Kevin Jennings

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No Sundays are Given

Watching SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings play, a pro football player comparison immediately sprung to mind. He's Willie Beamen. Problem is, Beamen isn't a real person, he's a fictional movie character, played by Jamie Foxx in Any Given Sunday.

In the movie, Beamen is the 3rd string QB on his team, but is thrust into action due to injuries to the other QBs. While very athletic, he's inexperienced and not ready, overwhelmed by the speed of the game and making many mistakes. The head coach, played by Al Pacino, calls a timeout and tries to settle Beamen down and restore his confidence. He tells Beamen not to worry about getting benched, because there aren't any other QBs left to insert into the game. Next, he tells Beamen to mentally return to his childhood days growing up in Dallas, Texas when football was simple and easy and you just threw the ball to your friend running "to the Buick" and turning around for the pass. He tells Beamen to forget the playbook, focus, just play and enjoy the moment. Beamen throws a long TD pass on the following snap.

Can you guess what city Kevin Jennings is from? Like Beamen, Jennings has a wild and untamed streetball style. His mechanics aren't close to being textbook. If Ty Simpson is a super game manager QB, Jennings is the polar opposite, he's a human slot machine. From one snap to the next, he might send his team to the penthouse or to the outhouse.

Jennings has one of the strongest arms in the entire draft class. He runs like a WR. He's also very short and would require substantial development and coaching to learn a playbook well enough to even become a viable QB3 on an NFL roster. Every draft board has Jennings listed in the UDFA territory. Some rank him so low, he might even get signed as an UDFA, he'd only be a try-out level prospect.

One of the players I considered using as his comp is Anthony Wright, who was an UDFA in 1999. Wright had a knee injury in college. His SR season at South Carolina, he was on a 1-10 team and played so poorly that he had to share playing time with a 2nd QB. He had as many INTs as TDs that year, only completed 53.1% of his passes, with only 172.6 yards per game. His resume was terrible for an NFL prospect. Plus, he was too short. On paper, he had no chance.

The top QBs in the 1999 draft included Tim Couch, Akili Smith and Cade McNown. In the 4th round, the Rams drafted Joe Germaine from Ohio State. After Trent Green got injured in the preseason, a prominent national media writer (I can't remember if it was ESPN or SI) predicted that by the middle of the year Kurt Warner would get benched and Germaine would become the starter for the Rams.

As a rookie, Wright was initially the 4th string QB for the Steelers. The following year, the Steelers drafted Tee Martin, who won a National Championship with Tennessee (instead of drafting Tom Brady) and waived Wright. Joining the Dallas Cowboys, Wright was reunited with Troy Hambrick, his former South Carolina teammate, who also had been an UDFA. Wright eventually became the 2nd string QB for Dallas after they waived Tony Banks. He then moved on to the Baltimore Ravens.

In 2003, Kyle Boller was injured playing against the Rams. Wright posted a 5-2 record in the subsequent games as the injury replacement starter. Wright continued as an NFL backup and had a surprisingly long career for an UDFA. Meanwhile, the Rams gave up on Joe Germaine and traded him to the Chiefs at the end of the 2001 preseason.

My actual NFL comp for Jennings is another QB from that 1999 draft. Do you know who it is? Here's a hint, he has an important connection to the Patriots and the rise of Tom Brady.

 

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Part 1: Background

Name, Age: Kevin Jennings, 5th year redshirt senior, SMU, turns 23 years old in April of 2027.

Size, estimated speed: Listed 6 feet tall, 192 pounds. Draftbuzz 4.60 seconds in 40, Draftscout 6 1/4'' tall, 192 pounds, 4.57 seconds in 40.

3-star recruit from Dallas, TX. Lightly recruited. Jennings says that at the time SMU offered him, the only other scholarship offer he had was from Missouri State.

Was listed by SMU at 170 pounds as FR, 189 the next season, then 185, then 192 in 2025.

Team captain in 2024 and 2025, presumably will be captain again in 2026. School named part of their football facilities after him, the "Kevin Jennings Recovery Center", where they have things like saunas and massage units. He's believed to be the first athlete to be honored in such a fashion while still in college.

Broken finger in 2024. Lower body injury in 2024. Limited by injuries for almost all of 2025 season. Injured his ankle in 2nd game of year, then injured it again in a subsequent game. Bone bruise in ankle.

2022 (4 games, redshirted): 17/22, 77.3% compl, 205 yards, 1 TD, 5-8 rushing, 1 fumble.
2023 (8 games, 2 starts): 61/105, 58.1% compl, 618 yards, 5 TDs, 2 INTs, 37-142-1 rushing, 2 fumbles.
2024 (14 games, 11 stats): 247/380, 65.0% compl, 3,245 yards, 23 TDs, 11 INTs, 101-354-5 rushing, 7 fumbles.
2025 (13 starts): 300/454 66.1% compl, 3,641 yards, 26 TDs, 13 INTs, 280.1 yards per game, 71-55-4, 3 fumbles.

His head coach used to be Guz Malzahn's OC and runs a similar offensive scheme.

Draftbuzz: UDFA, 406 overall. (+) Elite athlete, jump cut ability, high-end arm talent with varied arm angles and off platform throws, had 365 yards vs Miami. (-) Small, 13 INTs, decision making and accuracy under pressure, 2 pick sixes vs Penn State in 2024 CFP.
Draftscout: UDFA. Too thin.
Drafttek 440
Sam Teets preliminary board: Late Day 3 to UDFA, 193 overall
PFSN simulator 459
NFLMDD simulator 259

 

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Part 2: Strengths

Uncommon arm strength for a short QB. Loose and natural arm. Good velocity even when his base is compromised. Easily generates power and distance at least 40 yards downfield with flick of wrist even when he only takes a small step in windup. Frozen ropes while on the move to the right or to the left, even if he has to throw across his body, with tight spin and impressive zip. Can make strong throws from variety of arm angles. Similar to Brett Favre, he's a flamethrower with no conscience and will attempt to throw the ball very hard into almost impossible windows as if he just wants to show off his arm and see if he can get away with it. Can beat tight coverage or thread the ball into small openings between 2 defenders. No fear, has complete confidence in his own arm and will attempt to fit the ball into tiny windows.

Very difficult throw 30 yards downfield to the sideline, moving to his left. Some mailbox throws while moving to his right, jamming balls into tight windows. Rolling to his right, away from LOS, middle of the field, jumps in the air and throws an absolute dime to the sideline, almost 25 yards downfield.

Natural athlete in space. Escapes sacks in the pocket with sudden acceleration and darting elusiveness. Dangerous on QB draws. Literally like a WR when he takes off running. When he pulls the ball from the RB on a read option or bootlegs to the outside after a play action fake, it ends up being similar to using a WR on a jet sweep, except now this "imposter WR" also has a strong arm to throw the ball downfield.

Good creator off-script. More natural as a playmaker when the play breaks down. He's mistake prone and constrained trying to execute designed plays but shines more if things are unscripted and he can just run around and play with more freedom. He thrives playing streetball type football. He's no Patrick Mahomes in talent level, but it is a similar idea.

Visibly hindered in his mobility in 2025. As you can tell from the dramatic decline in his rushing stats, he was almost playing on one leg at times, taking away one of his biggest weapons. Has played through variety of injuries in his career, showing toughness.

Their offensive scheme created pressure, because the OL wasn't pass blocking on RPOs. Taking him out of that system and putting him in an NFL offense might help alleviate some of his mistakes and help him to break bad habits. Similar to how Michael Vick flourished under Andy Reid with the Eagles, I think Jennings would be a better fit in a West Coast offense type system.

While his mechanics are in need of a major overhaul, I do believe that his accuracy could substantially improve if he's willing to be coached and put in the work to become more disciplined and consistent with how he throws the ball. Only scratching the surface of his potential, because he isn't fully using the natural athletic gifts that he possesses.

One of his INTs was an unlucky bounce off a WR. Others weren't meaningful, happening late in games where they already were trailing.

Some of his most exciting plays didn't result in completions, they were near-miss "miracle" throws where he nearly pulls a rabbit out of his magic hat. For example, on flea flicker he's fading away and under heavy pressure. From the right hash, he throws a laser-guided missile over 25 yards to a WR on the numbers all the way over on the left side of the field, but it results in a PBU.

Humble, with a calm demeanor. His coach has praised him for his supreme self-confidence.

Might have value in the red zone or in specific game situations as a running QB for a team like the Rams that doesn't have a mobile starting QB. Also could be used on trick plays where you put him on the field as WR or RB, just to draw the attention of the defense. Especially if he's just a PS guy you just elevated to the regular roster and plan on demoting later, there's no fear of him getting injured, since he isn't a key player on the roster.

 

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Part 3: Weaknesses

Wild and undisciplined player. Nothing is textbook. Unorthodox throwing mechanics. Throws the ball like he's a baseball shortstop. Some crazy body positions on his throws. Jumps in the air unnecessarily. Left shoulder sometimes flies open very early. Helmet not balance. Feet often not properly aligned towards target. He has a very quick delivery, but nothing feels rehearsed or choreographed, it is just made up on an ad lib basis. Throws with just his arm on some RPOs, not bothering to set his feet or use proper upper body mechanics.

