QB
Sean Clifford
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Penn State
Pre-Draft Analysis
Clifford is a four-year starter and the only quarterback in Penn State history to eclipse 10,000 passing yards. He's a natural leader with the scrambling ability to extend plays and the speed to run for first downs. -- Steve Muench
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in - Leonard Cohen
Highlights never show you everything, but he has good mobility, decent enough arm strength and is willing to throw it into tight windows. There's enough for the Packers to work with.
Fire Murphy, Gute, MLF, Barry, Senavich, etc!
Quicker release than Jordan Love. Better mobility too.
Formerly known as JustinHarrell.
HOFer
Spent 42 years in college. Didn’t really ever put it together in terms of reading defenses. I give him near zero chance of being a starting QB at the next level. May make a decent backup.
It's such a GOOD feeling...13 TIME WORLD CHAMPIONS!!
That's precisely what they drafted him for.Originally Posted by King Friday
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in - Leonard Cohen
Didn't like this pick, especially in the 5th round.
It's a new day and I still dislike this pick.
Listening to Guteys interview last night - two things popped out.
1. This kid must have nailed his interview when they brought him in for a visit. Gutey was all but sucking his d!ck when talking about him.
2. I think Gutey panicked when some QBs started coming off the board in the late 4th/early 5th. Just something Gutey said last night, I can't remember what exactly, but it was about a QB being taken before the Pack in the 5th round and he thought there'd be a run on QBs and wanted to get Clifford, because of how they had him rated and there was drop off after him.
- Bah, I could be totally be making this up, but that's what I remember and thought last night.
I'd still prefer a veteran back up going into the season - keep this kid for PS fodder.
I think this is why they took him. .thought I read somewhere that similarly ranked QB started coming off the board in a run and they wanted to get their guy before he was gone.I think Gutey panicked when some QBs started coming off the board in the late 4th/early 5th. Just something Gutey said last night, I can't remember what exactly, but it was about a QB being taken before the Pack in the 5th round and he thought there'd be a run on QBs and wanted to get Clifford, because of how they had him rated and there was drop off after him.
- Bah, I could be totally be making this up, but that's what I remember and thought last night.
I agree with you that it's a reach pick. I thought he was a R7 or UDFA type.
He's better than Etling, and no threat to JLove.
I'm definitely not as negative about this pick as the media pukes seem to be. Clifford was a decent college QB, and we probably needed a backup.
What could be more GOOD and NORMAL and AMERICAN than Packer Football?
"The Devine era is actually worse than you remember if you go back and look at it."
KYPack
HOFer
Mr Irrelevant last year proves it is stupid to draft a QB who has no chance at actually starting. If Clifford was capable of being an NFL starter, you would’ve seen more progression to his game in his 42 years in college.
It's such a GOOD feeling...13 TIME WORLD CHAMPIONS!!
Well, he did pick up a few degrees along the way. That has to count for something, especially since it doesn't look like he'll have a long NFL career.
Or maybe he'll be one of those good-guy types who hangs around the NFL as a professional backup/good team guy for seven or eight years. Who knows?
"The Devine era is actually worse than you remember if you go back and look at it."
KYPack
Scott Tolzien
HOFer
Precisely…who was undrafted. Clifford was taken WAY too early for what his ceiling will be.
It's such a GOOD feeling...13 TIME WORLD CHAMPIONS!!
HOFer
His tape isn't as bad as I expected. So far, I've watched the Purdue and Minnesota games. He's mobile, he's pretty accurate. Had a ton of drops in the Purdue game. His arm strength looks marginal though. I'm going to watch the Auburn and Ohio State tape next. If I had watched his tape before the draft, I think I'd still have a 7th round/UDFA grade, but I think he'd slide in between O'Connell (who had a 6th/7th round grade from me) and Bagent/Duggan (who had 7th/UDFA grade from me). I would have preferred Hall, but GB hasn't selected a short QB since Thompson took over. The guy has battled through adversity, but he was named captain for four straight years and may have had his best two games in his last two games (victories over Michigan State and a Rose Bowl win over Utah where he completed 78% of his passes with 6 TDs and 0 interceptions). We'll see.
"There's a lot of interest in the draft. It's great. But quite frankly, most of the people that are commenting on it don't know anything about what they are talking about."--Ted Thompson
HOFer
Athletically, they aren't comparable. Tolzien ran a 5.06 40. This guy ran a 4.62 40. The interception in the Purdue game looks like it might have been a miscommunication between him and the WR (as he was throwing the ball, the WR broke inside while he threw the ball up the field more), but I liked that he came back and led the game winning drive.
He has pretty good poise in the pocket. Has a good feel for the rush. I don't love that he stops his feet completely at times. He also tends to lock onto his first read too much.
"There's a lot of interest in the draft. It's great. But quite frankly, most of the people that are commenting on it don't know anything about what they are talking about."--Ted Thompson
They picked hiim because they thought he wouldn't last much longer.As general manager Brian Gutekunst put it, a run of quarterbacks they liked less than Clifford occurred just before Clifford’s selection. For a point of reference, Jack Haener, Stetson Bennett, Aidan O’Connell, Clayton Tune and Dorian Thompson-Robinson were all drafted at the position in a 14-pick run.
Apparently he aced his interview with them and think he's a good fit. He's athletic, but if all he does is hold a clipboard I'm fine with it. Arm strength can be improved to an extent in the weight room, it's the accuracy, poise, and reading defenses/progressions that I'm more concerned about. Purdy didn't have a cannon arm before he needed Tommy John surgery.
HOFer
Out of the guys in this draft, Clifford reminds me the most of Brock Purdy. I was not high on Purdy last year. They both started for 4 years. They were both multi-year captains. They both had good first years and kind of stagnated after that—frustrating their fans. They both started a lot of games, dealt with a lot of adversity. They are similar in size. Neither has good arm strength, but they are both pretty accurate with good pocket presence and mobility. Both were projected to go undrafted. They were drafted by teams with similar offensive schemes to back up a first year starting, former first round QB.
"There's a lot of interest in the draft. It's great. But quite frankly, most of the people that are commenting on it don't know anything about what they are talking about."--Ted Thompson
They really don't have much of a choice. Their cap is so tight that I don't see them being able to add a veteran salary at backup qb. The upside is that if he is the backup and Love gets hurt, we will pick really high in 2024.
I don't buy into the criticism of this pick at all. They drafted him to be an adequate backup. As a QB that is about what you want in round 5. Gute noted he was the last QB on the draft board they had rated in the next tier. Would you have rather had Stetson Bennett in round 4 ? Probably not, but that shows one can value a backup QB at a higher level. He was getting drafted. The media morons, some of them, said they could could have just singed him after he went undrafted. That is bunk. And you have to consider, if we don't draft him late round 5, what consequences are there if somebody takes him before we pick in round 6. Gute thought that was too much of a negative. Did we reach a bit ? Maybe, maybe not. But he has the tools to be a backup, he's a high IQ quarterback, and anybody who listened to his 1st interview after the draft could see why an organization would fall in love with his character. If he's a solid backup for several years, he was worth a 5th round draft pick.
LIFE IS ABOUT CHAMPIONSHIPS; I JUST REALIZED THIS. The MILWAUKEE BUCKS have won the same number of championships over the past 50 years as the Green Bay Packers. Ten years from now, who will have more championships, and who will be the fart in the wind ?
Finally some good sense. Clifford is smart, experienced against high level competition, fairly athletic, decently accurate, and not hopeless in terms of arm strength. We could do a lot worse.
What could be more GOOD and NORMAL and AMERICAN than Packer Football?
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