Commentary

Draft Lab: Navorro Bowman's stock

The Nittany Lion has two main NFL calling cards; unfortunately, one needs work

Originally Published: October 20, 2009
By KC Joyner | ESPN Insider

One of the difficulties in grading a college prospect is when his team uses him in a different way than the pros would employ him.

For example, prior to the entry of current Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan into the 2008 draft, I broke down seven games from his senior season and found that he had a 6.1 percent bad decision rate. A bad decision is defined as when the quarterback does something with the ball that leads either to a turnover or a near-turnover, and a 6.1 percent rate would get a passer benched in the NFL.

Ryan, though, has been a terrific decision-maker in his 21 games with Atlanta; his high risk-taking total was a matter of how the Boston College coaches decided to utilize him. The Eagles had very little pass-catching talent, and because they knew their receivers weren't going to get open often, Ryan was allowed to put passes into small windows. The strategy was successful for Boston College, but it made Ryan look like a Jay Cutler-esque risk-taker when, in reality, his style is quite different.

This same thing seems to be occurring with Penn State Nittany Lions outside linebacker Navorro Bowman.


To continue reading KC Joyner's assessment of Navorro Bowman -- his strengths and weaknesses as defined by metrics and video analysis -- you must be an ESPN Insider.

KC Joyner

NFL Insider
  • NFL and CFB analyst for ESPN Insider
  • Known as "The Football Scientist"
  • Uses proprietary metrics from game tape study

SPONSORED HEADLINES

MORE NFL HEADLINES

MOST SENT STORIES ON ESPN.COM