O’Connell NFL?
- Thread starter Beorik
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AOC is like the college version of Kurt Werner. He throws a nice ball but he is just not athletic. I would question whether he had the arm strength to make the NFL throws as well.
He isn’t as good as most of the back ups in the league. Look at Blough and J Brissett, a few of the career backups that come to mind. Blough does a nice job running. Brissett is huge and has a pretty good arm.
Not saying I have an eye for that talent, but those are the guys he’d be competing with. I don’t see it.
Something to consider as well. Is the player all conference? NFL can chose from 5 big conferences and all the smaller ones. Along with the last 5 seasons who still want to play in the league. I just don’t see scouts being interested.
He isn’t as good as most of the back ups in the league. Look at Blough and J Brissett, a few of the career backups that come to mind. Blough does a nice job running. Brissett is huge and has a pretty good arm.
Not saying I have an eye for that talent, but those are the guys he’d be competing with. I don’t see it.
Something to consider as well. Is the player all conference? NFL can chose from 5 big conferences and all the smaller ones. Along with the last 5 seasons who still want to play in the league. I just don’t see scouts being interested.
If he stays healthy, he's going to put up big numbers. He's very accurate on intermediate and deep throws. A lot of scouts watching Bell, and this QB draft class stinks. Not sure he'll be drafted, but certainly wouldn't be surprised if he got a free agent deal and found himself on a practice squad.
IMO, he has the arm strength! I've been to 30-40 practices over the last few years. He's probably between Sindelar and Blough in strength, and I guarantee you, Elijah had the arm strength!
Yeah that was along the lines of my thoughts too.
In his 2 starts he is averaging like 35 ypg more than the next best qb in the Big. Obviously he would need to continue that and cut down the TOs but I think there could be a chance as a free agent signing. I don’t know. Maybe I am crazy but his arm and accuracy are much much better than I originally thought.
He could be a career backup for sure. Some people have a tough time seeing the best in people, AOC is smart, solid arm, can make the throws. No running game to help him, remember. In the NFL, there will be some run game,
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who knows w/ QB's, you have guys like Romo and Garapollo who came out of nowhere, a guy like Kessler? from USC who played only a little there and he had a minor Pro career, a guy like Darnold who so far is meh, Nic Foles is another accurate but not mobile QB.
The dude threw for 375 against Iowa and he’s got a love arm. Why do some people here think he’s not good. Before you start on Oconnell you need to post for about 3 months about Miller if you want your posts to reflect relative value.
to the extent this team has been held back, Oconnell is FAR down the list of reasons why
He throws a very good deep ball in my opinion and better than some other qbs I’ve seen this year. I also think there would be a little more talk of him having a chance as an undrafted guy if he played a little more the last three years but who knows. I know painter got a shot because of the colts and the nfl was different back then but anything is possible I guess.
I mean, Jacob Eason and Brett Hundley are drawing NFL paychecks…
Agreed. And I know I will get flack but looking at the list of Big Ten starting qbs…. I would take maybe 2 over O’Connell.
I like Oconnells ability more than almost anybody posting here
I’ve been a huge AOC fan since I saw him come in and shut up the Cornholer fans sitting behind me in RA a couple years ago.
It’s hard to say. I am sure he would be putting up huge passing numbers. He would also have to learn to never hang onto the ball for more than 2 seconds. What do you think? Would he be better or worse statistically without a running game and without having nfl prospects at every position on offense? I say big passing numbers but probably more sacks and interceptions than he has now.
Hard to say. Stroud is obviously a far superior player athletically. But I’m not sure I see him put in positions where he has to process things quickly or fit balls into tight windows. He is expected to be phenominal with a phenominal supporting cast. Different challenge that simply being good with an average supporting cast. IMO that’s why it is often hard to project guys to that next level.
Aidan’s performance on Saturday showed just how much better a QB can look when his OL gives him an extra second or two. And when he has an All American receiver in 1-1 matchups. And yet he still didn’t have much run support. Imagine if he did…
Aidan’s lack of mobility hurts him, but compared to a guy like Adrian Martinez his pro prospects I’d say are better because Martinez isn’t outrunning guys in the NFL. And Aidan’s pocket passing is 10x better. If he comes back next year and the line and run game are improved, even without Bell he could start putting up Blough-like numbers on a regular basis.
What do you consider "Blough-like" numbers? Aiden averages well over 300 yards a game in starts dating back to 2019.
Just using Blough, an NFL guy, as a comparison. His biggest area of improvement his senior year was his TD/INT ratio. Went from 44/33 first 3 years to 25/10. Aidan's yards per attempt are there, just needs to cut down the INT, which should happen with better line play.
He's just not nearly athletic enough for the NFL. If luck lands his way he could be a UDFA pickup for a practice squad and make a nice little career as a journeyman backup/squad guy though.
I think Oconnell will be on a roster because it’s obvious he’s a guy who can get deep into reads and pass to the receiver on the run even when he’s been looking the other way and has to turn and throw without looking.
Plummer might go anyway because he knows the Brohms have figured him out... or he might figure out on his own that he is just not good enough (sorry dad). He is not like Joe Burrow who never had a chance at OSU. JP did have a chance and simply failed at being good enough. Not the first time for a college player and won't be the last. So maybe he hangs around, spends time with his girlfriend, and gets a top degree for free. You Indiana people do not realize what Purdue means outside of Indiana and maybe Illinois. People in the other 48 equate Purdue with Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Standford, Tulane... really. Schools that don't have a state in the name. Being from Purdue is a good thing except if you stay in Indiana... not so much. Ha!
Burton is done after this year, and, well Alaimo has plenty of time.... will have to fight it out with the good guys coming in the next year or two.
meant Standeford. He was a great college player. Tulane? You don't know them? New Orleans.
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