2022 NFL Draft: Iowa State QB Brock Purdy a late round steal?

Weaknesses

The elephant in the room is Purdy’s arm strength. It’s not elite by any means. He has difficulty with cross-field throws and throws outside the numbers, as his ball tends to die on the way to the target. This is especially evident on “big boy” throws, like 15–20-yard comebacks on the outside.

Part of this can be ascribed to his inconsistent footwork and mechanics. Purdy finds himself throwing off his back foot quite a bit, and since he’s not Brett Favre, he doesn’t have the arm strength to pull it off.

His pocket presence could use some improvement, as Purdy is sometimes prone to getting impatient or prematurely anticipating hits that might or might not even occur.

He needs to improve his ball security, both in terms of fumbles and interceptions. He fumbled twice in the Oklahoma game in 2020, and 7 times total in 2019. His career touchdown-interception ratio is alright at 62-25, but it could be better.

Part of the problem is Purdy’s decision-making both under pressure and when he has time. He will gamble on intermediate and deep throws by throwing to blanketed receivers and can be pressured into making poor decisions and flinging inaccurate passes. It was common for him to have a few head-scratching plays each game.

While he can run around, improvise, and make plays off-schedule, Purdy isn’t exactly a gifted athlete. It’s one thing to freelance and scramble around against flimsy Big XII defenses, but it’s a whole other story to do it against NFL schemes and defenders.

For the Cyclones, Purdy played almost exclusively out of the shotgun, so if he was drafted to a team who ran a more pro-style offense with the QB under center, that would be an adjustment he’d have to make.