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 NCAA Scouting – Player Profile:
Jevon Snead – Quarterback – Mississippi
by Jody Jamieson
26/1/2010
Jevon Snead
Quarterback
Mississippi
6-3, 215
Born 2nd September 1987
Junior
Strengths: Snead has good size for a pro prospect and reasonable bulk with the potential to bulk up just a little. He has all the physical tools you could want from a QB, a live arm that can make any throw, a quick release and the legs to make plays out of the pocket or running down the field. Going back to his arm, this kid can really thread the needle putting plenty of mustard on the football and when he goes deep, he has the right mix of accuracy and touch. In the pocket he feels pressure well. He has stayed injury free in college and has no off-the-field character issues.
Weaknesses: For all his physical strengths the mental side of the game is a real struggle for Snead. His decision making, vision and accuracy are all combined with sloppy footwork to waste his physical abilities. He makes plays that have you scratching your head and will repeatedly throw into tight coverage over estimating his own physical skills. He does not look off defenders and zeros in on one target too often, his mechanics are not the greatest and he does not throw well on the run despite been a good runner. He does a poor job of balancing himself before throwing the ball and he just seems to lack natural passing instinct. Not a known leader and the drop off from 2008 to 2009 is very off-putting – did teams figure him out or has he just not made the effort to improve?
Where I think he’ll be drafted: Because of his physical abilities he will intrigue enough teams to get himself into the middle rounds of the draft. Maybe a team running a very run heavy, play-action, deep ball offense like the 49ers may find Snead attractive.
Where I think he should be drafted: Snead killed his draft stock this season as the mental side of his game proved to be so horrible. I wouldn’t touch him with someone else’s barge pole personally but the physical skills alone mean he is worth a late round pick and there are always teams that will ignore obvious floors if there is upside in one form or another.
Summary: Snead’s decision to enter the draft is enough to put you off him before you even look at him as a prospect in a way. After an excellent 2008 season he went backwards badly in 2009 and the decision not to stay at school and improve himself as a player and repair his draft stock is very questionable. One can only assume he is keen to get his hands on some green and beat the possible players lockout in 2011 in the pro’s (due to the current CBA situation) although it is worth noting he has finished his college degree. It should also be noted that even though he comes from a school famed for its connections to the Manning family he has helped deliver the program some consistent success as they enjoyed their first back-to-back nine win seasons since the early 60’s and Snead goes out on the back of a Cotton Bowl victory over fellow draft prospect Zac Robinson’s Oklahoma State Cowboys. Snead is the ultimate tease as a QB prospect in that he has the size teams crave, the arm to make you salivate and the running ability to make you believe he has an all round game but the mental side of his game is so troublesome he is going to be a player I believe will get chances but always frustrate. A comparison could be found in the likes of Derek Anderson – he’ll make some big plays you’ll love but so many bad plays it’ll never outweigh the good.
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