Hackenberg - Why ?

[Night Train]

He doesn't fit this offense at all. Slow on progressions. Holds the ball too long. Cement feet. Easy to sack.

Every game I watched him play was the same. I don't get the attraction at all.

Ourlads Scouting rates him #10 at QB with a value grade in the 5th-6th round. See him as nothing but a backup. Lacks confidence. #4 -#9 are Prescott, Hogan, Jones, Cook, Adams & Diskel. Adams is a 5-10 200 midget but still is 2 slots ahead of Hackenberg because he can make plays with confidence.

I could see any of them over Hackenberg. I would boo his selection loudly but just don't see it regardless, unless Pegula insists on picking an alum.

[DraftBoy]

Re: Hackenberg - Why ?

All about potential.

Prototype QB build with size, arm, and athleticism.

If you can get his mind to work a little faster then you have a potential star. His development got screwed up a bit when O'Brien left, but his potential is still high.

Similar to a guy like Driskel whose confidence was completely blown at UF but transfers to La Tech and goes 281 for 450 (62.4%), 4033 Yds, 27 TD's, and 8 INT;s. Also added 323 rushing yards and 5 TD's.

[Jry44]

Re: Hackenberg - Why ?

He's a Penn State guy, which the Pegulas are very, very close to. It's easy to connect those dots. However, I don't think they take him before the 3rd round. They want to build the defense.

[The Jokeman]

Re: Hackenberg - Why ?

All about potential.

Prototype QB build with size, arm, and athleticism.

If you can get his mind to work a little faster then you have a potential star. His development got screwed up a bit when O'Brien left, but his potential is still high.

Similar to a guy like Driskel whose confidence was completely blown at UF but transfers to La Tech and goes 281 for 450 (62.4%), 4033 Yds, 27 TD's, and 8 INT;s. Also added 323 rushing yards and 5 TD's.

But let's be honest Driskel stats a tad inflated as Conference USA not nearly as good as the SEC or even the Big 10. I'm not a Hackenberg fan but a lesser fan of Driskel. Yet you do give sound reasoning why some team will draft the Hack tonight.

[Bill Cody]

Re: Hackenberg - Why ?

If you can get his mind to work a little faster then you have a potential star.

That's what they said about EJ. Not sure that ever happens.

[DraftBoy]

Re: Hackenberg - Why ?

That's what they said about EJ. Not sure that ever happens.

Issue with EJ is not just his processing, he was also gun shy. Hack doesn't have that issue.

It's all about either simplifying the system or making the field smaller. If your QB isn't going to get it with only having one read or half the field to read then he's not going to. The hope with Hack is that you keep it simple early, he develops confidence and then takes off.

[OpIv37]

Re: Hackenberg - Why ?

That's what they said about EJ. Not sure that ever happens.

They also said it about JP Losman. He was athletic with a very good arm but had a ten cent brain.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

Re: Hackenberg - Why ?

He's a Penn State guy, which the Pegulas are very, very close to. It's easy to connect those dots.

I feel like that's an even weaker connection then when Ryan Nassib was being mocked to us like crazy because of Marrone.

[more cowbell]

Re: Hackenberg - Why ?

I watched a bunch of his games over the past two seasons and I was shocked at how inaccurate he is. He has a great arm, and I do think a lot of the sacks he took were due to a terrible offensive line and a lack of weapons, however, if they took him before round 4 it would be a massive reach.

What worries me is, he looked like a star as a Freshman, then after his coach left, he couldn't put it back together. This happens all the time in the NFL...head coaches and coordinators shuffle constantly...so if he can't handle that at the college level, how is he going to handle that at the pro level?

I would much rather have Kevin Hogan

[Dr. Who]

Re: Hackenberg - Why ?

Hogan isn't getting picked if Whaley was telling the truth about valuing arm strength a bit more than other teams.

[Jry44]

Re: Hackenberg - Why ?

