UPDATE: 03/12/14 1:33 p.m.:
Is Tyler Wilson Ken Whisenhunt’s next Kurt Warner?
It’s a possibility put forth by Matt Ward on SI.com’s Fansided site.
Ward writes: Nobody ever expected Kurt Warner to have the career resurgence that he did under Whisenhunt in Arizona. He beat out their first-round draft pick for the starting gig and took them all the way to a Super Bowl.
This has Titans fans buzzing about who they should bring in to compete with Locker. The cupboard is pretty bare as far as free agents go, but there is a fresh crop of rookies available this May in the NFL draft. While there are several intriguing options in the draft, I think we are overlooking one painfully obvious possibility.
Tyler Wilson.
The carousel continues to go ’round for former Razorback quarterback Tyler Wilson. News from the Raiders organization this evening is he has been waived the day before the team takes on the Dallas Cowboys.
From the Raiders:
The Oakland Raiders have added Jared Veldheer to the active roster, General Manager Reggie McKenzie announced Wednesday.
Veldheer has been on the Reserve/Injured – Designated for Return list since Sept. 7. A fourth-year player from Hillsdale, Veldheer did not miss a game in any of his first three seasons prior to 2013, appearing in all 48 games and making 43 starts. The former third-round selection (69th overall) in the 2010 NFL Draft originally returned to practice Nov. 13.
In a corresponding move, the Raiders have waived QB Tyler Wilson.
UPDATE: 11/16/13
From Raiders.com: The Oakland Raiders have signed QB Tyler Wilson to the active roster, General Manager Reggie McKenzie announced Saturday.
Wilson has spent the entire season on the Raiders’ practice squad after re-signing with the club on Sept. 2. He was waived on Sept. 1. The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder was selected by the Raiders in the fourth round (112th overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft.
The native of Greenwood, Ark., played collegiately at the University of Arkansas, appearing in 37 career games with 24 starts over four seasons. He set school records with 7,765 passing yards and 593 completions, and totaled 52 career touchdowns passes, becoming one of just four players in program history to top 50 career scoring strikes. Wilson finished his career ranked second in school annals with 7,721 yards of total offense. As a junior, he became the first quarterback in school history to earn All-SEC first-team recognition after throwing for 3,638 yards and 24 touchdowns.
To make room for Wilson, Oakland has waived DL Brian Sanford.
UPDATE: 10/8/13
The Raiders cut 3rd-stringer Matt Flynn Oct. 8, 2013 and here is the latest on that may mean for Tyler Wilson:
With Flynn gone, a quote from Raiders’ head coach Dennis Allen: “We’ll look,” Allen said, when asked where the Raiders go from here. “We’ll always be looking in terms of what’s out there. Obviously right now we’ve got Matt McGloin, who’s on the roster, and we’ve got Tyler Wilson, who’s on the practice squad, and we feel good about those two guys.”
***
Updated 7/23/13
Tyler Wilson is officially an Oakland Raider. The former Razorback quarterback has signed a 4-year deal with the Raiders according to the NFL franchise.
The Raiders have signed fourth-round draft pick Tyler Wilson, General Manager Reggie McKenzie announced Tuesday.
The Raiders have now signed eight of the team’s 10 selections from the 2013 NFL Draft.
Wilson (6-2, 215) was selected 112th overall by the Raiders in April. He played in 37 career games with 24 starts in four years at Arkansas, setting program records with 7,765 career passing yards on 593 completions. He also totaled 52 touchdown passes, becoming just the fourth quarterback in Arkansas history to top 50 career scoring tosses.
The native of Greenwood, Ark., was a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and was named preseason third-team All-American as a senior. He became the first Arkansas quarterback to earn first-team All-SEC honors after establishing program records with 3,368 passing yards and 24 touchdowns as a junior.
Tyler Wilson, who has taken a break back home in Arkansas before the start of preseason training camp, is making some more noise this offseason, and getting praise for his approach and saying the right things. The Silver and Black Pride SB Nation site is reporting:
“You understand that it is important that you continue to maintain your body and everything that goes into the season,” Wilson said. “That way when you get into training camp here in the next couple week you are ready to go and it’s a lot different than college because you step into training camp and you’ve got a preseason game the next week. The season is right around the corner and I’m excited.”
