2018 NFL Draft Profile: Quarterback Quinton Flowers

Here’s the 2018 NFL Draft profile of quarterback Quinton Flowers out of the University of South Florida breaking down his strengths, weaknesses, video highlights, and a draft day prediction.

In this 2018 NFL Draft profile, we look at quarterback Quinton Flowers who led the University of South Florida (USF) to a 10-2 record in 2017 by gashing defenses through the air, and on the ground. Flowers possesses elite athleticism that will likely punch his ticket for a spot on an NFL roster.

STRENGTHS

Quinton Flowers played four years of college football at USF, while starting for three of those seasons after appearing in five games as a freshman. Flowers proved his worth as a quarterback by throwing for 2,296/2,807/2,991 yards in each of his three years as a starter. Flowers improved as a passer as each year went on, which went hand in hand with USF’s success overall, as they closed out the 2017 season ranked 21st in the country.

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Where Flowers really left his mark was when he tucked the ball and ran. Whether it was scrambling away from pressure, or keeping option plays himself, he was a major problem for defenses mainly because of his feet.

Flowers demanded much attention when it came to his ability to run with the football, which opened up his passing game tremendously. Flowers ran for 991/1,530/1,078 yards and 12/18/11 touchdowns in his three years as a starter.

In Flowers’ junior year, he set a school record in rushing yards and touchdowns (1,530 and 18) as well as finishing fourth in the country in yards per carry (7.7.) Evidently, Flowers is an elite runner, with decent passing abilities. At the 2018 NFL Combine, Flowers ran a 4.63 sec 40-yard dash which is the third fastest time for a quarterback in the past three years. It is unknown whether Flowers will ever decide to officially change positions, but if he ever decided to make the switch, he could have a more successful NFL career.

WEAKNESSES

A lot of Flowers rushing yards came off of scrambles from designed passing plays. This happened because of his inability to make quick decisions, as well as make it through his progressions. Therefore, he would take off and run because it was too late to make a good throw that wouldn’t result in an incomplete pass or an interception.

Flowers has shown very weak quarterback abilities when it comes to timing, ball placement, and consistency. For these reasons, Flowers may not find a job in the NFL if he continues his path as a quarterback as opposed to transitioning to running back. Although there is a glimpse of hope in his passing game, which is in the turnover margin where he only threw 23 career interceptions in four years ( 43 games.)

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

DRAFT DAY PREDICTION

Flowers is an extremely effective runner, but his passing abilities don’t appear to be good enough to sustain at the NFL level. It is impossible not to root for this kid though. Flowers lost his mother (cancer) and father (shooting) as a child, as well as his stepbrother (shooting) just days before his first collegiate game. He has overcome immense adversity throughout his life and to see him have a successful NFL career would be an amazing thing to witness. But first, Flowers has to get drafted. Expect to see him drafted in the mid 6th Round or possibly in the early 7th Round of this year’s draft.

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