INDIANAPOLIS — Unless you are somehow able to gain access to one of the rooms in which NFL teams meet with draft prospects during the week of the scouting combine, there’s no way to know what’s really discussed. One thing that is almost always happens is a tape-watching expedition in which the NFL people will have play examples dialed up that hopefully show what the prospects can do.
Here at Touchdown Wire, we do not possess the required juice to crash those rooms, but we are able to ask these prospects during their combine media sessions which plays from their college careers best typify their potential.
We’ve already done this with six tight ends and seven cornerbacks here at the combine, and now, it’s time to get into the favorite plays of five quarterback prospects — Oregon’s Bo Nix, Kentucky’s Devin Leary, Florida State’s Jordan Travis, South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler, and Tulane’s Michael Pratt.
Bo Nix, Oregon
After three seasons at Auburn in which he completed 53.4% of his passes and threw 39 touchdown passes to 16 interceptions, Nix moved along to Oregon, and everything just exploded — in two years with the Ducks, Nix completed 74.9% of his passes for 74 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions. That efficiency has some thinking that Nix is some sort of Captain Checkdown, but that’s not really the case — in 2023, he completed 26 of 51 passes of 20 or more air yards for 999 yards, 16 touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 119.9.
Nix was eager to discuss those plays in which he was letting it rip.
“I think there’s several ones of our shot plays — times we pushed the ball vertically down the field when the defenses gave it to us. At the end of the day, it’s about efficiency and processing and preparing. I think that everything that goes into a Saturday is a lot more than just completing a post ball, or completing a checkdown, or handing the ball off, to be honest. There’s so much that goes into offensive play-calling in game, and that’s the fun part. When you get to prepare all week, and you go into the game knowing you’re going to get this play off. When you do it, and you get the right look, and you execute it at a high level, that’s one of the things that not only brings the coaches joy — why they do what they do — but it’s exciting for me, too.”
So, what’s the best shot play?
“Oh, that’s tough, I think the one… it was a little more of a busted play, but the one with movement right and throwback left to Troy [Franklin] on the backside post against Oregon State at the end of the first half. That was a close game, and we were able to score before the half, and that provided some cushion for us. That was a big moment in a big drive, and we capped it off with a really special play.”
20 seconds left in the first half, and Oregon was up-14-7. The Beavers were in Cover-4, and Nix rolled right, reacting to pressure from edge-rusher Sione Lolohea from a five-man front with a pressure exchange. Oregon State was basically chasing the three receivers from trips around one-on-one, and Nix made the huge throw to Franklin to the other side of the field.
Bo Nix's favorite college play: End of the first half against Oregon State, gets out of the pocket against a front-side rush, and hauls off with this deep post to Troy Franklin vs. Quarters. pic.twitter.com/VgNcoyXqaV
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) March 2, 2024
Devin Leary, Kentucky
Leary had four good seasons at North Carolina State before transferring to Kentucky for the 2023 season, and there, he completed 208 of 371 passes for 2,750 yards, 25 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and a passer rating of 88.7. That interception total included five in his final four games against Alabama, South Carolina, Louisville, and Clemson. It’ll be cause for concern in the minds of NFL evaluators, but if there’s one thing you can say about Leary, he’s not afraid to compete against the best possible opposition. That came up when mentioning his favorite plays.
“I would say this last year, playing in the SEC against Tennessee, it was a pretty hostile environment with the rivalry that there is there. I threw a wheel route in the red zone to Barion Brown — it was kind of a back-shoulder throw — that I ultimately think just clicked on our offense in that game, and it got us rolling, which was a pretty cool moment.”
It was a cool moment based on a concept you see a lot in the NFL — double red zone slants to clear out the underneath route, and it was executed well here.
Devin Leary's favorite play at Kentucky: An 11-yard wheel route to Barion Brown against Tennessee.
"I ultimately think just clicked on our offense in that game, and it got us rolling, which was a pretty cool moment." pic.twitter.com/PejxLPeCDO
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) March 2, 2024
“And then, I would say in 2021 [for North Carolina State], when we beat Clemson in double overtime. I think they were ranked Top 10 in the country, and it was a battle the whole game. It was honestly kind of an off-scripted play; the receiver Devin Carter just got on the same page with me, and we scored the touchdown and went up in overtime. So, it was really cool.”
This play came with 12:20 left in the second overtime from the Clemson 22-yard line. The Tigers were in Quarters, and they were playing through Carter at the line of scrimmage, perhaps expecting Leary to dump the ball off to receiver Thayer Thomas. Carter slow-played his route up the numbers, and then broke out, with cornerback Andrew Booth Jr. a step late to follow.