It is really great to hear a young rookie like Tyler Wilson saying the right things such as understanding the need to maintain his physique during this time off. It is easy to fall back into a vacation mode when you are away from the team for as long of a time as this wait is so understanding that you can’t let that happen is an important thing to learn early in an NFL career. As long as Tyler backs up his words with the proper actions it appears the young QB has already learned that pivotal lesson.
There is no doubt that the world of the NFL is an entirely different beast than the world of the NCAA, because of that it is important to treat it differently as well. Wilson might not have realized it coming in but his eyes have been opened and he is enjoying his experience, though he also acknowledges that it is nice to be back home for a little bit.
“It’s been an eye opener experience playing in a new system and a new environment but it’s been awesome,” Wilson said. “I’ve enjoyed the challenge and everything that’s gone through it. It’s good to be back home and get a little bit of a break but continue to work on some things before we get into summer workouts.”
Updated 6/21/13
Some beat writers who cover the Oakland Raiders haven’t been impressed with what they’ve witnessed at quarterback so far during mini-camps. Despite the journos’ evaluations, the Raiders’ GM says he’s happy.
Reggie McKenzie vehemently disputes the judgment of those who would say there is great cause for concern among this group from either those media in attendance or those speaking of them second hand.
“I don’t know about those great evaluators that were out there (in the media) but in my eyes [the Raiders quarterbacks] had a pretty good off-season, pretty good OTA’s, and they had some really good days,” McKenzie told Bay Area radio station, 95.7 The Game. “Everyone has a bad day, but as far as the development of Flynn, the development of Pryor, the development of Wilson, all these guys, they have gotten a ton better from day one to when they left last week.
“I like what the offensive coaches are doing with Pryor and they try to implement his plan. The way they’re throwing everything at Flynn and the rookie to try to see if he can pick it up… they all can throw the football and Pryor’s definitely working on his mechanics. So, it’s encouraging to see what this staff is doing with these guys and I’m kind of anxious to see them in training camp and how preseason rolls along.
“As far as the beat writers’ evaluations, I really don’t pay a whole lot of attention to that. Sorry about that, beat writers. If you were really good I’d probably get you in one of these scouting jobs.”
Tyler Wilson meets the press after a Raiders mini-camp work out. Here are a few snippets from that press conference. Full transcripts and video is available at the this link.
Q: When you were in school, you got all the reps. Now maybe a third of them. It’s a lot different trying to learn a new system when you don’t have as much time.
Wilson: No question. Rookie camp was a big step for me because I got the majority of the reps. And then OTAs, you get about a third or a little more. And then today, it was somewhat similar to that. So, it is an adjustment period. You’re trying to learn. There’s a curve there and you’ve got to do that as quickly as possible in order to play full speed and play like you can play. I think that’s the most frustrating part is that you want to go out and just complete every pass like you did and just roll. I think we will get there, sooner or later, but I’m excited. I think we’re headed in the right direction. We can do a lot of positive things and this is a big week for us headed into a little break before training camp.
…
Q: You always hear rookies talk about the surprise of the speed of the game, is that something that you also think?
Wilson: The guys are the same, as far as physical ability. They’re going to run really similar times. So, as far as actual speed, no. It’s similar to play in the SEC — they’re fast guys. Guys are a little more instinctive, a little more smart, so they get there naturally quicker. That would be the only thing and I’m kind of a half a step behind right now, so maybe that’s where you’re feeling a little bit of that too. I think it’s fast but nothing I haven’t seen. I’m sure it’s going to get quicker too as you move on as we’re in shorts right now. So when the pads get on, it’s going to get a little bit faster and then once you get to game time, preseason…so I haven’t seen the full go of it yet. I’m humble right now and will stay that way for sure.
And here are the latest photos of Tyler Wilson from the Raiders minicamp this week.
Updated 5/28/13
Tyler Wilson has been going through drills at a Raiders camp this week and below are some photos of him in action.
Tyler Wilson has even more competition at the Raiders, perhaps, beyond Matt Flynn and Terrelle Pryor. This news from the Raiders yesterday.
The Oakland Raiders signed free agent quarterback Matt McGloin, General Manager Reggie McKenzie announced Thursday.
