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UCLA's Hundley ignoring draft critics
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_61616680-fee5-52f6-a12c-4adaccf87062.html
INDIANAPOLIS • Following the 2014 football season at UCLA, quarterback Brett Hundley had a long talk with Bruins coach Jim Mora.
“The one thing he said was don’t listen to anything,” Hundley said. “He said, turn your social media off. Turn all of it off. Because in this next couple months they will break you down, and they will not tell you anything good about yourself.
“You’ve got to go out there and prove everybody wrong. So always hold that chip on your shoulder.”
There’s a long way to go before the draft April 30-May 2. But Hundley got off to a good start Thursday during his session at the NFL Scouting Combine.
He was quizzed about his accuracy, and his reputation among some as a one-look-and-run QB. He was asked why this is such a bad quarterback class. (Kind of guilt by association.)
At first glance, it seemed a strange line of questioning for someone who finished his college career first at UCLA in career completions (837), total offense (11,173 yards), and touchdown passes (75), and second in yards passing (9,966) and yards rushing(1,747) .
But often that’s the way things go at the Combine, a place where players get picked apart and Mora’s words ring true. Hundley has heard it all before and if he took offense Thursday, it didn’t show.
So for all the Rams fans hoping to end up with Oregon’s Marcus Mariota or Florida State’s Jameis Winston, they’re more likely to be looking at someone like Hundley if the Rams draft a QB.
He’s part of the second tier of quarterbacks that also includes Baylor’s Bryce Petty, Oregon State’s Sean Mannion, and Colorado State’s Garrett Grayson. Hundley has a formal interview scheduled with the Rams — also known as a “suite visit” because it takes place in the Rams’ suite at the Combine headquarters hotel.
Petty and Mannion also have suite visits set up with the Rams; teams are allowed a maximum of 60 suite visits during the Combine.
Hundley drew some criticism for not attending the Senior Bowl last month, but he had a good excuse.
“Injuries. Trying to get healthy,” he said. “I think that’s the No. 1 thing you have to take into consideration in making decisions on when to go to a Senior Bowl or an NFLPA game. I wasn’t there yet (health-wise).”
Hundley said he came out of UCLA’s season with shoulder and elbow issues. But he’s good to go in Indy and has nothing to hide. He’s doing everything here, throwing, running, broad jump, vertical — the whole deal.
“That’s the one thing here, is you get to compete against the best,” he said. “And being able to throw to some of the best receivers. Being able to run against some of the best quarterbacks. ... You get to display a lot.”
Most of the current projections have Hundley as a second-round prospect and the No. 3 or No. 4 QB in the draft. But in his mind he’s No. 1 — as in No. 1 overall pick.
That’s not going to happen. But Hundley isn’t backing down from any of his QB counterparts here.
“I’m gonna compete,” Hundley said. “That’s the one thing that I think all of us love to do, and that’s the reason why we play the game. One of the reasons, at least.”
And that’s taking nothing away from the big names at the top of the draft: Winston and Mariota.
“They’re great quarterbacks,” Hundley said. “Mariota is very athletic. Jameis is a great, great quarterback. I mean, they both have Heisman under their name. Mariota got to the championship. Jameis won it.
“They’re both good with the offenses they ran. I personally know ’em very well and got to spend some time with them at the Peyton (Manning) camp. But we all have our unique abilities and I think that’s where you separate each and every quarterback.”
Hundley said what makes him the quarterback he is begins with hard work and leadership.
“Leadership is one thing, being the face of a franchise is another thing — understanding that role comes with the quarterback,” he said. “But I think hard work and pulling the most out of your players is one that you really look at as a quarterback.”
Hundley has been a fan of former Philadelphia Eagles great Donovan McNabb for a long time, and has talked to and met with him many times.
“I love Donovan to death,” Hundley said. “I talk to him even to this day, and he has helped me out through this journey and this process. He’s a smooth quarterback and he’s unique at what he does, and I think that’s the same thing that I bring while playing football — I guess just the ‘it’ factor.”
Hundley says the best way to dispel criticism of his game will come in the meeting rooms this week with NFL coaches and scouts. He isn’t the first mobile college quarterback to be accused of leaving the pocket if the first read isn’t there.
“There’s times where I sat in the pocket and made throws, and I feel like I consistently did that throughout college,” Hundley said. “But there were times where our offense needed the — if something’s not there, you gotta take off running.”
The lack of accuracy criticism seems a little strange considering he completed 69.1 percent of his throws last season, and 66.6 percent over his UCLA career.
“I think that may be a little misconstrued,” he said.
As for this being what some call the worst quarterback class in many, many years, Hundley says: “We’re gonna have to prove ’em wrong.”