I feel like that's an even weaker connection then when Ryan Nassib was being mocked to us like crazy because of Marrone.

I don't disagree; I'm just throwing it out there. I am by no means endorsing it.

You would have to be naive however to think that it doesn't play at least a small roll in even mentioning his name since he's considered to be a draftable QB.

[psubills62]

Re: Hackenberg - Why ?

(Sorry, this turned into longer than I intended)

He's always been inaccurate, especially on the short passes. People laud his freshman year, which was good, but he had some low points there too that people tend to gloss over.

PSU fans have obviously discussed Hackenberg ad nauseam. One thing someone said really stuck out to me regarding Kurt Warner. (I'm paraphrasing here from a second hand source, so it might be a bit vague, but hopefully can communicate the point.) Warner was apparently talking on TV about how he did really well with the Rams, then went to the Giants for a year and struggled, then did really well for the Cardinals. He said that the system with the Rams and Cardinals had him look for the deep ball first, then short, which he was more comfortable doing. The Giants had him look short first, then deep and he had trouble with that. I believe Hackenberg experienced a similar issue when switching from BOB to Franklin, in addition to the numerous other things he faced that have been rehashed many times. I really don't know which system the Bills run, but it could be the one Hack is more comfortable in. I vaguely recall Taylor having mostly 5 or 7-step drops, so maybe we look deep first, I don't know.

That said, he's still inaccurate on short passes, which is a problem. A lot of PSU fans screamed for crossing routes. I remember finally seeing one against MSU. It was a double crossing route, kind of looked a little like one guy was trying to pick the defender for the other. Anyway, one was covered and the other had a step or two (plenty open in that scenario). Hack threw it right between them, 5 yards away from both. It was strange to me, but I realized why they didn't throw the crossing routes anymore. It was similar to the bubble screens. They ran a ton of bubble screens in 2014, then started out with them in 2015 but Hack over or under threw every single one to start 2015. They stopped throwing them after a couple games. Then in the last game of the year (again, MSU), they used bubble screens again effectively, with Hack actually throwing them well.

Many people, including Hack, have mentioned issues with footwork particularly on the bubble screens. He says he was asked to change his footwork, so I'm not certain what the story is there.

Ultimately, if you want me to argue for him, I'd say DB covered it pretty well. He's got potential. He's smart, he's competitive, and he's already gone through hell being the face of a program. If he can sit a year behind Taylor, hit the reset button with confidence and other things, work on developing his footwork again, then you could really have something. He times well in the 40 and more athletic than people give him credit for, but his lateral quickness is the main problem IMO. He's very good at play action.

There's a PSU guy for one site who does film study and he's quite good. I'd like to find the statistic he mentioned after the MSU game, but it showed that Hack had GREAT passing statistics when he got more than 2.3 seconds to throw the ball and lousy stats when he had less than that time to throw. So if your OL is simply good enough, Hack could show better than expected.

He's a great kid, and I'll always appreciate what he did for Penn State. Just wish the timing was different, as he wasn't a fit for either our roster situation (we needed a mobile QB to account for a bad OL), or the offensive system.

[The Jokeman]

Re: Hackenberg - Why ?

I feel like that's an even weaker connection then when Ryan Nassib was being mocked to us like crazy because of Marrone.

Polian has gone on record warning the Pegulas not to reach for Hackenberg so not sure how far fetched it is.

[psubills62]

Re: Hackenberg - Why ?

He's a Penn State guy, which the Pegulas are very, very close to. It's easy to connect those dots. However, I don't think they take him before the 3rd round. They want to build the defense.

If we're going to take PSU guys, Nassib or Austin Johnson would be the ones I'd look at today, then maybe Jordan Lucas late Saturday. I'm a huge fan of Austin Johnson and think he could be one of those guys that just does a really good job in the NFL consistently.

[Dr. Who]

Re: Hackenberg - Why ?

psubills62, nice write-up on Hackenberg. If he's there in the third, I would take a shot.