The 6-foot-1, 210-pound McGloin is a non-drafted rookie out of Penn State. He set a career school record with 46 touchdown passes, and in 2012 set single-season program marks in completions (270) and passing yards (3,266), while tying the season standard in touchdown passes (24).
Tyler Wilson is drawing strong reviews at the Raiders’ rookie mini-camp. In this post, the writer says it’s conceivable Wilson starts this year:
“It’s an opportunity,” Wilson said. “Obviously, there’s a lot I have to learn. … I’ve got a lot of work to do to get up to speed because there have been veteran guys that have been here that are way ahead of me right now. So, I’m playing catch-up from that point.”
Raiders coach Dennis Allen praised Wilson’s arm strength — a trait that caused some of the receivers problems, according to Corkran — and accuracy while pointing out some rust in picking up the team’s offensive system. Assuming that gets knocked off now that Wilson is able to practice with the teams, he should at least draw consideration for the job from a team that should take a page from Seattle’s book and pick the best man for the job instead of the likeliest choice at the start of offseason work.
Here’s something fun for you, Tyler Wilson’s rookie jersey for the Raiders and team roster, as it stands now.
Now that Tyler Wilson has been drafted by the Oakland Raiders, we thought we would keep up with the buzz surrounding him as he prepares for his new career in the NFL.
Below these occasional updates, you can read through what the experts were saying about Wilson leading up to the draft in April.
Our first Wilson Buzz post is from Sports Illustrated today. Wilson is listed as the third most likely quarterback to start on week one of the 2013 season, behind No. 2 E.J. Manual who was drafted by the Bills and Geno Smith who was drafted by the dumpster fires, er, we mean NY Jets.
Here is what SI had to say about Wilson:
3. Tyler Wilson, Raiders: The Raiders traded down in Round 4 to add an extra pick later, then scooped up Wilson at No. 112 overall. Wilson never really reached the elite level many thought he would at Arkansas, but his toughness and ability to make every throw painted him as an intriguing prospect heading into the draft — NFL.com compared his skill set to that of Brett Favre.
So, what if the light flips on right out of the gate? The Raiders currently sit with Matt Flynn as their No. 1 QB and Terrelle Pryor at No. 2. At the very least, Wilson should feel confident in his chances of unseating Pryor, and Flynn lost the Seattle job (to another “Wilson,” coincidentally) last summer.
Oakland would love to give Flynn a little rope after trading for him. Wilson, however, could change the plans.
Here is a link to Tyler Wilson’s career stats as an Arkansas Razorback. Wilson was selected in the fourth round by the Oakland Raiders.
[tweet https://twitter.com/Jerrymcd/status/328214087265824769]Tyler Wilson is headed to the NFL draft after a record-setting career as the Arkansas Razorback quarterback for the past two seasons.
Had Wilson declared early after the 2011 season, he would have been a sure-fire first round pick according to most mock drafts last year. He was even picked by one Sports Illustrated draft guru as the #1 overall pick for the 2013 draft before the 2012 season started.
But after the disastrous 2012 Razorback season, we’re wondering what they are saying now.
But first, a little bio and background on the quarterback from Greenwood:
Tyler Wilson graduated from Greenwood High School in 2008. Wilson played on three teams that won the Arkansas state championship, two as the starting quarterback. In his two years as starter for the Greenwood Bulldogs, Wilson threw for over 8,000 yards with 94 touchdown passes. Wilson won the 2007 Landers Award as the state of Arkansas’ top football player.
He was ranked as the #9 pro-style quarterback in the nation and #5 overall player in the state of Arkansas by Rivals.com, and ESPN rated Wilson as the #8 quarterback recruit in the nation.
Having grown up just a few miles from the Arkansas campus, there was never really any doubt that Wilson would be a Hog once Bobby Petrino was hired as head coach, even if there was a brief flirtation with Guz Malzahn while he was the OC at Tulsa prior to the Petrino hiring.
He played sparingly in 2008 behind Casey Dick – but eventually received a medical redshirt for an extended illness. In 2009-10 he backed up another record-setting Hog quarterback, Ryan Mallett, and played well, especially in the 2010 game on the road at Auburn when he came in for relief of the injured Mallett and promptly threw for 323 yards and 4 TD’s in a heartbreaking loss to the eventual National Champs.
