Quote:Finley is one of the more polished and accurate passers in the 2019 draft class and he could be a solid professional quarterback. However, physical limitations like Finley's middle-of-the-road arm strength and his less-than-ideal frame could relegate him to backup duties in the NFL

Quote:Finley was an all-state football and basketball player in the Phoenix area before signing with Boise State for the 2013 season. He redshirted that year and then played in five games as a reserve for the Broncos in 2014 (12-27-44.4, 161 yards, two TD, one INT). He played in three games in 2015 but redshirted with an ankle injury (46-70-65.7, 485 yards, one TD, four INT). Impressively, he earned his degree in just three years at BSU so he decided to transfer as Brett Rypien had taken the starting spot. Finley more than met expectations at N.C. State in 2016, starting all 13 games (243-402-60.4, 3,059 yards, 18 TD, eight INT). He took his game up a notch in 2017, becoming a Johnny Unitas Award finalist and third-team All-ACC pick. The Wolkpack's Co-MVP (312-479-65.1, 3,518 yards, 17 TD, six INT) as a junior, Finley threw 339 passes without an interception, second in school history to Russell Wilson's FBS record of 379. Finley was a first-team all-conference selection in 2018, completing 67.4 percent of his throws (326-484) for 3,928 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions.

Quote:A sixth-year senior, Finley enters the NFL with an abundance of experience under his belt. While his time on the field is ideal, his deficiencies with processing are even more concerning given the amount of football he's played to this point in his career. Finley leaves much to be desired in terms of arm strength and the ability to drive the football with velocity to his targets which limits the areas of the field he can realistically attack in the NFL. Finley finds his success hitting rhythm passes and making spot throws against man coverage. By year three, Finley could be a reliable backup quarterback but it's hard to envision him having success as a starter or pegged for that opportunity.

Quote:Strengths:
Accurate passer
Ball placement
Protects the football
Makes good decisions
Moves his eyes
Works through his progression
Can throw receivers open
Doesn't miss open receivers
Shows good timing
Anticipation
Able to loft in touch passes
Has more mobility than many realize
Will use his feet
Sneaky ability to pick up yards on the ground
Quality mechanics
Good fit in a West Coast offense




Weaknesses:
More of a game manager than a play-maker
Arm strength is adequate, but not special
Limited passer
Not a dual-threat weapon

Quote:Andy Dalton benched: Full Ryan Finley scouting report, what you need to know about Bengals' new starter

The Andy Dalton era is over in Cincinnati, and rookie Ryan Finley will take over at quarterback for the Bengals.

The news broke on trade deadline day and came after Dalton began the season 0-8 while completing 61.5% of his passes at 6.7 yards per attempt with nine touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Finley was my No. 4 quarterback and No. 72 overall prospect in the 2019 draft class behind Drew Lock, Kyler Murray, and Dwayne Haskins. My pre-draft comparison for him was Ryan Tannehill.

With Finley in the spotlight in Cincinnati, now is the perfect time to restate my thoughts on him as a prospect.

Below are the five categories on which I evaluate and ultimately grade quarterback prospects. And in my system, the grades in each category are weighted differently and listed below from most important to least important.

Accuracy
Finley has clearly above-average accuracy to all levels of the field, and he really works the short to intermediate portions of the field well. Occasionally, his ball placement can drift into "elite" territory, but at times he'll airmail passes that have plenty of velocity behind them (I'll get to his arm strength later).

His ability to put the ball where he wants it is Finley's most valuable asset as a passer, and thanks to extensive experience with bootlegs at NC State, his accuracy barely dips while throwing on the run, something head coach Zac Taylor probably really liked about him as a fit in his West Coast based system.

Pocket Management
While not as impressive as his accuracy, Finley usually shines moving inside the pocket, and beyond anything natural, much of his good pocket presence is due to his significant amount of time spent as a starter in college. Between Boise State and NC State, Finley appeared in 46 games in the NCAA before entering the NFL and threw 1,461 passes.

He understands he needs to drift away from pressure inside the pocket while keeping a balanced base with pressure mounting and did all of those things often while at NC State.

However, his pocket-drifting skills didn't improve from his junior year to his senior campaign, which is likely part of the reason he fell to the fourth round of the draft. More often than you'd probably like, he'll get confused by a blitz or coverage, panic, and drift backwards -- a cardinal sin of quarterbacking -- but in general, he's decently calm when navigating the pocket as pressure mounts.

Field Reading
While he was in the shotgun often, Finley operated a new-age "pro-style" offense that featured spread concepts and was littered with play-action bootlegs.

Also, he was frequently asked to move quickly through his reads to find secondary and tertiary targets, and more often than not he did. Finley showed the ability to make accurate throws on full field reads even as a junior in 2017.

However, right when Finley seems to be perfectly comfortable moving through his progressions, he'll lock onto a target near the sideline for the duration of his drop back and get himself into trouble. Overall, his field-reading skills are good, but not tremendous.

Arm Strength
This was the main reason Finley fell to Day 3 of the 2019 draft. He simply doesn't have a big arm by NFL standards. He put a handful of wow throws down the field on film in his three years at the Wolfpack starter, yet most of the time, his passes to the perimeter lacked velocity, and he wasn't able to really rip in-breaking routes over the middle.

While Finley took his fair share of deep shots in college, he wasn't able to stretch the field vertically on a consistent basis because of his average-at-best arm. Is Finley's arm a gigantic liability? No. But it just narrows his margin for error with timing, particularly on long throws toward the sideline. A decent amount of his interceptions in college came when he couldn't drive the ball to the outside.

Scrambling
Finley's a respectable athlete for the quarterback spot, as he showed many times during his collegiate career and as evidenced by his combine performance. He ran a 4.73 in the 40 and had a broad jump in the 81st percentile at the position.

At times at NC State, he was utilized on designed runs but mostly tapped into his athletic ability as an scrambler after scanning the field. He won't make defenders miss, and I don't foresee the Bengals using him on designed runs, but when things break down he can pick up 5-15 yards if there's space in front of him.

(10-29-2019, 05:55 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: I'm very anxious to see how he manipulates the pocket and avoids the rush, steps up and makes throws.

(10-29-2019, 05:55 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: I'm very anxious to see how he manipulates the pocket and avoids the rush, steps up and makes throws.

(10-29-2019, 09:21 PM)Joelist Wrote: Behind our line I just hope he gets a chance to step up and doesn’t wind up on IR.

(10-29-2019, 09:28 PM)bfine32 Wrote: The #1 vet mostest importantest thing we much do it provide him with an awesome nickname.

So suggestions:

Ginger Light

R3- Red Rifle replacement

Slim Hitman

(10-29-2019, 08:57 PM)WhodeyRay Wrote: He better be Chris Angel to avoid the rush with this line.

(10-29-2019, 09:28 PM)bfine32 Wrote: The #1 vet mostest importantest thing we much do it provide him with an awesome nickname.

So suggestions:

Ginger Light

R3- Red Rifle replacement

Slim Hitman

(10-30-2019, 08:36 AM)CornerBlitz Wrote: The chances that he's our franchise QB we are seeking is highly unlikely. I hope he plays well but he ain't it folks.

(10-29-2019, 05:55 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: I'm very anxious to see how he manipulates the pocket and avoids the rush, steps up and makes throws.