Before we get into the passing, let's talk about the athleticism. It's not good, as the combine showed, but this man is likely the next Tom Brady in one area.
He's a master of the quarterback sneak.
Don't believe me? Try topping this.
He gained eight yards sneaking the ball. EIGHT YARDS. This could work as an entire offense.
The thing that is going to stand out most about Stanley is his arm strength.
This is really what scouts are going to love with Stanley. He has a big arm and can rifle the ball into small areas.
The most frustrating thing about Stanley is that although he can make all the throws, he never put together the consistency you would want to see from a starting quarterback. This especially showed up when he is on the road and with his deep balls.
This has been the most painful part of the Nate Stanley experience. His first year as a starter, I think he completed like 1 of 25 deep balls. I would stand up in anticipation every time he let it rip, and every time I would quietly sit back down while cursing under my breath. It's gotten better since his sophomore season, but it's still not good.
His accuracy is inconsistent on all levels, including screen passes.
He completes the pass, but the tight end has no momentum to gain yards after the catch because of where the ball was placed. He has to stop his route, catch, and turn before heading up field to gain yardage.
Stanley will also struggle under pressure.
Here, the pressure is not overwhelming, and he still has plenty of space. Despite that, he tries to fire the ball while falling backwards, and it is hilariously off target for such a short throw.
Another issue he has under duress is trying to escape out of the pocket instead of stepping up into it.
He's not athletic enough to ever make this strategy work, but it can fail horribly at times as seen here. His running back does let him down on this play, but he often fails to find pockets to throw in and will run himself into more pressure than he gets out of.
I know this wasn't the most positive evaluation, but Nate Stanley is a sports writer's dream. He isn't the most physically gifted guy, but he always gives it 100% and will grind away any way that he can. Sure, he struggles under pressure and seems to get demonstrably worse on the road, but he's always there grinding and will always do just enough to at least keep his team in the game. Unfortunately, with the step up in competition, a lot of that grit just won't translate without more skills. He throws some great balls in the intermediate game, but his accuracy at all levels is a tick below where you would like to see it, and he doesn't have the awareness or athleticism to make up for that. Nate Stanley was a good quarterback for the Iowa Hawkeyes, but his ceiling is probably just a good backup in the NFL.
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