Becoming the unquestioned starter in 2011 and 2012, Wilson had a record-setting years as the Hog quarterback. According to this writer at Arkansas Expats, Wilson owned 27 school records going into the final game of the season. (We can’t find a list of what they are and would love anyone who has a list to post them in the comments below.)
Playing in the toughest conference in the country, he performed at an amazingly high level for two years. Even in 2012, as bad as it was, behind an offensive line that under-performed and without a consistent receiver aside from Cobi Hamilton, he was pretty amazing.
His stats speak for themselves.
His leadership, his toughness, his poise, and his obvious skills has made Tyler Wilson the epitome of what it means to be a Razorback. While we all wonder what might have been in 2012 had Bobby Petrino not gotten caught with his finger in the cookie jar (so to speak), Tyler Wilson has played his way into the eternal heart of every Razorback fan.
Here is a highlight video of one of our favorite Tyler Wilson games: the 2011 dismantling of the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Tyler Wilson drafted in the fourth round by the Oakland Raiders:
So, let’s move on to what we can find regarding Tyler Wilson and the NFL draft, shall we?
Tyler Wilson is still on the board after the first round of the NFL Draft. In interviews he remains hopeful he goes sometime during Friday’s second and third rounds. While researching updates for this post today, we stumbled across a statistical comparison (as flawed as the writer admits it may be) between Wilson and other quarterbacks in this year’s draft.
The name that jumps out is Tyler Wilson. The Arkansas quarterback put up the best numbers on that board in 2011. That’s especially impressive when you factor in three of his five top 40 defenses faced were Alabama (No. 1), South Carolina (No. 2) and LSU (No. 3). Wilson did not have the breakout season expected of him. But with his injuries, his lost receivers and the utter program implosion that happened around him (not to mention never having a great offensive line), his regression is more than accounted for.
Wilson faced the toughest opponents and endured the most adversity the past two seasons. One could argue he was still the best in this group at playing football when it counted. …
The full comparison from Big League Sports is worth a look and is available here.
The Verdict: I’m a lot higher on Wilson than most people. A lot of the issues with his game are correctable after a year or two of development with an NFL coach, and shouldn’t scare teams from him. Wilson possesses a lot of the necessary abilities to succeed as an NFL quarterback that you can’t teach and surely something has to be said for that. I see Wilson becoming a starter at some point in his NFL career.
Where he should be drafted: Third round.
Where he will be drafted: Somewhere after the fourth.
Ideal Fits: Kansas City, Miami
Wilson mentioned on a radio interview Tuesday he was getting interest from Buffalo, when asked which teams had shown the most interest in him before the NFL Draft. From Buffalo:
Wilson is a fantastic rhythm thrower that needs to go to a team with a horizontal timing offense that gets the ball out quickly. He’s best in a system where information is mostly complete pre-snap, and he can drop, step, and fire. He’s a good decision maker that needs to learn that he can’t fire the football everywhere he wants, and can’t challenge NFL defenses the way he challenged SEC defenses the past two years.
Wilson needs to go to a team that turns the game into a mental match-up contest. A horizontal passing offense that gets the ball out quickly with solid pass protection is the right fit for Wilson. A team that runs an offense similar to what Buffalo ran last season is ideal. Wilson is a better version of former Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, with more accuracy, more arm strength, and better leadership skills.
The U-T San Diego publication, reports an endorsement from Jon Gruden of Tyler Wilson for a possible back-up position to Phillip Rivers – someone who can be groomed to take over for the team in the future.
Is it time? Should the Chargers draft a quarterback? Not someone to replace Philip Rivers in 2013. Someone who can learn from Rivers and, with growth, become a franchise quarterback.
I think they should be ready to act if a passer intrigues them after the first or second round. So I asked Jon Gruden to name a candidate or two.
“I like Tyler Wilson at Arkansas,” he said.
Gruden said Wilson is unusually tough. A two-year starter, Wilson visited the fourth Gruden QB Camp, which airs on ESPN.
But he’s not the only SEC passer named Tyler admired by Gruden.
