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Scouting Report:

Pros: Decent size, pretty good arm strength, good athleticism/mobility, plays in a pro-style offense, experience taking snaps from under center, good quick release, shows ability to buy time in the pocket by side stepping the rush or stepping up, throws pretty well on the run at times. Has good zip on most throws, flashes ability to use appropriate touch and keeps his eyes downfield when scrambling/extending the play outside the pocket.

Cons: Looks very thin, could stand to add weight, forces a lot of throws into coverage, seems to have some issues anticipating throws and receivers breaks, this leads to late deliveries. That means the defender has a chance to read/react and break on the ball, which means more pass breakups and some interceptions as a result. Tends to miss high and his accuracy is inconsistent. May have some issues going through his reads and progressions, which makes me question his football IQ. Doesn’t seem to have good intangibles or leadership capability. Needs some work on his mechanics/footwork in the pocket, will throw off his back foot at times and doesn’t seem to react to pressure well.

Overall: After re-watching some of his tape from his sophomore season it is clear he is a similar quarterback from last year. Yes, he had better stats, but he was making some of the same mistakes he made all year this year. In looking at some of his stats from the past two years it seems to me that as a junior he threw more passes against SEC teams than he did as a sophomore. This might not seem important, but he threw 15 of his 20 interceptions against SEC opponents versus 9 of his 13 interceptions against SEC opponents the year before. This, to me, shows a pattern of him getting in trouble against better defenses, particularly SEC defenses. He threw more passes against SEC opponents this season, and because he has issues forcing passes into coverage, tending to miss high, struggles with consistent accuracy and struggles with timing on some passing routes, he threw many more interceptions this year. To the casual fan this might look like a “down” year, but in reality it only involved him increasing the passes he threw against quality defenses and therefore also increasing the number of mistakes he made against those same defenses. Naturally, they took advantage of his mistakes which resulted in more turnovers which everyone was aware of. I personally think Snead has some talent, and he has a pretty good arm and some potential, but he really needed another season at Ole Miss. Even after that he would have needed some development. At this point I think he has to be considered a 3rd round prospect that is strictly developmental, because he is not anywhere close to ready to challenge for a starting job in the NFL.

Projection: 3rd Round: He could go earlier on this based on potential or based on some people remembering their impressions of him after his sophomore season, but I think it would be a mistake to take him any earlier than the 3rd round in a strictly developmental capacity.

SKILLS
1-poor, 2-weak, 3-above average, 4-very good, 5-elite

ARM STRENGTH: 3.5
ACCURACY: 3.0
MOBILITY: 3.0
DECISION MAKING: 2.5
MECHANICS: 3.0
POCKET AWARENESS: 3.0
INTANGIBLES: 2.0

JEVAN SNEAD
6-3/215
Mississippi Junior

PROS: A quarterback with a good release and a very strong arm. He's capable of threading the needle and can throw it downfield without setting his feet. He has the mobiity to buy time within the pocket as well as make plays with his legs when the pass breaks down.
CONS: Inconsistent player that needs to improve his accuracy and will miss easy throws. Tends to press at times, forces too many passes, and doesn't make good decisions. He trusts his arm too much. Doesn't go through progressions and will lock onto receivers waiting for them to get open. Is late on the majority of his throws. Needs to improve his footwork and mechanics in terms of setting his feet. Despite his arm, lacks touch downfield and overthrows the deep ball. At times, might get a bit too emotional.
OVERVIEW: One could say there is a lot about Snead that reminds you of a young Brett Favre when you compare his moxy and arm strength. But he doesn't have any of the intangibles that Favre possessed. Snead is a player that definitely should have stayed in school. He has all the physical tools to be a star at the next level, but really needed another year to show some more consistency.
NFL FORECAST: Snead can be a successful NFL quarterback down the road. But he's going to have to sit for some time. And I'm not sure any team should entrust him with the future of their franchise. I don't think there is a huge difference between Chad Henne when he came out of Michigan and Snead. Henne is developing nicely, and so could Snead if he goes to a team with good, and patient coach. And I don't think he'll be ready to start for a team a year into his pro career. Henne started for four years at Michigan and despite showing much of the same thing his final year at Michigan (poor leadership and decision making at times), I would gauge he's probably a year ahead of Snead. So it's possible Snead could be ready to start for a team after his second year. But consistency is going to be his problem as a pro. And unless he's surrounded by a wealth of talent, he doesn't seem to have the intangibles to make you believe he can make a team better. I really think if he accepts teaching from a strong-willed coach that is a noted "guru" for quarterbacks, he could be an above average to good starter eventually. But he definitely needed another year or school, and while the teaching at the NFL level is much better than it is in college, it wouldn't surprise me if there is a bit of culture shock when he gets to the NFL level. And I'd say it's probably just as likely that Snead is off a team for that very reason within two years as it is that he is a starter for his team.
ATL FORECAST: Snead has more upside than any other backup quarterback on the roster because he definitely has the talent to be a good, if not great starter. So on one hand it would make sense to develop him as the backup in order to trade him down the road. But there is little about Snead's game that suggests he would be a good backup in the mean time. He's not consistent or stable enough to be the guy you'd want to call on if your starter goes down. Sure, he could flash for a game, but then just as easily follow that up with three really bad games where he could throw three or more picks in each. He shouldn't be an option as a backup, and only as a long-term starter, which essentially isn't an option in Atlanta.
VALUE: Based off his talent alone, Snead should be a late first round pick and had he went back to school and showed improvement probably could have been graded as such. But he's still probably too raw to go in the second round, even late there unless a team was desperate for a young passer and had a starter in place for at least another two or three years. I'd probably be most comfortable with him being a fourth round pick because then the pressure to play him early would subside. Although I wouldn't say he's a reach in the third round.

