Paxton Lynch and Dak Prescott are among the most athletic quarterbacks in this year’s NFL draft class. Lynch is widely considered the third-best quarterback in this class and could be a first-round pick. Prescott is expected to be picked on the third day of the draft. Both are part of Saturday’s Gruden’s QB Camp. What are the strengths and concerns of these two quarterbacks?
• Gruden's QB Camp, 5 p.m. ET, Saturday on ESPN2
Paxton Lynch
Lynch was 22-16 as a three-year starter at Memphis. In 2015, Lynch completed 66.8 percent of his passes for 3,776 yards and 28 touchdowns with four interceptions. It was the best touchdown-to-interception ratio in the FBS.
Greatest strength: Cool under pressure
It’s easy to say that Lynch’s size is his greatest strength. At 6-foot-7, Lynch will likely be the tallest quarterback drafted this year. But it’s how he uses his size and athleticism to make plays under pressure that’s special.
Lynch did not throw an interception while under duress last season and completed 46.7 percent of passes in such situations. That’s more than eight percentage points higher than the Power 5 average.
Lynch did his best work against the blitz. He completed 67.9 percent of his passes against five or more pass rushers last season, which would have been second-best among Power 5 quarterbacks. Lynch had 11 touchdown passes to one interception against the blitz and took two sacks in those situations.
Area for concern: Lack of elite competition
In three seasons, Lynch faced three teams that finished the season in the top 20 of defensive efficiency. That’s the same number of times Lynch played a defense that ranked outside the top 100 in efficiency last season alone.
Lynch had six games against Power 5 teams, posting a 2-4 record in those contests. But one of those wins came against a Kansas team that finished the season 0-12.
Dak Prescott
Prescott spent the past four seasons re-writing Mississippi State’s record book, leaving with 38 school records. He is one of four FBS players with 9,000 passing yards and 2,500 rushing yards in college (Tim Tebow, Colin Kaepernick and Dan LeFevour are the others).
Greatest strength: Rushing
Prescott knows how to move the sticks with his legs. On designed rushes, 40.5 percent of Prescott’s attempts went for a first down. That was the second-highest rate among Power 5 quarterbacks, behind Iowa’s C.J. Beathard, who had 76 fewer designed rushes than Prescott.
Considering the level of competition in the SEC, Prescott held up remarkably well. Over the last two seasons, Prescott has 370 rushing attempts for 1,574 yards, both most in the conference and among the top five in the FBS. He did not miss a start over that stretch.
Area for concern: Throwing downfield
Prescott completed 78.6 percent of passes thrown five or fewer yards downfield last season, fourth-best in Power 5. But his downfield passing is not up to NFL standards.
Prescott rarely threw deep last season: 10.7 percent of his passes went 20 or more yards downfield, the 56th among 64 qualifying Power 5 quarterbacks.
Intermediate passes seemed to give Prescott the most trouble. He completed 50.4 percent (57 of 113) of throws 10 to 20 yards downfield. That’s significantly worse than most of the top quarterbacks in this year’s draft class, including Brandon Allen (62.4 percent), Jared Goff (59.3 percent), Jacoby Brissett (57.7 percent), Cody Kessler (56.3 percent) and Lynch (56.3 percent).