Matt Barkley did well at his pro day

[Hangman]

The 49ers should trade their 1st round pick to a team in desperate need of a QB for their first next year. Jacksonville will probably expect him to be there for the start of round 2 and they need a QB badly. Some suck ass team will try and jump them to get him. We can get a low first next year and draft Clowney. Or draft Barkley then trade him to Jacksonville for their first next year. They are the odds on favorite to be the worst team next season. Only other team who might be as bad is the Cardinals.

 

[Flyingiguana]

looks like there could be some good value in the late 1st, i would keep it unless the guys we want are gone.

 

[spacedoodoopistol]

The headline I saw today was "Barkley 55 of 60 at pro day". Did this whole completion % at a QB's pro day start with Alex Smith? I never remember seeing it before then, now we see every year with multiple prospects.

And honestly, 55 of 60 is one of the lowest % we've seen with any of them in recent years. They're usually much closer to 100%.....as they probably should be in such a controlled setting specifically designed to make him look good.

 

[NinerSickness]

I didn't think Barkley looked good at his pro' day at all. He's absolutely my bust pick if he sneaks into the first round.

 

[BINGO]

NFL Draft 2013
Why Barkley will be first QB taken
Looking at how Barkley's physical abilities translate to pro level
Updated: March 27, 2013, 9:03 PM ET
By Brock Huard | ESPN Insider

Matt Barkley has the chance to rise up boards ahead of the 2013 NFL draft.

Matt Barkley and his USC Trojans entered the 2012 season with huge expectations, but a Week 3 loss to Stanford derailed their national championship hopes, and a 1-5 stretch to end the season made them one of the biggest disappointments in college football. One of the byproducts was that Barkley's NFL draft stock dropped from that of a likely top-five pick in 2012 to outside the first-round range in 2013.

While there are plenty of reasons for the Trojans' fall, including depth and injury issues and defensive gaffes and meltdowns, Barkley can't make excuses. So I'll make them for him, and explain why I think that after his pro day workout at USC on Wednesday, NFL teams will begin to agree with what I already believe to be the case: Barkley should be the first quarterback selected in this year's draft.

This might come as something of a surprise, since the consistent knock on Barkley throughout the draft process is that he lacks the "plus" attribute in his game. He has good size at 6 foot 2 and 227 pounds, but not elite size. He has competent arm strength but nothing overwhelming. He can extend a college play but can't create big plays with his speed or agility.

When looking through the prism of the 2012 draft class of quarterbacks, the argument carries weight and is understandable. Yet as Bruce Arians stated at the NFL owners meetings last week in Phoenix, "The two muscles that you play quarterback with you can't evaluate: the brain and the heart. That is a winning quarterback. Until you get in the huddle with them, you don't know what you have."

Drew Brees lacks an overwhelming scouting attribute. So do Tony Romo, Andy Dalton and Matt Schaub. The point I'm trying to make is there are multiple ways to play the quarterback position at the NFL level, with differing skill sets and strengths and weaknesses (something we should have learned last year with the success of Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick), and that getting caught up only in a prospect's physical attributes could cause you to miss out on a very good QB.

Barkley's leadership ability and character are two strong points in his favor (more on that later), but I'll start this analysis off with a look at the way Barkley's skill set and ability project well to the next level.




1. Throws downfield

While Barkley's arm talent won't be confused with Jay Cutler's or Joe Flacco's, Barkley is fully capable of making the intermediate and deep throws necessary at the next level. Barkley's 10⅛-inch hands were bigger than some thought (and nearly an inch bigger than Geno Smith's), which allows him to grip it and rip it better than one might think. In fact, when crunching the numbers over the last two seasons on throws of 20-plus yards, Barkley is very much in the same class as Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III on the college level:

Barkley: 41 percent completion percentage, 24 TDs, 2 INTs
Luck: 43 percent, 13 TDs, 5 INTs
Griffin: 38 percent, 33 TDs, 5 INTs


And according to ESPN Stats & Info, Barkley was far more likely to overthrow his receivers on deep passes than underthrow them -- another point in favor of his arm strength.



2. Third-down passing

Third down is the "money down" in the NFL, when the blitzes are the most complex and the outcome of many games hang in the balance of four or five critical conversions. Playing in USC's pro-style system of protection checks, line of scrimmage audibles and plenty of "check with me" calls and hot reads will have Barkley well-versed and well-schooled for this situation when he comes in as a rookie.

Having played in USC's pro-style system will ease Matt Barkley's transition to the NFL.

More importantly, third down was an area of growth and improvement for Barkley throughout his career, and even as USC's season fell apart in 2012, Barkley's poise on third down didn't. In fact, his 2012 production surpassed his 2011 output, and his 61 percent completion rate with 11 TDs and 4 INTs equated to an NFL QB rating of 104.8 on the make-or-break down. Wilson led all rookies with a 96.2 rating in 2012, while Aaron Rodgers paced all NFL passers with 110.8. I'm not saying that going against Pac-12 defenses is the same as playing QB in the NFL, but these numbers do show that Barkley has the potential to be a very successful third-down passer in the pros.



