Rookie Overview by Damon Bail: Paxton Lynch
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Height: 6’7″
Weight: 244
Arm: 34¼”
Hand: 10¼”
40 Yard Dash: 4.86

Rank on Mike Loyko’s Big Board: No. 39

NFL Comparisons: Brock Osweiler, E.J. Manuel, Mike Glennon

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Notes:

-With the complete embarrassment that Florida football has been especially at the QB position it just amazes me that UF never even offered Lynch a scholarship.

– Yeah I know he nuked his knee before his senior year in high school got started but geeeshh, how did you miss that? Ok, moving on …

-The kid is not a finished product but has all the tools, he’s a heady player who has learned a ton in his 4 years under Justin Fuente in Memphis.

-Huge hands (his agent Leigh Steinberg will tell you about them all day), great improvisation, the ability to sell play-action is a strength, plus he can throw a ball through a car wash and not get the ball wet.

– His mobility is sneaky but it’s a true story, look to his 477 dropbacks at Memphis his senior year and see he was only was sacked 15 times, has a pocket mobility that can be viewed as escapability.

-With that being said he will need extensive work under center as most (actually, basically all) of his shredding of defenses came out of the shotgun, this in my mind sets up for a one year red-shirt season.

-Didn’t go up against the “best of the best” competition-wise, but also had a very marginal supporting cast and still managed to make Memphis relevant in his senior year.

-Love the upside, but he needs 1 year to grow and develop. The Denver Broncos will be sweating bullets hoping he lasts to 31. If he doesn’t expect Kubiak and company to reach mightily for Connor Cook to fill the need.

QUOTES FROM THE COMBINE:

(on the Memphis program) I know when we first got there, Memphis was basically the laughing stock of our conference and almost nationally. But coach (Justin) Fuente came in there with a strong plan that he wanted to implement with his guys and he did a great job of teaching guys how to do things the right way and the guys who really didn’t understand it and stuff like that kind of got weeded out in the process, but he had a couple groups of guys that wanted to work and change things around and believed in his process and that’s what happened and guys started following that and now you’ve got older guys teaching the younger guys how to do it so hopefully our program keeps going on.

(How much did the coach leaving affect your bowl preparations and your game) I’m not one to make excuses for any reason. Auburn was a good football team. We definitely underestimated them and their record did not show for how good of a football program that was and coach Fuente leaving obviously affected us and a couple of the offensive coaches left as well, the offensive line coach, the receivers coach left with Fuente that week so it was rough in preparation but I’m not one to make excuses for anything that we did. I didn’t play as well as I should have, so that’s that.

(Kordell Stewart pops in during the interview) Oh there he is! (Points). That’s my man right there. I had a Slash poster in my room all through college and in my younger days.

(Have you talked to coach Fuente since he took the Va Tech job?) Oh yeah. Me and coach Fuente have a very strong relationship. I had a good relationship with all of those coaches. They’ve all been blowing up my phone this week and all of those players telling me to go out there and put on for Memphis. So I respect coach Fuente and what he did. He had a better opportunity for him and his family. He took that. But he’s been nothing but helpful every step of the way.

(Difference between successful and non-successful quarterback) I think that in my opinion, those guys that separate themselves from being an average quarterback and a great quarterback are those guys who just get it to click mentally. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, guys like that who jump out at you.

(high school) I didn’t really throw the ball at all in high school because we were a Wing T offense but when I got to Memphis, that’s the first time I actually started throwing the ball in general. So we kind of tested a few things out, moving me in the pocket and stuff like that but I’m confident in my abilities and what I can and can’t do. Throwing on the run is not one of the things I can’t do but standing in the pocket and making sideline throws is also something I don’t think I’ll have a problem with.

(Is the concern with you the level of competition or the type of offense you played in?) At this point, it’s the type of offense I was playing in, because we played like good teams like Ole Miss and also our conference was really strong this year with Temple and Houston and Navy. The schemes are obviously going to be a little bit different. I’m going to have to be calling plays from the huddle, I’ll have to learn the terminology, little small things here and there, but I don’t see it as a problem.

(What’s the one attribute that makes you pro ready and what’s the one you need to work on) I’ve always relied on my athletic ability with my size and arm strength in college, but I know that’ll be a little different when I get to the NFL. Those guys are a lot faster, those windows are a lot smaller and those defenses do a lot more tricky stunts than they do in college. But I’m working hard. I’m training. When I finally get to minicamp or rookie camp, whenever that is, I’ll know just how different it is, but it’s obviously going to take some time to adjust. But I’m ready and I’m excited for it.

(We heard your physical exams dragged on yesterday. why) I had an issue with my left knee and my right knee and an issue with my AC joint. When I hurt my AC joint back in my redshirt sophomore year of college in Cincinnati, I didn’t realize that I had, I think they said it was just a small fracture in my clavicle. So that popped up on the X-ray, but it was healed. But there was just some like piece of the bone I guess just floating around in there. So it spooked a team or two, I think, and that’s why they requested the MRIs and all that. But I mean I didn’t miss a game or a practice or a single throw ’cause of it, and none of those injuries bother me today. I’m 100 percent, so I was more than willing to do what they need me to do.