Peter King MMQB:
I think when I do pay attention to the Senior Bowl this week, it’ll be to get educated on at North Dakota State’s Wentz, the most notable of the quarterbacks in Mobile, and the man trying to make the leap into the top 10 of the draft despite not playing at the highest level of the college game. Interestingly, Pro Football Focus has partnered with the Senior Bowl to dissect all the players there. The site will grade each practice and the game on Saturday and create a set of player profiles on all the players there. I asked PFF for its post-season take on Wentz, and ace college grader Steve Palazzolo checked in with this: “The North Dakota State quarterback ticks all of the boxes for NFL scouts—size, arm strength, athleticism—and it’s probable a close-up look will only enhance his standing around the league. PFF analyzed Wentz’s seven-game 2015 performance [he missed several games with a broken wrist], watched every throw and graded it based on difficulty and execution. Already this shows him as comparable in performance level to fellow first-round hopeful Paxton Lynch. The first thing that stands out about Wentz’s game is the easy velocity he creates, often zipping passes into tight windows, even if his timing in the passing game is not always ideal. In our grading, he finished with a ratio of 2.56 positively graded throws for every negative, a ratio that would rank second among FBS quarterbacks (Cal’s Jared Goff ranked third at 2.15). While Wentz’s percentage of ‘big-time throws’ (difficult throws, executed well) doesn’t stick out at 4.1 percent (Goff comes in at 4.86 percent), the nature of the throws will turn heads. Whether throwing a laser up the seam or showing touch on the deep ball, Wentz has the ability to win a game with his downfield throwing, especially if given an opportunity in a vertical passing offense. He’ll come back with some head-scratchers at times (turnover-worthy throws on 3.6 percent of dropbacks, the same percentage as Michigan State’s Connor Cook), adding to his nature as a potential boom-or-bust quarterback. Wentz’s athleticism will help; he is often used as a designed runner in North Dakota State’s offense, and while that won’t be as big a part of his game in the NFL, his ability to pick up first downs as a runner is just an added bonus.” Really looking forward to learning more about Wentz—who’s practicing against big-timers for the first time in his life—and others this week from Mobile.