...there are a pair of developmental quarterbacks in Pitt’s Tom Savage and Georgia’s Aaron Murray who are creating buzz among NFL personnel. These two QBs also have caught my eye on recent film study.
In my opinion, Savage is one of the most underrated quarterbacks in this class. A highly touted recruit out of high school, Savage was a double transfer who started his career at Rutgers before transferring to Arizona and then to Pitt once Arizona hired Rich Rodriguez, who didn't see Savage as a fit in his spread zone-read offense.
I had a chance to see Savage live twice this fall: once against Duke and once against Miami late in the season. In addition, after working through six more coaches' tapes, the things that jump out about Savage are his stature, his arm strength and his polished mechanics. At nearly 6-foot-4 and 228 pounds, Savage has a sturdy build and, along with Logan Thomas, might have one of the strongest arms in the class. He is an effortless thrower of the football, which means the ball comes clean off his hands with plenty of rpm and finishes with a lot of energy without having to overcompensate with his mechanics, particularly in his lower body.
Savage also has experience in a pro-style system, and it shows with his ability to get to his second and third reads. Although he still has developing to do in terms of touch and accuracy as a deep-ball thrower, he is steady in the short to intermediate part of the field and frequently provided his receivers the opportunity to run after the catch.
It's obvious Savage lacks ideal athleticism for the position and will never be a running threat at the next level. However, he has above-average pocket instincts and functional mobility moving within the pocket to buy time. In addition, he stands strong in the pocket, rarely blinks in the face of pressure and will stare down the gun barrel to deliver an accurate throw while taking a hit.
There are plenty of variables that need to go into Savage’s evaluation. First, being a double transfer, he was unable to gain any type of stability learning and gaining experience within one system. Second, and most important, in my opinion, was the lack of a supporting cast. Up front, the Panthers' offensive line was a nightmare in protection -- particularly on the right side of the line -- surrendering 43 sacks, which ranked 118th out of 123 FBS teams (a handful were on Savage for holding the ball too long). In addition, aside from freshman WR Tyler Boyd, the Panthers' perimeter was plagued by critical drops throughout the year.
This leads to the toughness Savage displayed this year both physically and mentally. I don’t know whether I’ve seen a quarterback take more physical punishment than Savage did this past fall. He was constantly being knocked to the ground throughout each tape I watched: against Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Syracuse, Florida State and North Carolina.
When I spoke with a defensive assistant coach during pregame of the Panthers' regular-season finale against Miami, he praised Savage’s toughness and leadership skills throughout the season. The coach claimed that it would have been easy for Savage to go into the tank but that he continued to battle and to compete while maintaining a positive attitude with his teammates.
Savage is far from a finished product. However, he displays a physical skill set that translates well to the next level. In addition, he is built for the inclement weather, and teams such as the Jets, Bears, Bills, Packers and Bengals looking to add a developmental backup to their roster could find strong value for Savage early in the Day 3 range...
We started with David, then took a Schuab (lemon) then only makes sense to buy into Derek. Garoppalo is way over hyped after reviewing game film, he is worse than Savage under pressure & lacks size/strength. Murray I like but certainly not that high, coming off acl think he is there in the 5th/6th. Mettenberger is a whiny baby, cannot move around in the pocket & forces the ball, maybe not unlike Savage in this regard but lacks his toughness.
