East Carolina (6-2, 3-1 AAC) fell out of good grace with pollsters after its shocking loss to Temple last week by dropping from the AP Top 25, but a certain Pirate who likes to chunk the ball around is keeping the school relevant in another set of rankings.
ECU senior quarterback Shane Carden is NFLDraftScout.com’s second-ranked QB prospect for the 2015 NFL draft.
Carden, a Texas native, is one spot behind another Texas native and current Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty. Petty’s been placed in the upper echelon of the draft boards ever since leading the Baylor program to its first Big 12 title in 2013 and passing for 4,200 yards with 32 touchdowns to only three interceptions.
Carden’s ascension in popularity among NFL scouts isn’t surprising given his stats: an average of 3,627.6 passing yards and 28 TD passes through 2012-13. With 2,791 yards passing and 18 touchdown tosses in eight games this season, Carden is on pace to exceed his average yardage total and touchdown passes from his first two seasons as the Pirates’ starter.
Despite the top quarterback’s solid passing stats, experience, and leadership qualities that have placed him in good standing on the current draft board, Carden could easily slip down the board if he doesn’t improve on one particular nagging stat: interceptions.
From 2012-13, Carden threw 20 picks. He’s already halfway to 10 in 2014 with five.
Interceptions are more likely to occur, even for the better quarterbacks, when they throw the ball as much as Carden (over 40 pass attempts per game in 2014), but interceptions keep QBs off the field in the NFL. They are a pro signal-caller’s Kryptonite, and have killed many quarterbacks’ young NFL careers (e.g. Mark Sanchez).
But Carden will train, watch film, and work as hard as he must to fix his inefficiencies. He’s seen as Pirates primary leader and the former off-the-radar recruit has a chip on his shoulder.
Carden also realizes he must critique his game slightly to fit the offenses that traditionally make-up the NFL. Teams don’t line up in four wide receiver sets on every down (unless you have Peyton Manning, that is), so Carden will have to adjust to the pro-style offense.
“Under the center plays is an obvious one as I rarely go under,” Carden told DraftSeason.com. “One I tried to make a conscious effort to get better at this year was pocket presence and making staying in the pocket until I need to get out.”
Luckily for Carden, his Pirates entered a new conference in 2014 with better competition. If ECU still played in Conference USA, perhaps Carden’s draft stock would be much lower. Taking a peak at the first four QBs taken in the 2014 NFL draft, the picks have a heavy AAC/Group of Five flavor.
| RD | SEL # | PLAYER | POSITION | SCHOOL | TEAM |
| 1 | 3 | Blake Bortles | QB | Central Florida | Jacksonville Jaguars |
| 1 | 22 | Johnny Manziel | QB | Texas A&M | Cleveland Browns |
| 1 | 32 | Teddy Bridgewater | QB | Louisville* | Minnesota Vikings |
| 2 | 36 | Derek Carr | QB | Fresno State | Oakland Raiders |
*Louisville was an AAC member in 2013
Three of the Top-4 quarterbacks picked in the previous draft are now starting on Sundays and two played their final collegiate seasons in the American Athletic Conference (Bortles and Bridgewater).
Carden has an opportunity to give the AAC three NFL starters by this time next year.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