“I think Tyler Bray as a middle-round quarterback could come in there and really take advantage of watching Philip Rivers prepare on a weekly basis,” Gruden said. “I think there’s a couple of guys in this draft quite honestly that could come in there and be a good quality backup to Philip Rivers.”
From NFL.com we have this, contrarian view: Tyler Wilson Over Geno Smith. Smith seems to be the consensus top QB in the draft.
The most surprising evaluation: Norris has Arkansas’ Tyler Wilson ranked first among the quarterbacks. Geno Smith ranks second, Zac Dysert third, with big names like Matt Barkley and EJ Manuel falling out of the top five.
In a year where there is no quarterback consensus, you can be sure plenty of NFL teams have surprising ranks at quarterback, too. That’s the thing that gets me about most prospect rankings. NFL teams vary far more from one another than the draftnik community consensus. Wilson’s ability to deliver under pressure is why Norris ranks him so highly.
USA Today has a feature on Wilson headlined, “Arkansas’ Tyler Wilson falling draft stock may be Bobby Petrino’s fault.” An excerpt from the article is below and you can read it all here.
“It’s pretty dry right now as far as what I’m hearing,” Wilson said Thursday from Fayetteville, Ark. “I feel like I’m a very good football player. … Hopefully someone assesses me to be an early pick. That can be Round 1 or Round 2.
“Obviously, as a player who’s very competitive, you want to go as high as you possibly can. … I want to be really successful. And I’m going to do what it takes to get there.”
Latest from Mel Kiper, Jr., conference call on the draft April 3, 2013 (full transcript is here where he also discusses UAPB’s Terron Armstead and Arkansas State University’s Don Jones):
Q. Can you talk about Tyler Wilson and where you see him going, what round, and what you like about him? He’s kind of been a little bit overshadowed here and you don’t hear much about him?
MEL KIPER, JR.: Yeah, he’s the forgotten man in this quarterback class now. It’s amazing. He went into the year, you thought maybe late first round, early second round, then all of a sudden kind of the wheels came off of the program. You think about with Petrino gone and obviously a lot of changes, three receivers moved on to the NFL, you had the injury with Gragg at tight end, the offensive line issues continued. All of a sudden then you had Davis didn’t play as well as you thought he would. He’s obviously had a lot of injury issues at Arkansas, the running back, and then Tyler Wilson had the injury early on. The Alabama game, which you thought was going to be a key game for him, injured.
Then you talk about he’s kind of one of those guys, small hands came up, but he’s a tough kid. He looks down that gun barrel, he makes some very difficult throws. He’s the kind of kid if he slides, becomes a value pick, a nice pick, and if he gets into the fourth round mix, which he could, third, fourth round mix, then there’s a kid who at one point if things would have fallen right could have been a first round pick and I don’t think anybody could have argued with it.
At the end of the day some things worked against him, a lot of things beyond his control, the small hands came into the equation, as well. So I think he drops into the third or fourth round.
The Bleacher Report draft scouting report on Wilson has him going somewhere in the second or third rounds. Grading on tools, intangibles, system, arm strength, accuracy, mechanics, pocket presence, mobility and future role/scheme versatility, the scouting report is loaded with video examples and worth a look.
Tools
Tyler Wilson possesses relatively average physical tools.
At just 6’2”, 215 pounds, he is slightly undersized for an NFL signal-caller. His ability to escape the pocket and create windows, however, makes a lack of size less of an issue.
What actually may be more concerning: Wilson has small hands (8 3/4″), which could hurt him at the next level. We occasionally see this show up on tape, as he cannot grip the ball as completely as others, leading to many “wounded duck” throws.
Athletically, Wilson once again grades out as average. While he ran a relatively poor 4.95 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, Wilson appears to move around better than test numbers indicate.
The Buffalo News in Buffalo, NY, which is profiling 50 draft prospects in 50 days leading up to the NFL Draft, quotes ESPN’s draft guru, Mel Kiper, Jr.:
“Wilson right now is solidly, I think, the fourth quarterback to come off the board. This year obviously circumstances were beyond his control. … Also three wide receivers moved on as well via graduation. So it just didn’t fall into place. I think he’s an early to mid-second round, at worst an early three. … Tough, a guy that looks down that gun barrel and makes a lot of throws. When the pressure is on him he showed he is tough and would hang in there and make some nice, accurate throws. As tough as they come. Has the toughness of a linebacker.” — ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr.
