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Oh boy. Hundley, to some, is a first round talent. It's easy to see why; he has the size, arm strength, athleticism and dual threat capability that you look for in a NFL QB. To others, he's a day three pick boosted by potential and his position. That's also easy to see - he's a very inconsistent player. UCLA's screen offense doesn't do him any favors either.
Can Brett Hundley be successful in the NFL? Let's try and piece that together.
Accuracy
Sometimes, Hundley displays incredible accuracy. He easily has one of the best arms in the draft. Take a look at this play where he throws a beautiful deep pass (only for it to slip through his receivers hands - check the replay for a better angle if you don't believe me):
But the next play is the problem with Hundley. The progressions? They are there. He's well into his reads when he throws the ball. Pocket presence? It's there too. He steps up away from the edge rushers and throws a beauty of a pass. The problem? It's three feet over the receivers head:
UCLA's offense inflates Hundley's accuracy meter, which is hit or miss. But given time, Hundley has shown he can throw a damn good ball short, intermediate, or deep.
Mechanics and Poise
Hundley has inconsistent mechanics, primarily his footwork. People also tend to think of him as oblivious in the pocket, but that simply isn't true. He has displayed the ability to climb the pocket and make good throws. Typically, when the pocket breaks down, you'll see Hundley switch into run mode and try and take off. He rarely tries to extend the play with his arm after that (although he did do some of this as the season progressed). His Utah game where he took 10 sacks as an example of his flaws in the pocket, but I'd blame UCLA's awful offensive line more than him.
Hundley on occasion makes simple mistakes, which isn't too surprising given that he lacks polish. Learning not to throw off his back foot (he does that on occasion) is something he should really pickup. It can get ugly:
Keeping his footwork consistent so he doesn't sail passes will be something he must improve to do well in the NFL. Watching him throw at the combine, he looked as if he'd worked on improving just that. He's never going to be silky smooth on his drop backs, but the anticipation, placement and overall body movement in and out of his dropback during the combine looked better than even his later 2014 games.
Arm Strength
You be the judge:
Athleticism
Ah yes, here we go. If you've seen any of Hundley's highlights, you know you're in for something here. Hundley is a great runner and someone who can really extend the play. Here's another one against Arizona - 3 & 17. He checks the read option, looks at his first two reads and then takes off, noticing a huge gap in the center of the field:
20 yards later and he's effortlessly picked up a first down. He makes three guys miss and it still looks easy for him.
Here's another play against USC on a read option. Hundley sees the end crash inside and takes it himself for an easy score:
Projection
Common thought has Hundley sitting on the bench for a year to learn the game, but I'm of the opinion that he can start immediately, as long he's placed in the right system. UCLA did him no favors having him play in such a scripted offense - I think it's why he's still so raw. When he was given opportunities to throw the deep ball or take off, he did a good job. Tailoring an offense around Hundley's strengths: the read action, run based offense with quick reads and occasional deep passes to keep the defense honest would allow him to hit the ground running. Does that sound like something Rams could do? Yes it does. They have the big receivers, runners and Tavon Austin. that's something they could accomplish if they decided to do so.
Hundley is a hard enough worker to succeed in the NFL. If a team has a chance to grab him and doesn't force him into some offense he isn't tailored to, he could grow - and start - quickly.