NFL Draft: Is Brett Hundley a top-tier quarterback?

UCLA’s Brett Hundley believes he deserves to be one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL draft. But is he?

For months, when it comes to quarterbacks in the NFL draft, all we’ve heard about is Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston.

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Brett Hundley would like to add another name to that discussion… and that name is Brett Hundley.

“I think I’ve done enough to put my name in that conversation,” the former UCLA quarterback said on Gruden’s QB Camp. “I think that’s something that’s always going to be a chip on my shoulder. They may not say I’m in the conversation with Mariota and Jameis — and I respect them to death, they’re great friends of mine — but at the same time, I know I can put my talents against theirs. I feel confident in being able to do that.”

Hundley, 21, is thought of as a second-tier quarterback in this draft; a second-rounder at the highest.

In three years at UCLA, Hundley completed 68 percent of his passes, had a 75:25 TD:INT ratio, and added plenty of yards on the ground as well.

There’s at least one NFL team who agree with Hundley’s assessment of himself, although he may not like which one it is.

So much Jameis Winston-Marcus Mariota talk. But don't sleep on UCLA's Brett Hundley, whom Browns would have considered in top 10 last year.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 21, 2015

The fact that the Cleveland Browns would have taken him in the top ten last year probably doesn’t mean much, considering what the Browns do with their top ten picks, but it is something.

While it’s easy to dismiss Hundley’s remarks (he is talking about himself, after all), it’s also possible to take them at face value. Is Hundley right or wrong about his rightful placement in the draft pecking order? Remember, NFL teams collectively make mistakes about where to draft players all the time. Tom Brady was drafted 199th in the same draft in which Courtney Brown was drafted first. Enough said.

So could Hundley be a top ten pick? Scouts disagree. NFL.com compares him to Jason Campbell, saying his strengths are his “dual-threat ability [which] increases his effectiveness in red zone” and that he is “willing to stand in and take the hit when he zeroes in on his target” and “willing to get take downfield shot and give his receiver a chance to make the play.”

On the other hand, the NFL.com scout says that he “hasn’t shown an ability to win from the pocket yet” and that his internal clock is “a mess.” They have him as a fourth or fifth round pick.

CBS Sports scouts Dane Brugler and Rob Rang are more optimistic, comparing Hundley to a young Randall Cunningham and saying that “Hundley’s skill-set seems every bit as tantalizing as Oregon’s Marcus Mariota or Florida State’s Jameis Winston. However, Hundley needs to improve in the critical subtleties of the quarterback position – pocket presence, reading defenses and ball placement.”

Last news of Hundley had the Cardinals and Chargers interested in him in the second round, and that seems like the right place for him.

At this moment in time, he has too many things to fix to be worthy of a top ten pick, but he would be a worthwhile choice for a team interesting in developing a QB they don’t have to start right away.

So the upside is high, but he isn’t in the conversation with Mariota or Winston.

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