STRENGTHS
Lamar has the athletic talent to play multiple positions for the team that selects him on defense or offense. As a quarterback he shows the arm strength to make all the throws for the next level and good accuracy. But what stands out about him is his Olympic style athletic talent that makes him dangerous to bring his team from behind until the last whistle blows. If Lamar played wide receiver he could be as good as Julio Jones and if he played corner back he could be as good as Dion Sanders as a running back he could be as good as Eric Dickerson. As a quarterback he will remind most of RGIII when he came out and that means Lamar has a lot to prove in his workouts. Nevertheless Lamar has remarkable athletic talent running and passing to be considered as a potential franchise quarterback. He can make plays from the pocket standing tall and has quick feet to scramble and reset to make a pass play down the field and that makes him double threat style of impact player. He has tremendous upside to his game and with the correct coaching and offensive system could be the franchise quarterback a team has been looking for.

CONCERNS
Lamar has a lot of improvement to do passing the ball but in his defense he has the work ethic, arm talent and football IQ to do it… he just needs to want it bad enough. Lamar also has to prove that he can throw with accuracy on the run, right now when he breaks the pocket he looks to run and does not continue to look down the field to pass the ball and that is THE part of his game he must develop or he will be in the medical tent more than he is between the white lines. I’m not talking about designed roll outs. I’m talking about moving, scrambling and extending plays in the passing game. Lamar hasn’t really improved his passing skills from or out of the pocket since the first time I saw him play. This bothers me because it sends a signal that Lamar may not be easy to coach, the same problem RGIII has.

BOTTOM LINE
Things have changed and the option style of offense is slowly infiltrating the NFL and now a quarterback from that style of offense has more of a chance if they are coachable. Lamar can play from the pocket and when he has time, he is accurate and throws the ball with good velocity but standing tall in the pocket and working from a muddle pocket, going through progressions is not something he does with any consistency and will take him time to adjust… if he can adjust. To be successful at the next level Lamar has to stay out of the medical tent and the only way to do that is to learn to manipulate the pocket and not just take off and run every time he gets pressured. He’s a boom or bust selection and the key for him not being a bust is to learn to extend plays in the passing game. He has to prove that he is coachable and prove he can bring what he learns in practice to the game. Lamar will be worked out and teams coaching staffs will give him techniques to correct, than teams will work him out again to see if he has improved. I think he can, I think he has some hidden untapped passing talent. That being said Lamar has to get the teams to look past the RGIII comparisons. You have to take a chance on a player with this type of potential and athletic talent because no player is a lock to be successful in the NFL no matter what anyone thinks…even me! I can’t believe I just thought that.

Drew Boylhart   DEC.2017