2022 NFL Draft notebook: Quarterback preview, sleepers, and stock report
By John Blair
2022 NFL Draft Sleeper of the Week
Two of the past three seasons we have seen quarterbacks come out of nowhere and end up being high draft picks. Last year, we saw Zach Wilson go from a late-round pick going into the 2020 season to the number two pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and in 2019 we saw Kyler Murray go from a backup to the number one pick in that year’s NFL Draft. This year a player who could make a similar rise is Boston College’s Phil Jurkovec.
Jurkovec started his career off at Notre Dame where he saw very limited playing time. Due to his lack of playing time he decided to transfer to Boston College where he would play in new coach Jeff Hafley’s pro-style offense. This move was definitely the right move for Jurkovec as he excelled in this offense throwing for 2,588 yards and 18 touchdowns compared to only five interceptions.
When scouting Jurkovec it is evident he has all the skills to play in the NFL. To start with he has ideal size coming in at 6-foot-5 and 226 pounds. He shows impressive athletic ability for someone this size as well and is very reminiscent of Ben Roethlisberger when he was coming out of Miami of Ohio. In terms of his ability as a passer, he displays a strong arm and has the ability to throw the deep ball easily.
Unfortunately, one area he must get better at as a passer is accuracy. He had his struggles in this area last year especially against the tougher teams he faced completing only 45% of his passes vs. Notre Dame and 50% of his passes vs. Clemson. The biggest issue when it comes to accuracy is not setting his feet when throwing the ball. He tends to throw off his back foot and other awkward positions at times and also has trouble throwing accurately when throwing under pressure.
Going into the 2021 season Jurkovec carries a late day two too early day three round grade. He earns this grade due to the fact he has the potential to be a starting quarterback in the NFL, however, to live up to that potential he is going to need to improve his accuracy.