2020 NFL Draft scouting report: Who is Anthony Gordon?

In this scouting report, we’ll discuss if the Air Raid offense will affect where Washington State quarterback Anthony Gordon lands in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Anthony Gordon is a tricky prospect to evaluate for the 2020 NFL Draft. He’s very fun to watch because of how many times he throws the football in a single game. That is mostly due to the offense that he plays in: The Air Raid offense.

The Air Raid offense is an offensive scheme that has been used throughout the history of college football. Mike Leach made it widely popular from his days at Texas Tech. It’s basically a spread formation that allows an abundance of receiving targets for the quarterback. The pass to run ratio is usually unbalanced favoring the pass by a wide margin.

Gordon threw the football a whopping 689 times in 2019. To see just how crazy that is Joe Burrow, the reigning Heisman winner and presumptive first overall pick, threw 527 times. So you can see just how inflated Gordon’s numbers are because of the offense that he is in.

Overview

Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 210 pounds
School: Washington State

2019 stats (13 games): 71.6 completion percentage, 5,579 passing yards, 48 touchdowns, 16 interceptions

There aren’t many quarterbacks in the 2020 NFL Draft quite like Gordon. He shows flashes of a capable quarterback and putting the ball where it needs to be. But oftentimes he makes head-scratching decisions that make you wonder why he has a starting job.

There are two quarterbacks that come to mind when evaluating Gordon and it’s for a simple reason. Gardner Minshew and Luke Falk both played at Washington State and had much success under Mike Leach. Minshew had a breakout rookie year when Nick Foles went down with an injury, but Falk also had an opportunity to shine.

Sam Darnold was out a few weeks with mononucleosis and Jets’ backup quarterback Trevor Siemian broke his leg which meant Falk had to step in. He was terrible. You could see right away that he didn’t belong in the NFL. That’s the tough and unique challenge evaluators have when it comes to quarterbacks who have had success in Mike Leach’s offense.

Film Review

Games watched: 2019 vs Utah, 2019 vs Oregon, 2019 vs Oregon State, 2019 vs Washington

Positives

The number one thing I came away with was how much fun it was to watch Gordon play. When he’s playing fast tempo and the ball gets out of his hand quick he found much success. He does have a quick release which allows him to get off throws under pressure. On the tape that I watched, his deep balls were beautifully thrown and were pinpoint accurate.

When he’s hot, it’s hard to slow him down. He checks the ball down to his running back a lot which is odd considering the amount of head-scratching throws he’s had. He doesn’t have the strongest arm but it’s strong enough. He has shown to be an accurate passer when everything is good mechanically.

Negatives

Too many times where he was late to find a receiver or simply didn’t see him. He pats the ball before he throws, which is absolutely correctable. He has some “happy feet” at times. There were many times when we would escape the pocket too early instead of sticking in there and delivering the ball to an open receiver.

I never once watched him step up into the pocket. He sort of drifts back, even with a clean pocket, which impacts his footwork resulting in a poor throw. He made a ton of throws off his back foot when there was no need for it. The worst thing about Gordon’s film was these head-scratching throws.

He would make throws that left me perplexed. There were throws in double or triple coverage. There were throws where a receiver was nowhere in the vicinity of the ball. His decision making is the worst part of his game. Hopefully, that can be corrected, but it could be tough for him to find a job if it isn’t.

Overall

After watching four games of Anthony Gordon plus the Senior Bowl, I still have no answer if he can make it in the NFL. There’s a lot to like about his film, but there’s equally a lot to hate. There’s likely no other quarterback in the 2020 NFL Draft that can compare to Gordon. The Air Raid offense continues to be a cloud over the quarterbacks that come from that system.

Will Gordon have the impact Minshew had in Jacksonville or will he squander an opportunity like Falk did in New York? There’s not even a solid answer whether or not he’ll be taken in the 2020 NFL Draft. He could end up being a top player teams call after the draft to sign as an undrafted free agent.