2018 NFL Draft: Ryan Finley this year’s Mitch Trubisky?
2018 NFL Draft: The NFL is starved for talent at the quarterback position. Could NC State’s Ryan Finley be this year’s version of Mitch Trubisky?
The NFL is desperate for quarterbacks, and thankfully, the college game is pumping out a number of intriguing options for the class of 2018 and beyond. One player that has turned heads this season is Ryan Finley, a relatively unknown player from North Carolina State.
Finley became a starter for NC State in 2016 after beginning his collegiate career with Boise State, and has blossomed in 2017 to become a legitimate possibility for NFL teams come next Spring.
Because of his ‘late blooming’ college career, might we have another Mitch Trubisky situation on our hands?
While Trubisky was waiting for an opportunity, Finley sought one out and transferred away from a backup situation. Trubisky embraced his role as a backup, and rolled the dice on one, maybe two years of full-time starter work while at North Carolina.
Trubisky’s junior season was more productive statistically than Finley’s current season for the Wolfpack, and the two aren’t necessarily comparable from a size or skill standpoint. But their emergence seemingly out of nowhere to potential starting caliber prospect at the next level leads me to believe we might have another Trubisky-type of situation here.
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Finley started off a recent game against Clemson completing 13-of-13 passes and looked like he was possibly on his way to leading NC State to a big upset win over the Tigers. That, however, didn’t happen and Finley ended up throwing two very untimely interceptions, but the game as a whole was solid from the young quarterback, who continues to impress NFL scouts.
Finley will get a chance this offseason to show what he can do, probably in line for an invitation to the Reese’s Senior Bowl. He’ll also have a very well-attended pro day workout, and what NFL scouts have seen this season has undoubtedly caused them to go back to the tape and see any and everything they can on this guy.
Unlike Trubisky, Finley has a year’s worth of tape to look at from his junior season. I don’t think he’s as dynamic of a player at the quarterback position as Trubisky is or was coming out last year, but he’s got the potential to be a starter in the NFL. He reminds me a bit of an Alex Smith/Kirk Cousins type of player at the start of their careers in the league.
This guy will be an interesting prospect to follow over the coming months.