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_61616680-fee5-52f6-a12c-4adaccf87062.html
INDIANAPOLIS • Following the 2014 football season at UCLA, quarterback Brett Hundley had a long talk with Bruins coach Jim Mora.
“The one thing he said was don’t listen to anything,” Hundley said. “He said, turn your social media off. Turn all of it off. Because in this next couple months they will break you down, and they will not tell you anything good about yourself.
“You’ve got to go out there and prove everybody wrong. So always hold that chip on your shoulder.”
There’s a long way to go before the draft April 30-May 2. But Hundley got off to a good start Thursday during his session at the NFL Scouting Combine.
He was quizzed about his accuracy, and his reputation among some as a one-look-and-run QB. He was asked why this is such a bad quarterback class. (Kind of guilt by association.)
At first glance, it seemed a strange line of questioning for someone who finished his college career first at UCLA in career completions (837), total offense (11,173 yards), and touchdown passes (75), and second in yards passing (9,966) and yards rushing(1,747) .
But often that’s the way things go at the Combine, a place where players get picked apart and Mora’s words ring true. Hundley has heard it all before and if he took offense Thursday, it didn’t show.
So for all the Rams fans hoping to end up with Oregon’s Marcus Mariota or Florida State’s Jameis Winston, they’re more likely to be looking at someone like Hundley if the Rams draft a QB.
He’s part of the second tier of quarterbacks that also includes Baylor’s Bryce Petty, Oregon State’s Sean Mannion, and Colorado State’s Garrett Grayson. Hundley has a formal interview scheduled with the Rams — also known as a “suite visit” because it takes place in the Rams’ suite at the Combine headquarters hotel.
Petty and Mannion also have suite visits set up with the Rams; teams are allowed a maximum of 60 suite visits during the Combine.
Hundley drew some criticism for not attending the Senior Bowl last month, but he had a good excuse.
“Injuries. Trying to get healthy,” he said. “I think that’s the No. 1 thing you have to take into consideration in making decisions on when to go to a Senior Bowl or an NFLPA game. I wasn’t there yet (health-wise).”
Hundley said he came out of UCLA’s season with shoulder and elbow issues. But he’s good to go in Indy and has nothing to hide. He’s doing everything here, throwing, running, broad jump, vertical — the whole deal.
“That’s the one thing here, is you get to compete against the best,” he said. “And being able to throw to some of the best receivers. Being able to run against some of the best quarterbacks. ... You get to display a lot.”
Most of the current projections have Hundley as a second-round prospect and the No. 3 or No. 4 QB in the draft. But in his mind he’s No. 1 — as in No. 1 overall pick.
That’s not going to happen. But Hundley isn’t backing down from any of his QB counterparts here.
“I’m gonna compete,” Hundley said. “That’s the one thing that I think all of us love to do, and that’s the reason why we play the game. One of the reasons, at least.”
And that’s taking nothing away from the big names at the top of the draft: Winston and Mariota.
“They’re great quarterbacks,” Hundley said. “Mariota is very athletic. Jameis is a great, great quarterback. I mean, they both have Heisman under their name. Mariota got to the championship. Jameis won it.
“They’re both good with the offenses they ran. I personally know ’em very well and got to spend some time with them at the Peyton (Manning) camp. But we all have our unique abilities and I think that’s where you separate each and every quarterback.”
Hundley said what makes him the quarterback he is begins with hard work and leadership.
“Leadership is one thing, being the face of a franchise is another thing — understanding that role comes with the quarterback,” he said. “But I think hard work and pulling the most out of your players is one that you really look at as a quarterback.”
Hundley has been a fan of former Philadelphia Eagles great Donovan McNabb for a long time, and has talked to and met with him many times.
“I love Donovan to death,” Hundley said. “I talk to him even to this day, and he has helped me out through this journey and this process. He’s a smooth quarterback and he’s unique at what he does, and I think that’s the same thing that I bring while playing football — I guess just the ‘it’ factor.”
Hundley says the best way to dispel criticism of his game will come in the meeting rooms this week with NFL coaches and scouts. He isn’t the first mobile college quarterback to be accused of leaving the pocket if the first read isn’t there.
“There’s times where I sat in the pocket and made throws, and I feel like I consistently did that throughout college,” Hundley said. “But there were times where our offense needed the — if something’s not there, you gotta take off running.”
The lack of accuracy criticism seems a little strange considering he completed 69.1 percent of his throws last season, and 66.6 percent over his UCLA career.
“I think that may be a little misconstrued,” he said.
As for this being what some call the worst quarterback class in many, many years, Hundley says: “We’re gonna have to prove ’em wrong.”