Here are a few links to wrap up what is being said about Wilson after his Pro Day workouts in Fayetteville, March 15, 2013.
From the Buffalo Bills, link through to video interview with Wilson:
A day after watching West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith throw, Buffalo’s top two personnel men headed further south to Arkansas where they observed Razorbacks signal caller Tyler Wilson. In an offseason where the need to add a quarterback of the future was increased with the release of veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick this week, the Bills scouting department has literally been going the extra mile.
“I think now is the time for us,” said Nix. “You’re trying harder to make sure that you know every little thing. We’re turning over every stone to make sure we know all there is to know possibly about these players.”
Wilson is a player that Buffalo has seen a lot of through the pre-draft process meeting with him at the Senior Bowl and the NFL Combine. He stood on his workout numbers in Indianapolis last month, but did perform throwing drills with his receivers.
From the Associated Press:
Wilson is considered one of the top quarterbacks available in the draft after earning All-Southeastern Conference first-team honors as a junior and throwing for an average of 307.9 yards per game last season. He let his other performances — including his 40-yard dash time of 4.95 seconds — stand from last month’s combine on Friday, instead focusing on a detailed presentation of his passing ability.
“The combine is a tough representation,” Wilson said. “… I threw the ball pretty well there. There some balls location-wise that could have been a little better. But this is a more accurate depiction of what you can do because these are the throws we threw in college. You’re familiar with the receivers, you’re familiar with the setting and this is who you are.”
And from SBNation.com:
A consensus top five quarterback in the 2013 NFL draft, former Razorbacks helmsman Tyler Wilson showed off his arm at the Arkansas pro day on Friday. Though he did not participate in all drills — skipping the 40-yard dash and the vertical — Wilson did partake in accuracy and deep passing drills. His teammate, running back Knile Davis, also chose to not participate in traditional drills, instead running pass-catching drills in front of the pro scouts.
If you are a Tyler Wilson fan, this is a fantastic read.
Lex Carpenter of Yahoo Sports says that Tyler Wilson could be a draft day surprise:
In every NFL draft there is a Tyler Wilson, a player who the draft experts say is not The Great New Thing. The list of negatives they spill come in a nitpicking torrent: Not fast enough, not big enough, not accurate enough, throws too hard, throws too soft. Then comes the draft day when the player who was supposed to go the second day – or the third – is taking a first-round phone call as his name is announced on national TV.
From NFL.com’s Albert Breer, writing primarily about Geno Smith, we get this tidbit…
Arkansas’ Tyler Wilson is seen by many as a dark horse after a train wreck of a senior year.
We have draft tidbits in our NFL Combine Live Post here, too. You may be interested in some of that information.
From USA Today on Feb. 19:
BRADENTON, Fla. — Former Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson came to IMG Academy quarterback guru Chris Weinke seven weeks ago as a long strider who dipped his throwing shoulder, weakening his ability to drive his deeper passes accurately down the field.
Heading into Sunday’s scouting combine throwing showcase in Indianapolis, Weinke thinks Wilson and former West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith are prepared to light up the Lucas Oil Stadium stage.
“Those two will stand out by far,” Weinke told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday. “They’re locked and loaded. … I believe Tyler belongs in the first round. That’s my personal opinion. His arm talent is as good as some of the big boys, if not better in some cases.
Our friends at Arkansas Expats have put together a nice collection and analysis of what ESPN’s draft guru, Todd McShay, has said the past couple of days while reviewing game film of Wilson in action. It’s worth a read.
From Shawn Zobel, of DraftHeadquarters.com:
[tweet https://twitter.com/RazorbackFB/status/295321537593090049]As of right now, this year’s draft class is the worst at the quarterback position since 2007. With the quarterback class being so lumped together at this point, and lacking any true stars, NFL coaches are going to have their work cut out for them. After seeing Arkansas’ Tyler Wilson in person twice, I can say without reservation that he is worth a first round pick in this year’s draft.
