Accuracy and awareness continue to be two aspects of UCLA junior quarterback Brett Hundley's game that are drawing questions from NFL scouts. His performance against rival USC on Saturday will give him a chance to either help dispel some of those doubts, or entrench them.
"He has very good size and athletic ability, but he struggles reading things and throwing with accuracy," an AFC scouting director told NFL Media's Albert Breer.
Statistically, Hundley's numbers belie concerns about accuracy. His completion percentage is a career-high 72.1, but scouts don't simply judge accuracy based on completion percentage. He's completed 220 of 305 passes for 2,547 yards, 17 touchdowns and a career-low four interceptions. A fourth-year junior, Hundley has said he expects this season to be his last in college, and he has until mid-January to declare for the NFL draft. An AFC area scout told Breer that Hundley reminds him of former Jacksonville Jaguars QB David Garrard, a fourth-round pick in the 2002 draft who went on to become a starter during his 12-year career.
Still, scouts have suggested Hundley would be better off returning to UCLA in 2015.
"I feel bad for him, because everyone hyped him up so much in the preseason, it was like he had to play at a (Marcus) Mariota-type level or he'd be a failure," the area scout told Breer.
The Los Angeles Times spoke with three scouts about Hundley, who described him as a "developmental" prospect and echoed some of the same concerns.
"He's got a really nice skill set. He's a big kid and athletic with a good arm, not a great arm," a scout told the Times. "We need to see better accuracy from him, especially throwing from the pocket. He tends to hold on to the ball too long, and he's not as quick going through his progression as he should be at this stage of his career."
"He's got everything you want physically. You just question his process and vision at times," said another.
If Hundley follows through on his initial plan to enter the draft, his raw skill set will be a big attraction for NFL clubs in need of a young quarterback with high potential. But if concerns about the flaws in his game haven't subsided by this point in the season, they aren't likely to subside at all.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
