Ryan Nassib: Worth The #1 Pick?
Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
While most Kansas City Chiefs fans seem to have made up their mind that Geno Smith is the best QB in the 2013 NFL Draft, the folks over at the National Football Post would disagree.
Yesterday, NFP draft expert Russ Lande published an article about eight players he thinks we should keep an eye on during this weekend’s Senior Bowl college all-start game. Lande dropped a bit of a shocker when he stated that he though Syracuse QB Ryan Nassib was not only the #1 player to watch in the Senior Bowl, but that Nassib was the #1 player, period, in the entire draft.
From NFP:
"1. Ryan Nassib, QB, Syracuse (6020, 228 and 5.05): Already rising up draft boards, NFL personnel are excited to see Nassib matched up with the best senior talent in the country. Quick and athletic to avoid pressure, re-set and make accurate throws, Nassib has NFL teams intrigued. After charting out Nassib in five games we consider him to be the best quarterback in the 2013 NFL Draft and worth drafting with the first overall pick, so we are excited to see how he does in Mobile. Blessed with a strong arm, the ball bursts out of his hand and he can make 15+ yard throws with zip even when a defender is about to hit him and he cannot stride into his throw. Having played in the Big East where the defenses are not the same caliber as the SEC and some of the other conferences, NFL teams are interested to see how he does against top defenders. The big thing that Nassib must work on is his deep passing as he tends to put too much air under his throws which forces his receivers to slow up and wait for the ball. This allows the defensive back to close and make a play on the ball. He could be the story of Mobile if he has a strong week and begins climbing up into the high first round."
Wow. Worth taking with the first pick? That is a serious statement.
NFL Draft Scout currently projects Nassib as a second round pick and they have him as the #5 QB on their board.
Here is some tape on Nassib:
It will be interesting to see what happens. This time last year, not very many people were talking about Russel Wilson. I think the success of some of the later round QBs recently may have NFL personnel people paying closer attention to signal callers coming from smaller programs or with less hype.
Interestingly enough, it was Nassib’s Syracuse Orange that beat Geno Smith and West Virginia in the Pinstripe Bowl. Neither QB was particularly effective thanks to cold, snowy conditions. Smith finished the game 19 of 28 for 201 yards and two TDs with no INTs. Nassib was 11 of 23 for 130 yards, two TDs and one INT. The difference in the game was that the Orange were able to rush for 369 yards as a team.
What do you guys think of Nassib?