SKILLS
1-poor, 2-weak, 3-above average, 4-very good, 5-elite

ARM STRENGTH: 4.5
ACCURACY: 1.5
MOBILITY: 3.5
DECISION MAKING: 2.0
MECHANICS: 2.0
POCKET AWARENESS: 3.0
INTANGIBLES: 2.0

I think we see eye to eye on Snead, but you thought he had better arm strength than I did clearly. I also thought he might draw some comparisons to Henne in that he can make a good throw one play and come back and miss an easy throw the next. Henne would have a good series and then come back and play like a different QB, and Snead does that same thing. Consistency is a big issue with both of them.

I do think Henne is a better prospect than Snead, but you and I both thought he might go in the 3rd or 4th round, so we'll see where he ends up going. I also think he could get drafted by a somewhat desperate team in the 2nd.

Henne is a better player at this point in his career than I expected. He impressed me in that Week 5 Monday night game vs. the Jets. He did finish the year with 6 straight games of throwing picks. And while his picks weren't as bad as Ryan's 6-game stretch in the middle of the season (Henne's INT% was 4.3 vs. Ryan's 5.3), it's still too high.

But I can't help but notice that those 6 games were among the 7 games that Ronnie Brown happened to miss this year.

I know we joked that I'd hope Snead lands in Carolina. But if he was able to work with comparable weapons that Jake Delhomme did in his career, when he had a receiver like Steve Smith, and had running games lead by the likes of Stephen Davis, DeAngelo Williams, and Jonathan Stewart, he could be successful.

Like Delhomme, he's a guy that can take advantage of weapons, but when the game is on his shoulders, he has a tendency to disappoint. Delhomme however had the benefit of spending two springs in NFL Europe, getting PT. And when he went to Carolina, he had sat the bench in New Orleans for five years. Snead probably won't have that luxury.

His last year at Michigan, Henne made some horrible decisions with the ball, and I was very unforgiving because he had been a starter the entire time he was there. And i saw no excuse for a 4-yr. starter to make those kind of throws and decisions.

I'm a bit more forgiving of Snead in that he only has two years as a starter. But anybody drafting him really has to approach it like they're talking a flyer on a sophomore and hoping that with 2 years of NFL coaching, he can develop.

And I do think you underrate Snead's arm. It's not as good as Stafford's, but I don't think it's more than a step or two lower.

You might be right about me underestimating his arm, but if I was going to go back and regrade I would probably only bump it up to a 4.0 rather than the 3.5 I have him at now. He does have good zip on his passes though, I don't think I took into account his arm strength and zip on his passes he had even with some bad footwork, throwing off his back foot at times, etc.

I am very much in agreement with you about Snead being good when the players around him can help support him, but won't put the team on his shoulders and win it. I feel similarly about Clausen actually, but he is a more refined prospect than Snead is.