol, Doughty fires the ball downfield in a perfect spot for a wide open receiver. Easy play, but not an uncommon one for this QB.

Tight Window vs. Man Coverage

This is a really good play by Doughty here, and underrated. It’s 1st down, which WKU will try and use its short passing game to create an additional running game, of sorts. Doughty’s first read here is the slot receiver lined up on the right side of the formation, but the linebacker drops at the snap right into the void Doughty is expecting, so he has to adjust because it’s a quick drop and set.

Doughty sees the outside receiver (running basically the same route) in one-on-one coverage and puts the ball right on his back shoulder, away from the cornerback who played otherwise pretty good coverage here. That’s an incredibly tough throw that Doughty makes look pretty easy here. NFL scouts will love that one, especially from a guy where one of the knocks is that he doesn’t have the strongest arm.

Progressing Through Reads

This isn’t something you will see a ton of from QBs that operate in a pass-heavy spread offense with a lot of quick throws, but here, Doughty doesn’t settle for a highly contested quick slant or hit his emergency throw (also contested), he waits through the pressure and uses all the time he has to hit a wheel route for a huge gain on a big 3rd and 3.

This is another throw NFL teams are going to be really impressed by. The receiver here might have been his 3rd or 4th read on this play.

Zone Beater

This is another important play. After getting man coverage looks pretty much the whole game, Louisiana Tech tries to slow down the WKU offense and throw a zone coverage at Doughty. Beating the zone requires perfect timing on your throws to find those voids, and as the coverage closes in, Doughty squeezes a throw in to his receiver for another big gain.

His ability to push the ball downfield against both man and zone coverage is why he’s 2nd in the country in yards per attempt while also ranking in the top 8 for attempts this season (266).

This is where DBs just give up…

If you’re a defensive back, you just give up here. The level of difficulty to make this throw is insane, and Doughty has the ability to make it happen. There’s just nothing you can do about this.

Patience

This is the most critical throw of the game so far for Doughty. He stands in with a 3rd and 10, only a 3 point lead and facing a situation where you’re giving the ball back to Louisiana Tech if you don’t convert. He gets a really nice pocket here, but more than that, with L. Tech sitting on the short pass play here, Doughty takes the time required to get the tight end open on a deep crossing route.

He sets up in the pocket he’s been given, doesn’t let the pressure affect him, and makes a perfect throw for a key 1st down conversion.

Clutch.

Under Pressure

In a word: Ballgame.

When the QB you’re playing against is this dialed in, you just have to tip your cap and cut your losses. Doughty has been playing a sensational game to this point, but this is the cherry on top. He wisely hangs on to the ball noticing his primary read is well covered, tucks the ball, stands in the face of intense pressure, and makes a very difficult pass to the other side of the field with the weight of the world bearing down.

This is another play that will have NFL scouts drooling.

To Sum Up

This kid is really good.

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