Heinicke is not the most polished quarterback you have ever seen, but he has the moxie and ability to get the job done. He has an uncanny ability to keep the play alive and seems to always be moving his team down the field.
Strengths:
His pocket presence is amazing, when chaos is happening around him, he has the ability to move around and make plays with his feet or arm. Resembles a Tony Romo or Drew Brees in the pocket, makes something our of nothing and has the arm strength to get the ball their despite his size (6’1″ 213 pounds). HIs numbers are astounding at both the FCS and FBS levels, this season he is 208/332 for 2,577 yards, 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He has also added 107 yards rushing and a touchdown.
Weaknesses:
Lack of tape against quality competition is a concern for me. How will he respond to a top level defense? Moving up from FCS to Conference USA in the FBS has not phased his production much. His three most difficult games this season have come against NC State, Marshall and Vanderbilt, in which he combined for 650 yards, 5 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. He is also not a big guy and may have trouble finding throwing lanes with huge NFL lineman playing in from of him.
Draft Prognosis:
It is still early in Heinicke’s draft evaluation process. He will continue to be evaluated and may be a late riser as more and more scouts ‘discover’ him.. I currently have him slotted with a ceiling of the 6th round and could even go undrafted, but this kid can play and will make his way on to the back end of a roster or a practice squad for some NFL team.