Devin Leary's favorite play at North Carolina State: The game-winner against Clemson in double overtime in 2021.
"It was honestly kind of an off-scripted play; the receiver Devin Carter just got on the same page with me." pic.twitter.com/gajOKc3v7n
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) March 2, 2024
Jordan Travis, Florida State
Travis was well into a great 2023 season when he suffered a brutal leg fracture against North Alabama on November 18. He said this week at the combine that he should be ready to go for training camp with whichever NFL team selects him in the draft. But in his 2023 season, Travis completed 207 of 325 passes for 2,755 yards, 20 touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 108.4. Given that he completed 18 of 58 passes last season of 20 or more air yards for 591 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 87.6, it should come as no surprise that his favorite concepts had as many vertical routes as possible.
“I mean, I could go through the whole thing, but I’d say a simple four-verts option — a [coverage] beater to the boundary. It gives you options against Cover-3, you can hit seams against Cover-2, you can hit the beater to the middle of the field. If the WILL backer drops on the beater, you can come down to the back. You can run your offense everywhere against man. We ran four-verts a lot, I would get opening on the outside to Johnny [Wilson] or Keon [Coleman], and we took advantage of that, for sure.”
So, Travis didn’t give a specific example of four verts working for the Seminoles, but there are certainly enough examples on tape. Travis did have 45 explosive passes last season to all levels of the field, after all. This 48-yard pass to receiver Jaheim Bell was a great example in a different way than Travis described, with the slot receivers running little benders to further test Cover-1.
Jordan Travis' four favorite concepts:
1. Four verts
2. Four verts
3. Four verts
4. Four verts pic.twitter.com/5E9ciWrISg— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) March 2, 2024
Spencer Rattler, South Carolina
After three seasons at Oklahoma, Rattler moved to South Carolina, had one year of adjustment, and came around in 2023, completing 274 of 403 passes for 3,183 yards, 19 touchdowns, eight interceptions, and a passer rating of 99.1. There is a rogue gene in Rattler that his NFL coaches will need to manage, but when asked about his ideal play, he showed that he has it together above the neck.
“Den Dozer Right Strong Cozy 73 Y IHOP Swiss. Just a great play to draw up. It gets really intricate when you break it down. You’ve got your yes-or-no read, an alert to the cornerback, a little pivot route to the backside Cover-2, in-cut, influence read.”
Best version of that?
“Florida week.”
Cool stuff. The closest example I could find in the Florida game (with help from the legendary Mark Schofield) was Rattler’s 24-yard pass to O’Mega Blake with 10:33 left in the fourth quarter. Blake hit the in-cut front-side against Florida’s Cover-3, the yes-or-no read was the go/flat, and the alert to the cornerback was which route he took to that side. There’s not every element here — it’s not Cover-2, for example — but it’s a nice insight into everything a quarterback has to read right away.
Spencer Rattler's favorite play with South Carolina: "Den Dozer Right Strong Cozy 73 Y IHOP Swiss. Just a great play to draw up. It gets really intricate when you break it down. You've got your yes-or-no read, an alert to the cornerback, a little pivot route to the backside,… pic.twitter.com/qAXeOQ3xEy
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) March 2, 2024
Michael Pratt, Tulane
Tulane’s offense has become pretty explosive under head coach Willie Fritz over the last two seasons, and Pratt has been a big part of that. Last season, he completed 185 of 283 passes for 2,405 yards, 24 touchdowns, five interceptions, and a passer rating of 110.5. And since he completed 24 of 53 passes of 20 or more air yards last season for 859 yards, nine touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 115.8, it’s not a surprise that his favorite play with the Green Wave was a deep ball.
“I think our pure progression reads; we have our Laser Add H Prime X Pro Rodgers, or Right Hope Off Add Buckeye Hot Rod Rodgers — we’ve got pure progression reads with options. We’ve got pick-a-side leverage plays with options.”
What was the best leverage play?
“Probably one of my throws against Rice; the touchdown to Yulkeith Brown. It was a criss-cross, which is a top-down read. Both sides are running over routes, we’ll alert one side if it’s man, but if it’s zone, we’ll read the over to the back. I had some pressure, and I had to drift around and throw it off my back foot 25 yards downfield.”
Brown and Chris Brazzell II ran the over routes, Pratt liked what he saw to Brown when Rice safety Daveon Hook dropped to the flat from a Quarters look, and that’s how you get a 26-yard touchdown.
Michael Pratt's favorite play with Tulane: "It was a criss-cross, which is a top-down read. Both sides are running over routes. We'll alert one side if it's man, but if it's zone, we'll read the over to the back. I had some pressure, and I had to drift around and throw it off my… pic.twitter.com/NeF0aLk4hV
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) March 2, 2024
