2023 5th Round Pick #149 QB Sean Clifford

[Joemailman]

QB
Sean Clifford
FOLLOW
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


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hYmYkGJOYs

[MadScientist]

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.

[RashanGary]

Quicker release than Jordan Love. Better mobility too.

[King Friday]

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.

[Joemailman]

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.


That's precisely what they drafted him for.

[pittstang5]

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.

[run pMc]

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 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 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.

[texaspackerbacker]

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.

[Fritz]

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.



https://st.depositphotos.com/1777972/56901/i/450/depositphotos_569019722-stock-photo-brown-defecate-animal-dog-excrement.jpg

[King Friday]

That's precisely what they drafted him for.

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.

[Fritz]

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?

[Harlan Huckleby]

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?

Scott Tolzien

[King Friday]

Scott Tolzien

Precisely…who was undrafted. Clifford was taken WAY too early for what his ceiling will be.

[HarveyWallbangers]

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.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Scott Tolzien

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.

[run pMc]

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.

They picked hiim because they thought he wouldn't last much longer.
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.

[HarveyWallbangers]

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.

[Sparkey]

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.

[Bretsky]

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.

[texaspackerbacker]

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.

[Fritz]

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.

Well, if The Flower is trying to turn Green Bay into San Fran East, I'm fine with that - as long as he follows through on the defensive side of the ball. San Fran's success if predicated in large part on that defense.

I dunno. I put up a picture of a turd in this thread, partly in jest, but I suppose if you're really just looking for a backup QB - a questionable decision to make for a draft pick when you can get a cheap journeyman for the same job and still use that fifth rounder for someone with more upside - then I guess it's understandable, at least.

[Joemailman]

With their cap situation, even signing a journeyman QB was going to be tough to do.

[Fritz]

Do you think that's true after they re-negotiated Love and Savage? If so, then it makes that choice more understandable. I'm not as against the pick as I originally was - you all have convinced me that it's not a horrible pick. It's an understandable one.

But they better be pretty sure he's worthy of being the backup. If he can't really be that, then it was a wasted pick.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Do you think that's true after they re-negotiated Love and Savage? If so, then it makes that choice more understandable. I'm not as against the pick as I originally was - you all have convinced me that it's not a horrible pick. It's an understandable one.

But they better be pretty sure he's worthy of being the backup. If he can't really be that, then it was a wasted pick.

We don't have enough to sign a decent vet QB (like Bridgewater). I doubt the moves freed up much cap space--maybe enough to resign Marcedes Lewis and/or Adrian Amos on affordable deals.

[Fritz]

We don't have enough to sign a decent vet QB (like Bridgewater). I doubt the moves freed up much cap space--maybe enough to resign Marcedes Lewis and/or Adrian Amos on affordable deals.

But . . . but . . . but if Tex (and others on this topic of the sal cap) is right, as he insists he is, then can't they just cook up the cap and sign anyone they want????

Tex?

[texaspackerbacker]

I mentioned that in a different thread. It ain't unlimited, but yes, what needs to be done, can be done. I for one absolutely would not want Bridgewater or some other washed up vet as the back up. Clifford will not only be cheaper but better.

I also don't think they have any plan to bring back Lewis, given the two high TE picks plus a couple of UDFAs.

I'd like to see them bring back Amos, and I'm sure they could make it work cap-wise. If they have a bigger role planned for Savage, though, that might mean a no on Amos. I guess we'll see.

[Fritz]

I mentioned that in a different thread. It ain't unlimited, but yes, what needs to be done, can be done. I for one absolutely would not want Bridgewater or some other washed up vet as the back up. Clifford will not only be cheaper but better.

I also don't think they have any plan to bring back Lewis, given the two high TE picks plus a couple of UDFAs.

I'd like to see them bring back Amos, and I'm sure they could make it work cap-wise. If they have a bigger role planned for Savage, though, that might mean a no on Amos. I guess we'll see.


Oh . . . So it’s NOT unlimited. Oh. Okay.

[texaspackerbacker]

Nobody's talking about going hog wild and signing a whole team full of expensive free agents, but the cap definitely isn't something to stress over. Anything that's a good idea quality-wise can get done, and assuming they're smart, will get done.

[sharpe1027]

Nobody's talking about going hog wild and signing a whole team full of expensive free agents, but the cap definitely isn't something to stress over. Anything that's a good idea quality-wise can get done, and assuming they're smart, will get done.

I am sure hardly anyone disagrees with this rationale position. Welcome to the normal crowd.

[MadScientist]

Even if he doesn't develop into something special, having the next Doug Peterson as backup QB has value.