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 NCAA Scouting – Player Profile:
Jimmy Clausen – Quarterback – Notre Dame
by Chris Brophy
14/1/2010
Jimmy Clausen
Quarterback
Notre Dame
6-3, 223
Born 21st January 1987
Junior
Strengths: Despite been a junior he is as ready a pro prospect as you will find at the position having played in a pro style offense under Charlie Weis. He has shown the ability to grow over his college career, showing vast improvement from 08 to 09 which will encourage pro teams looking at his potential. His accuracy is excellent and he has a good if not great arm. He can get off his reads and has shown he knows how to look off the deep safeties to be able to distract coverage from his intended target as well as making plays when everything around him breaks down. Moving around on either roll outs or by scrambling a little is not a problem for him and he is comfortable throwing on the move. He does not make the plays that will kill your team, knowing when to take a sack and when to throw the ball away. Great intangibles as a leader and has shown poise in clutch situations.
 Weaknesses: Whilst his accuracy is good it does fade away a bit on deep outs where he cant quite get the zip on the ball. His footwork is still a work in progress, he throws off the back foot too often but can also start to shuffle his feet in the pocket at any sign of pressure. He needs to protect the ball better when hit, in the pros he could suffer a fumble problem early in his career if he doesnt cover up when hit. Another problem tied into that is that when scrambling he can run too upright leaving himself open for big hits. His play fakes need work, mainly in selling them to the defense better. He is arrogant which can be seen as a strength or a weakness but as a rookie, he may need to be just a little humble at first.
Where I think hell be drafted: At this stage it seems Sam Bradford may be rating just ahead of Clausen in many peoples eyes so looking at the draft order, if the Rams dont take him, look for Clausen to head to the nations capital as Mike Shanahans new pet project.
Where I think he should be drafted: If Jake Locker had declared, there might have been a chance he could have slipped out of the top ten but I would be extremely surprised if he is still on the board at #5 and at the very worst, I dont see him slipping past Buffalo at #9 overall.
Summary: Clausen has a lot of things to love about him; hes a leader, accurate and knows how to win. Had Notre Dame had a more successful season he might have gotten the profile that would have assured him the #1 overall pick. As it is, without him, the Fighting Irish might not have won more than 2 games and his TD:Int ratio of 28:4 is impressive anyway you discuss it! Once Charlie Weis was relieved of his duties there as little point in Clausen returning to learn a new system when the pros offer exactly the same thing except with a large pay check to boot.In 2008 he looked a reasonable project but the improvement in him from 2008 to 2009 is so obvious and it will catch teams eyes, even in respect to the weaknesses mentioned above. Clausen is an extremely hard worker and if he fails in the NFL it wont be by lack of effort on his part. If you are looking for an NFL comparison then Aaron Rodgers could be a name to think about in that he can make all the throws and is reasonably mobile. Clausen has the abilities and work ethic to take his potential and become a true franchise Quarterback and with good pro coaching, a lot of his weaknesses are fixable early in his career.
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