Scout’s Profile: Brandon Weeden Not Your Average Prospect

For the most part, a junior from a prolific offense in the Big 12 who hasn’t quite reached national attention is usually a case of a prospect who should stay his final season in college and then test the NFL waters.

And in the ideal world of Brandon Weeden at Oklahoma State, he’d stay for his senior year and improve on his outstanding season. But Weeden isn’t the average prospect.

In high school, Weeden was a quarterback for a playoff team in Oklahoma and one of the best quarterbacks in the southern part of the country. But aside from that, he was an all-state baseball pitcher.

Because of his abilities in baseball, he was drafted in the 2^nd round by the New York Yankees and went on to play Class A ball for five seasons.

After those five seasons and 108 games, however, things didn’t go as planned. He ended his baseball career still in the minor leagues with a 19-26 record and a 5.02 ERA. For all you football only fans, that isn’t anything special. Plus, a shoulder injury in 2006 questioned his future in the game of baseball.

So, he went on to try his other talent: playing quarterback.

He joined the Oklahoma State football team in 2007, where he red-shirted. He played in one game the following season and last year, as a sophomore, played in three games.

And this year, at age 26 (turning 27 on October 14^th) he became the starting quarterback of the Oklahoma State Cowboys. A married man living off-campus, Weeden has said that he still tries to be “just one of the guys”.

But this year, he didn’t have to be one of the guys to get respect on the field. Playing in Dana Hologorsen’s offense, who helped Case Kennum of Houston reach the NFL and will be moving on to be West Virginia’s next head coach in 2012, aided in Weeden’s development as a passer and having the numbers to back-up his skills.

He lead the Cowboys to a Top 25 season and the Alamo Bowl against Arizona thanks to his tremendous production. With a 67 percentage completion rate, over 4,000 yards, and a 32-13 touchdown to interception ratio, it’s easy to see why he’s received attention from NFL scouts.

He and teammate Justin Blackmon, a red-shirt sophomore receiver, submitted paperwork to the NFL’s Advisory Board, which in my opinion hasn’t been the best evaluator of whether a junior to declare, and will have to get their information back and decide before the January 15^th deadline for underclassmen to declare.

Obviously, this unique situation of Weeden already being 27 years old along with the loss of Dana Hologorsen will have a major impact on his decision.

As for the scouting report on Weeden, his poise in the pocket, ability to read the defense and go through checkdowns, and his short area accuracy and deep touch is really what NFL scout’s like in Weeden. He needs to show he has a stronger arm and that he can develop his footwork, but his maturity and accuracy may be enough for a West Coast team to have interest.

In my opinion, I think Weeden should declare and take the jump to the NFL. He’ll need at least a year or two to get to his professional prime, and by then he’ll be 29 years old. He has enough talent to get a shot as a camp arm, and worst case scenario, he could be a very solid CFL or AFL quarterback and still be a professional  quarterback.

I don’t want to say Kurt Warner, but Weeden could be that type of longshot with talent, and Drew Henson, former Yankees player as well, made his comeback with the Cowboys as well.

It’s a long shot for Weeden to succeed in the NFL, but he has the talent and maturity for at least a team or two to consider bringing him aboard.