Colt McCoy
2010 NFL Draft Prospect
Quarterback
6’3”, 210lbs.
Texas
Junior
Strengths: Mobility, Intelligence, Accuracy
Weaknesses: Size, Experience, Arm Strength
Scouting Report by Bryan Dietzler
Texas Longhorn’s quarterback Colt McCoy desided to stay in school and enter the 2010 NFL Draft.
When you look at McCoy’s track record in college, he has a penchant for winning and knows how to win the big game. McCoy has a ton of confidence and isn’t afraid to try and do what it takes to win the game. He might take a risk every now and then but his risks have paid dividends for the Longhorns and it should pay dividends for the NFL team that drafts him.
Like his predecessor (Vince Young) McCoy is a very mobile quarterback who isn’t afraid to make a play with his legs either running or throwing on the run. This is something that NFL scouts and coaches desire in quarterbacks because being mobile allows the quarterback to extend the play and create something out of nothing. This is a big plus with McCoy. Being mobile will really help him in the draft.
McCoy also displays good accuracy on his passes and doesn’t overshoot or under-throw his receiver too often. He makes good decisions in finding the open receiver and taking into account where the defender is. He reads the field very well and can, along with his receiver, find soft spots in the zone and exploit them. If you look at McCoy’s completion percentage (70.16%) it is very good and indicative of the kind of player he is. His interception total (32) might be a little high but if you look at the number of passes that he has thrown over his career at Texas (761) that is pretty low.
McCoy’s intelligence will allow him to be a success in the NFL. Quarterbacks have to learn complicated offensive systems and McCoy should be able to pick up any system that he is taught making him a desirable prospect. He had to learn a complex system at Texas so he should be able to do it in the NFL.
The glaring deficiency that McCoy exhibits is his lack of experience. Granted, McCoy is a three year starter and has a lot of regular game and bowl experience but he could possibly forgo his senior season and enter the 2009 NFL Draft. If he does, scouts will look at his missing his senior season as a negative but good workouts and a great combine performance could wipe away any fears that NFL scouts and general managers have about him.
Arm strength, or lack thereof, is another issue that scouts will have with McCoy. The Texas quarterback appears to favor short to intermediate passes and will, at times, misfire on longer passes (often under throwing) giving away the fact that his arm isn’t as strong as the ideal NFL quarterback might have. This will be a knock on him going into the combine and eventually into the draft. If there is away that McCoy can get his arm stronger, he needs to be working on that now.
Size is yet another issue that might drop McCoy’s stock a little bit. Although his height is near satisfactory, he is a little light meaning that he might not be able to take the pounding he is sure to get in the NFL. He could add weight but that might affect his mobility which is a great asset. This is perhaps McCoy’s second biggest issue (after his lack of experience) and will be scrutinized heavily by NFL scouts.
McCoy’s statistics while at Texas are as follows:
2006: 217 Completions out of 318 attempts for 2570 total yards. He had a completion percentage of 62.2 and a yards per pass average of 8.08. He threw 29 touchdown passes with just seven interceptions. His longest pass was 72 yards and his quarterback rating was a whopping 161.82%. McCoy rushed 68 times for 170 yards with an average of 2.5 yards with two touchdowns and a long rush of 33 yards.
2007: 276 Completions out of 424 attempts for 3303 total yards. He had a completion percentage of 65.1 and a yards per pass average of 7.79. He threw 22 touchdown passes with 18 interceptions. His longest pass was 62 yards and his quarterback rating was 139.16. McCoy had 114 rushing attempts for 492 yards with an average of 4.31 yards per rush and four touchdowns.
2008: 291 Completions out of 375 attempts for 3445 total yards. He had a completion percentage of 77.6 and a yards per pass average of 9.19. He threw 32 touchdown passes with just seven interceptions. His longest pass was 91 yards and his quarterback rating was 179.20. McCoy rushed 117 times for 576 yards averaging 4.92 yards per rush with 10 touchdowns.
Some of the awards and honors that McCoy has received during his time with the Longhorns include two time Texas Co-MVP, two time bowl game offensive MVP, preseason Davey O’Brien and Maxwell Award watch list, first team Academic All-Big 12 Selection, member of the Big 12 Good Works Team, Davey O’Brien Award Finalist, The Sporting News National Freshman of the Year, Touchdown Club of Columbus National Freshman of the Year, Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the year (Coaches), Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year (AP), two time Cingular All-America Player of the Week, Walter Camp Player of the Week, Master Coaches Survey Game Ball Winner, second team All Big 12, Alamo Bowl MVP, George McCullough Co-MVP, Darrell K. Royal Most Valuable Offensive Player, two time first team Academic All Big 12 selection, and three time member of the Texas Athletic Director’s Honor Roll.
McCoy went to high school at Jim Ned High School. Some of the honors that he received while there included being named a two time AP 2A Offensive MVP, first team All-State selection, and two time Texas Sports Writers Associate First Team All-State.
