The 2015 College Football season is right around the corner, so I will be in the film room daily, watching film of some of the best pro prospects at every position. Today I will give you my scouting report on Penn State Junior Quarterback Christian Hackenburg. I will tell you his strengths, weaknesses, and his draft grade heading into this season. Enjoy!
Christian Hackenburg Penn State QB Jr. 6’4 234 lbs
Career Stats: 25 Games 501-876 57% 5,932 yards 32 TD 25 INT 4 Rush TD
Strengths: Hackenburg has the prototype size for an NFL QB, standing at 6’4 and weighing over 230 pounds. He’s well put together, has a strong, thick lower body and is built to take hits at the next level.
As a passer, he has a classic, overhead throwing motion, has more then enough arm strength to make any throw asked of him. He completes the deep outs and comebacks to the wide side of the field with ease, has great zip and velocity of the football. He has played in a pro style offense during his first two seasons, he has experience using three, five and seven step drops and their offense uses the entire route tree in the passing game. He flashes the ability to threaten all three levels of the football field as a passer with accuracy and anticipation, at times showing the ability to drop the football in tight spots as well.
The most underrated aspect of Hackenburg’s game is his mobility. He isn’t Mike Vick or Randall Cunningham, but he has enough speed and athleticism to convert first downs at times with his legs. He also throws the football decently running to his right.
Weaknesses: Hackenburg is what I call a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde prospect when watching him on film. When the pocket is clean, he can be very good, but when the pocket is dirty, when he’s under pressure, he gets flustered, is very inaccurate and makes bad decisions with the football. He fails to properly step into his passes, which lead to throws being too high, too low or behind or too far in front of his target.
Hackenburg has to improve his ability to read coverage, decipher man from zone coverage,make quicker decisions and not throw the football into dangerous spots. At times I wonder what he was looking at when he threw the football. Late decision making has lead to tipped passes and interceptions.
Finally, he must learn to better protect himself by sliding when running, getting rid of the football quickly, and throwing the football away when there is nothing there. He is talented, but he trusts his ability too much at times, holding onto the football, taking too many unnecessary hits.
Overview: I give Christian Hackenburg a late 3rd-early 4th round grade heading into his junior season. After being the #1 QB prospect in the country coming out of high school, the expectations have been high for him at Happy Valley. Will he ever fulfill the expectations and become the number one pick in the draft that everyone predicted he would be? We’ll see. He has plenty to improve upon in 2015.
Muslim Football Scout 