STRENGTHS
Clayton has the potential to become a starting quarterback in the NFL. He has the size and athletic ability to extend plays when needed. He has solid arm strength and good accuracy. He is QB board smart and does a good job reading defenses. He has the ability to throw on the run and moves well and throws well on sprint out packages. When he is set and balanced to throw against zone coverages Clayton shows the ability to make impact plays in the passing game. He shows the instincts needed to adjust mentally to plays when they break down and that shows me that Clayton has the potential to become a starting player in the NFL given the time to continue to develop.
CONCERNS
Clayton is coming off a bad knee injury and this has affected his overall performance and consistency this year. His mechanics are sloppy compared to other years and he is not as quick in and out of the pocket like in years past. Clayton confidence has taken a hit and will take another hit at the next level until he can prove to himself that he can handle the speed at the next level and learn how to better protect the ball. He has to cut down on his interceptions. He will need time and be in the right offensive system to succeed.
TALENT BOARD ROUND 3.44
Clayton has what I call Nathen Peterman/Christian Ponder disease. He is an excellent practice player and does an excellent job throwing against zone coverages but against single coverages he struggles to anticipate the open receiver and this lack of trust makes him lose velocity and accuracy and makes for a lot of interceptions as his college career stats show. He has good arm strength but if he expects to start he will need a lot of repetitions at “game speed” and not “practice speed” to learn to adjust his thinking on how and when a receiver is open against man to man defenses. The catch is, if you start him he becomes a liability quarterback, throwing interceptions and that lesson’s his ability to be starting games and getting the repetitions at “game speed” he needs to improve. That being said, he is worth a shot later in the draft or as a priority rookie free agent to develop because Clayton could become a solid starting quarterback very much like former Vikings playoff quarterback and now starting Broncos quarterback Case Keenum. Adding Clayton to your quarterback room would be a smart move and keeping him as a back up would be smart also but, thinking he is going to start early in his career and be productive might be a bit of a stretch because although Clayton has the intangibles to lead… he will struggle to produce consistently until he learns to throw against single coverages and protect the ball.
