The 2018 NFL Draft Prospect series breaks down draft-eligible players, highlighting their college production as well as their NFL potential. Daily fantasy players should know about NFL rookies before they’ve played a down of professional football because they are among the most misvalued assets in all of DFS. People who know NFL rookies have a significant DFS edge. The draft will be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, from April 26-28.
This piece is on South Florida quarterback Quinton Flowers.
For more on all the other passers in the class, see our 2018 NFL draft quarterback rankings.
Updated as of Mar. 5.
Senior | 5’10″ and 214 Pounds | Born December 2, 1994 (Age: 23) | Projection: Round 6-Free Agent
Combine numbers: 40-yard: 4.63 sec | bench reps: DNP | 3-cone: 6.81 sec | 20-yard shuttle: 4.57 sec | vertical: DNP | broad: 112 in
In an ideal world, Flowers could be thought of as the discount version of Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson. Although he’s not as tall as Jackson (6’3″), Flowers as a collegiate producer was comparable to the Heisman-winning quarterback. For his career, Jackson completed 57.0 percent of his passes for 8.5 adjusted yards per attempt; Flowers, 57.7 and 8.7. Of course, it’s not an ideal world. Flowers isn’t all that comparable to Jackson, who as a runner was clearly superior with his 108.7 yards and 1.32 touchdowns rushing per game. Still, Flowers shined on the ground with a running back-like 94.6 yards and 1.08 touchdowns rushing per game in his three years as a starter.
And it’s a good thing Flowers produced like a running back, because that’s what he might have to be if he wants to play in the NFL. For now we’re categorizing him as a passer, but he was asked to take some drills with the running backs at the combine, and his combination of size and inaccuracy makes him unlikely to play quarterback professionally: He struggled at both East-West Shrine Game practices and the combine. Given his physical profile and prolific rushing production, Flowers is somewhat in the mold of other recent quarterback-to-halfback converts such as Jerick McKinnon, Denard Robinson, and Keenan Reynolds. He’s unlikely ever to be a lead back — or a quarterback — but he could be selected on the third day of the draft as a project player.
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Matthew Freedman is the Editor-in-Chief of FantasyLabs. He has a dog and sometimes a British accent. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he’s known only as The Labyrinthian.
Photo Credit: Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports
