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 NCAA Scouting – Player Profile:
Tony Pike – Quarterback – Cincinnati
by Jody Jamieson
26/1/2010
Tony Pike
Quarterback
Cincinnati
6-5, 209
Born 10th March 1986
Senior
Strengths: Pike stands at roughly 6-5 and with his height will have no issues seeing over the line to try and find his receivers. He showed improvement in his two years as a starter and his decision making is solid and decisive. His accuracy is very good but what pro coaches will love more is his ability to throw the ball to a spot rather than a receiver with confidence, knowing he is putting the ball where the receiver needs to be. He throws a nice tight spiral and his arm strength is ok with good zip on the short to intermediate throws. He feels the rush well enough, can side step pressure and is not afraid to make the safe but unspectacular choice. He is of good character and leads his team mates well.
Weaknesses: Despite his good height needs to add bulk to his frame to stand up to the rigours of the NFL. This lack of bulk does show up in that when he goes deep the ball floats on him. Whilst he can feel the rush he is not very good at evading it and can be somewhat of a statue in the pocket and he is not ever going to be a big threat throwing on the run or if moved out of the pocket. He can do those things when asked but seems to be rather uncomfortable rolling out to his left. His biggest issue maybe his slow obvious wind-up which will give defensive lineman plenty of chance to see the pass coming and get their hands up to knock it down. He is slightly older than most rookies (24 by the time next season comes about) and has not been put into too many clutch situations testing his competitiveness. He struggled against the better defenses in college.
Where I think he’ll be drafted: I see Pike as a 3rd or 4th round pick, to a team looking at him as a guy who can be a possible start a couple of years down the line if he gets the right conditioning and coaching help.
Where I think he should be drafted: I think the bottom of the 4th round is a fair place for him, I don’t expect him t rise too much in the coming months because a lot of his concerns are things that teams need to do with him over the longer term.
Summary: Pike came from nowhere to get himself into the draft mix this year. After gaining the starting job for the Bearcats in 2008 and having what can best be described as an average season he has shown massive improvement in 2009 and helping the program to a 12-0 regular season mark before been defeated by Florida in the Sugar Bowl. He has a lot of the basic things you look for in a QB in that he can and will get a lot of the basics right but then there concerns about just how much potential he has and is there the ability to develop his skill set further? If I was looking for an NFL comparison it might well be Jason Campbell – tall, lean, capable of doing lots of things solidly but not many things spectacularly. Pike should be able to establish himself in the NFL and have a reasonable career as a back-up. He might be the type that impresses in pre-season against back-up players but struggles when asked to compete at the highest level.
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