Top 10 Quarterbacks in the 2020 NFL Draft: No. 5 Anthony Gordon

Film analysis

Playing in Leach’s Air Raid offense at Washington State gave Gordon plenty of opportunities to sling the ball up and down the field. As the main catalyst of the offense, Gordon was first in college football this past season in Total Offense, with 740 plays racking up 437.6 yards per game, according to NCAA.com.

There is a common criticism of Leach’s quarterbacks, that once they are in the NFL they do not have any staying power. That the style of play, throwing 75-85 percent of the time, is never going to work against NFL secondaries and trying to convert them into the NFL is a bad idea.

Leach’s most productive quarterback at Washington State is still Luke Falk, who holds the Pac-12 record in career touchdowns, and is currently a free agent, unable to find a steady backup role on an NFL team.

One of the only quarterbacks to succeed in the NFL for Leach has been Minshew, who has only played for one season in Jacksonville. But Minshew’s success last season could end up buoying Gordon’s chances of being selected early in the 2020 NFL Draft.

While I agree in part that throwing 75 percent of the time in the NFL is a recipe for disaster, I cannot agree that because Gordon succeeded under Leach’s Air-Raid system in college that he is likely to be a bust in the 2020 NFL Draft.

For starters, Gordon succeeds in a variety of ways when throwing. Gordon can pass to the sideline quickly, with plenty of zip and speed. He can throw a back-shoulder fade to the corner of the end zone, where only his receiver can get it. Gordon can throw a quick sidearm throw to the flat and allow his receiver to make a play.

Watching his film from 2019, Gordon has shown to have a variety of throwing styles and techniques to get the ball to his receivers.

Gordon’s throwing technique is not without its flaws, however. He doesn’t plant his feet very well when throwing, which makes his passes look much harder than they should be. He opts to bounce up and down on his toes and throw with his entire upper body, which makes his windup take much longer than it should.

Sometimes, Gordon will just stand there, apparently forgetting to move his feet. This will be an issue once in the league, but this is something that can be corrected with proper coaching.

Another issue I saw with Gordon’s film is his dropbacks. In college, the plays did not seem to call for many five/seven-step drops. Instead, Gordon often opted to take two to three little shimmies back, followed by the throw. While this style of dropping back did not hurt him too badly in 2019, in the NFL, this lack of separation will be a dream come true for interior defensive lineman and will leave him vulnerable to pass-rush.

One of the best things Gordon does after the snap is the speed he processes the field. He makes very quick passes coming out of the snap, which makes blitzing Gordon an extremely risky proposition for the defense. Adding to the fact that many of Leach’s plays are incredibly complex, with up to three receivers running rub routes in the same area, his processing of the field is especially talented.

While many of Gordon’s highlight reels involve a wide-open receiver, his less notable throws in a game have involved throwing into tight windows, forcing receivers to throttle backward away from cornerbacks, showing a high level of precision passing ability.

With 710 pass attempts in 2019, Gordon passed more than any quarterback in the 2020 NFL Draft. For some perspective, Burrow had 567 pass attempts this past season and Herbert had just 446, according to NCAA.com.

Gordon is not picky on which side of the field he is throwing to and his ability to spread the ball to different receivers may be his best quality. Many quarterbacks coming from college football, including some in the 2020 NFL Draft, favor a particular side of the field when throwing. As a result, defenses will respond by placing a strong safety or linebacker in that region. By passing to all sections of the field, Gordon forces defenses to beat him play to play.

According to Sports-Reference.com, Gordon threw to seven different receivers for more than 500 yards in 2019. During the season, he had two receivers, Brandon Arconado and Easop Winston, with almost 1,000 receiving yards each and had six different receivers averaging 10 yards or more per reception (minimum 40 plays).

Gordon throws with good anticipation and doesn’t need a receiver open before he throws. He is willing to give his receivers a chance to go up and make a play, rather than sit back and only throw when he has an open receiver. College quarterbacks sometimes panic when their first read isn’t open, but Gordon has shown he can work through his progressions efficiently.

His precision on deep passes has been spotty at times, occasionally placing the ball above or below where it is reasonable to expect the receiver to catch the ball in motion. Against zone defense in college, this isn’t so much of a problem. But against a strong man coverage team in the NFL, these plays have the potential to become nightmares for Gordon.

Washington State threw more than any team in college football in 2019, opting to have Gordon pass 78 percent of the time, according to Teamrankings.com. Despite having a losing record, Gordon was able to shine on film in ways quarterbacks with much better defensive help were not.

Gordon certainly benefited from having Leach as his coach. I watched multiple plays where Gordon made big gains from screen passes. The success or failure of these plays relies more on the play calling and the offensive line and not the quarterback.

Gordon also didn’t handle pressure well either. According to PFF data, Gordon went from having a 90.3 passing grade with a clean pocket to an abysmal 47.9 under pressure. He is slow to break away from a collapsing pocket and was sacked 20 times in 2019.

If Gordon had handled the pressure better than this, he may have ranked higher on this list. But with pressure getting better every year in the NFL, quarterbacks in the 2020 NFL Draft will have to dodge pressure better than they did in college.

At this year’s Senior Bowl, Gordon shined on the field. Asked to play in the third quarter, Gordon impressed scouts with his arm, showing them he can make a variety of throws. While several big-name quarterbacks shined in Mobile, Alabama, Gordon was able to show he can be a viable option in the 2020 NFL Draft.

At the Senior Bowl, Gordon attributed his ability to make throws at “unorthodox angles” to his time playing baseball, according to an NFL.com article. Gordon was able to go 8-12 on his passes, throwing two touchdowns.

As if that wasn’t good enough, Gordon made those throws to receivers he had only just met at the Senior Bowl. His touchdown passes went to Notre Dame receiver Chase Claypool and Liberty’s Antonio Gandy-Golden.

This is relevant, as the Senior Bowl is a great place for scouts to get a real feel for draft prospects. In the 2020 NFL Draft, there will be a number of high-quality quarterbacks available. But to throw two touchdowns to receivers he had never thrown to before under NFL coaching is a big accomplishment for a quarterback with only one season starting for the Cougars.