Inefficient dropback. Sometimes takes tiny wasted steps before he throws. Jittery feet in pocket. His mechanics crumble under pressure, leading to even more accuracy inconsistency.

Plays hero ball, very unpredictable how he'll respond to pass rush pressure, because he doesn't prioritize protecting the ball or field position. Does he close his eyes, throw the ball as hard as he can and just hope for the best? Sometimes it feels that way. Careless and reckless decision making such as trying very difficult passes into tight coverage when his feet aren't set. Retreats out the back of the pocket, creating the risk of eating the ball for huge loss of yardage.

Almost no touch, all fastballs. His WRs have to worry about breaking their fingers trying to catch the ball. Doesn't know how to layer and shape the ball around defenders to drop passes into coverage voids. Passes have too flat of a trajectory.

Poor and wild ball placements on short and intermediate passes, even throws behind the LOS. Often high or behind the WR. Sprays the ball all over the place and doesn't seem to care. Unreliable deep ball distance control and accuracy. Sometimes it is a fantastic bomb that hits the WR on the hands, other times the pass is way off, like a Hail Mary he's just throwing up for grabs.

A turnover factory. Throws INTs that make the CB look like the intended receiver. Completely blind to lurking defenders, eyes locked onto his intended WR. Crazy bounce off a CB result in very long TD instead of an INT, pure luck in result.

Poor reading coverage even with straightforward pre-snap reads. Not an anticipatory passer, prefers to see the WR open before he throws, resulting in him being very late getting throws to WRs who are open in the intermediate area of the field.

Throws very dangerous hospital balls, leading WRs into huge hits. Doesn't see defenders in coverage and adjust to protect his WR.

Poor ball security. Waves ball wildly in air in one hand, both in pocket and on scrambles, inviting the defense to take it from him. Fumble at mesh point trying to pull it from RB. Fumble diving for the end zone. Soft fumbles.

Injury prone. Poor sense for how to protect himself. Timid finishing runs, resulting in awkward collisions ducking his head into hits, with his body not prepared and in vulnerable positions instead of sliding or delivering hits into the defender. Doesn't throw the ball away, tries to escape sacks, taking avoidable hits.

Played in a gimmicky offense with very simplistic reads. Some TD passes were touch passes on jet sweeps.

Not a reliable and consistent QB. A roller coaster with exciting highs but also demoralizing and team crushing lows.

Too short. Slender build, not muscular, doesn't have broad shoulders. Poor frame for further physical development. Maybe he should switch positions and try to become a WR or DB. Arguably, he's not really a QB prospect, he's just a WR playing QB in college.

Way too many things in his game that need to be fixed and no coaching staff has enough time to invest in an UDFA prospect to fix him. Probably a longshot to stick on an NFL roster, even at PS level.

 

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Part 4: Draft Grade and Pro Comp

Late round grade. Michael Bishop (7th round 1999, New England Patriots, Kansas State).

Bishop had a fantastic 2-year career at KSU. He was 2nd in the Heisman Trophy voting behind Ricky Williams in 1998. If it weren't for an upset loss in their conference championship game, KSU might have won the national championship his senior year. Bishop had a cannon for an arm and could run, but he was only about 6 feet tall.

When Tom Brady was drafted by the Patriots in 2000, he initially made the roster as the 4th string QB, behind Bishop. The starter, Drew Bledsoe, had a great arm but he was a statue with almost no mobility. Bishop developed a cult following among Patriot fans. When Bledsoe struggled, many angry fans demanded that Bishop (not Tom Brady) get an opportunity to start.

In 2001, Brady won a tightly contested competition with Damon Huard for the QB2 job. Bishop failed to show signs of development and was waived. He went on to play in the CFL and arena football.

If Michael Bishop had developed into a better QB, I wonder what would have happened to Brady? Had Bishop been the backup in 2001 when Drew Bledsoe got injured and nearly died, Bishop would have been the QB elevated into the starter's role. Brady would have been stuck behind him. Maybe Brady would have been traded to a different team or waived. NFL history and Brady's career might have gone in an entirely different direction.

While I think Kevin Jennings has some huge flaws as a prospect, I still gave him a draft worthy grade. He's got a really strong arm. NFL teams sometimes take flyers in the late rounds on "toolsy" QB prospects, even if the tape isn't good. The vast majority of those players won't amount to anything but once in a while the QB makes it. Tyrod Taylor is under 6'1'' tall and was a 6th round pick.

Anthony Wright managed to have a decent NFL career as a backup despite being very short. One of the reasons is because he had a very strong arm. This is also the reason that I still kind of like Jennings in spite of his other shortcomings. Especially if he's not going to get drafted, he's a candidate to try to convince to sign with your team as an UDFA, then if he shows enough potential, stash him on the PS for a year to see if he can improve.