Prospect Bio

Carson Strong was a two-sport athlete in high school, playing basketball and football at Wood High School in Vacaville, California. Strong missed his senior year due to injury. As a junior, Strong completed 69.2 percent of his pass attempts (184 of 266) for 2,732 yards, 24 touchdowns and four interceptions.

After redshirting his freshman year, Strong took the reigns for the Wolfpack as their starting quarterback. In his first start, Strong led Nevada to a win over Power Five foe Purdue. Strong led Nevada to a 5-5 record as a starter during his redshirt-freshman year. Strong went 15-6 in his starts as a sophomore and junior for Nevada. In that span, Strong was named the Mountain West Player of the Year. Strong finished fourth in Nevada history in passing yards and attempts, and finished second in passing touchdowns (74) in school history.

College Stats

Carson Strong College Stats Courtesy of sports-reference.com

Positives

+ Strong arm

+ Pre-snap experience

+ Runs through progressions quickly

+ Good balance of patience/decisiveness

+ Good decision-making

+ Sound footwork

+ Short range accuracy

+ Throws with anticipation

+ Ability to look off defenders

+ College interception rate of 1.5 percent

Negatives

– Lacks mobility

– Can force throws at times

– Does not always detect pressure

– At times, can fade away as he throws

– Downfield accuracy can be better

– 66.1 college QBR (28th-percentile, PlayerProfiler)

– 8.1 yards per attempt (48th-percentile, PlayerProfiler)

– 21.0 breakout age (41st-percentile, PlayerProfiler)

Highlight Reel

Comparable Player: Brock Osweiler

NFL Draft Projection: 2nd Round

Bottom Line:

As a quarterback, Strong’s draft stock will likely be inflated in April’s draft. With that said, second-round quarterbacks do not have the best track record in the NFL. The most notable quarterbacks to come from this range over the last decade include Derek Carr, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Jalen Hurts. Strong has a live arm and should show off at the NFL combine. He’s more of a traditional pocket passer compared to the league moving towards more mobile/athletic quarterbacks. Strong’s play at Nevada has earned him the opportunity to try and buck the trend of moving away from pocket passers.

Resources: DLF, PlayerProfiler, PFN, PFF, TDN

Yards Per-Formance Prospect Grade