3. Red zone productivity

The Pac-12's all-time leader in touchdown passes knows how to cross the finish line. Sure, having Marqise Lee and Robert Woods at receiver would help any QB get the ball in the end zone, but over the last two seasons Barkley's 42 touchdown passes on 116 attempts in the red zone speak loudly to the signal-caller's vast experience and productivity in that part of the field. Over that same stretch, Barkley was intercepted and sacked just three times.

Without an elite rushing attack in 2012 (the Trojans ranked 72nd in the FBS in rushing yards per game), the onus was on the passing game to finish at the end of the field where the game speeds up, the windows tighten and the field condenses. Touch, accuracy, anticipation and instincts jump off the film 20 yards and in, and no one in the history of the conference has done it better than Barkley.

"Judge Matt by his whole body of work," USC coach Lane Kiffin said to me this week. "When he got hurt versus UCLA, he was leading the NCAA in touchdowns."



4. Movement passing

Let's be clear: Barkley will not run the zone-read in the NFL, nor will he create big plays with his legs. However, Barkley's ability to throw on the run doesn't get the credit it deserves. Extending plays, creating enough separation and space to throw, and ultimately throwing on the move outside the tackle box are not necessarily strengths in Barkley's game, but they are not weaknesses, either. Barkley has completed more than 65 percent of his passes with 23 touchdowns and three interceptions when outside the pocket in his career, including 16 touchdowns on designed roll-outs.

Furthermore, the numbers show that Barkley has consistently been able to read defenses and hit his hot read against extra pass-rushers. In his career, Barkley has thrown 44 touchdowns and just six interceptions when opponents blitz.



5. Durability and availability

Trent Dilfer reiterates time and again how important it is to be available to your teammates at the most critical position in all of sports. Though Barkley battled shoulder sprains and an AC joint dislocation to end his career two games prematurely, the powerfully-built Barkley started 47 of 51 games over his four years in Los Angeles.

Unlike his USC QB brethren Matt Leinart, Carson Palmer and Mark Sanchez, Barkley didn't have Pete Carroll's elite defenses to lighten his burden, especially down the home stretch of his career. There was no Clay Matthews or Lofa Tatupu or Brian Cushing. No, the defenses during Barkley's stay were some of the worst statistical units in school history, and Barkley had to carry the load as a result.

But that's enough of the excuses and explanations, since no one wants to hear them anyway. What people will care about is how Barkley performs at his pro day, and I'm expecting the throng of scouts, coaches and NFL decision-makers to come away very impressed with his physical exploits.

Now, if you compare Barkley purely as an athlete to Luck, RG III and Wilson -- the three rookies who ravaged NFL defenses a season ago -- Barkley simply isn't going to measure up. But he does share a common trait with that trio: He, like those three passers, is a leader of men. As Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider described Wilson time and again, "He tilts the field when he walks into a meeting room. Everyone knows the quarterback and leader has arrived."

Barkley can have the same effect on a locker room, and his résumé as a leader is rich in production:

• He helped guide the USC program through its most turbulent stretch when the incentive of bowl games and championships was wiped away.

• He started for powerhouse Mater Dei as a true freshman in high school and for USC as a true freshman, becoming the first Trojans quarterback in program history to take the snaps from the onset.

• With the NFL draft 30 days away and the firing of misinformation heating up, scouts and executives have lauded Barkley's combine presentation in meeting rooms and throughout the interview process.

When you combine that leadership ability with what is an underrated physical skill set, you get a quarterback prospect with the potential to be very successful once he gets to the NFL. Even after all of the struggles he and his USC team went through during the 2012 season, I expect, when all is said and done, for Barkley to be the first QB taken in this year's draft.


Brock Huard
ESPN Insider

 

[Crimsoncrew]

The 49ers should trade their 1st round pick to a team in desperate need of a QB for their first next year. Jacksonville will probably expect him to be there for the start of round 2 and they need a QB badly. Some suck ass team will try and jump them to get him. We can get a low first next year and draft Clowney. Or draft Barkley then trade him to Jacksonville for their first next year. They are the odds on favorite to be the worst team next season. Only other team who might be as bad is the Cardinals.

Definitely wouldn't do that. Once we've drafted him, we lose much of our leverage. Teams will know we don't want to keep him.

 

[MHSL82]

Definitely wouldn't do that. Once we've drafted him, we lose much of our leverage. Teams will know we don't want to keep him.

Unless they're Kansas City. Then, they will give you two high draft picks.

 

[numone9er]

Barkley is one of those guys who could use a year on the bench. He might be a good fit for Az if he can sit behind Carson Palmer for a year and wait for that Offensive line to improve. I like his footwork. I know a lot is made about his arm strength and accuracy, but he's worth a late first round pick. I do think he belongs in a West Coast Offense. KC might be another good fit for him.