With Suzy Wilson's permission,Tyler Wilson's Outstanding Quarterback Performance Trophy!!! #WPS #GoHogs @HogDatabase pic.twitter.com/sOWccAFz
— Sharp Williams (@SharpTusk) January 26, 2013
Peter Schrager, Fox Sports Mock Draft Board, has Wilson going as the first quarterback in the draft and No. 6 overall to the Cleveland Browns:
[tweet https://twitter.com/ShawnZobel_DHQ/status/293823373522382848] [tweet https://twitter.com/NFLDraftMonster/status/293454360518737921] [tweet https://twitter.com/KCChiefs_Reid/status/293819683109482496] [tweet https://twitter.com/AlexS_ESPN/status/293816760522665984] [tweet https://twitter.com/TomMurphyADG/status/293819027585916929] [tweet https://twitter.com/nfldraftscout/status/291585265238163457]Browns fans, please don’t scratch your heads and pull the plug out of your computers just yet. Hear me out on this one. Yes, Cleveland drafted a quarterback in the first round a season ago. And sure, there are other pressing needs. But Tyler Wilson is the real deal and is the type of quarterback that can turn around a franchise that’s been idle for so many years. Norv Turner won’t fail with grooming a quarterback and if there’s any college coach that can help mold and develop a kid at the NCAA level, it’s Bobby Petrino. Wilson is a 6-foot-2, athletic, smart kid who went through the ups and downs of last year in Fayetteville. He’s been through adversity. He’s the number one quarterback on my big board. This, to me, is a perfect match.
Wilson participates in the Senior Bowl this week in Mobile, Ala., and as a result, the chatter regarding him and his draft spots heats up.
Mike Glennon, QB, North Carolina State. He has a chance to pass Smith and Barkley and become the No. 1 quarterback in the class if he can excel in this format. The game also will provide solid opportunities for fellow QBs Ryan Nassib from Syracuse and Tyler Wilson from Arkansas.
Tyler Wilson going into the year you thought could be a first round pick, and now more of a second or third rounder,” said Kiper. ”A kid that can throw the football. Tough, a guy that looks down that gun barrel and makes a lot of throws. When the pressure is on him he showed he is tough and would hang in there and make some nice, accurate throws. As tough as they come. Has the toughness of a linebacker.
We all remember Jim Kelly when he came out of Miami he was recruited as a linebacker at Penn State. It’s a guy with an NFL arm and tremendous toughness. Under the previous coaching staff and with the talent around him, remember they lost their top three receivers from the prior year you expected this year to be a tough go and then he had an injury early on.
So I think Tyler Wilson is the kind of guy maybe second round, at worst third, but second round is where you look at him. Had he had the great year you thought was possible based on what we saw two years ago he might’ve been a mid-first round pick.
Wilson is the draft’s toughest quarterback, which he’ll need to be behind Arizona’s shoddy offensive line. Arizona has weapons at receiver but not a reliable player to get them the ball.
It’s still too early to be making concrete predictions, but Wilson has a chance to reclaim his high preseason stock with strong showings at the Senior Bowl and Combine.
Tyler Wilson and the entire Arkansas team had a very, very underwhelming season and unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) Arkansas’ season is over. Wilson is still a first round pick if you ask me, because outside of Cobi Hamilton and Dennis Johnson he did not have much in the way of help this season. I’m sure some will argue that he was boosted by his supporting cast last season, but if his play was elevated by it last year it was dragged down by his cast this season. Outside of Cobi Hamilton no wide receiver was a consistent threat, and Knile Davis was not his regular self for almost the entire year. Dennis Johnson stepped up to fill the void when they gave him the opportunity, but even with his “emergence” (some of us already knew he could play) Wilson was under near constant pressure because of his terrible offensive line.
He has a bit of a gunslinger mentality that some will like and some won’t, and he isn’t a perfect prospect by any means either. But I love his intangibles and leadership capability and I think he has more than enough arm talent to be a quality NFL starter. I think he still ends up in the top 15 after the draft process runs its course and teams get to interview him. Someone will fall in love with him (if not multiple QB needy teams) and they’ll make an effort to go get him.
Something that typically doesn’t come with coaching — toughness — was demonstrated by Wilson last season. Despite his relative lack of starting experience, Wilson showed surprising poise and courage in the pocket last year. Against top competition Wilson repeatedly showed the toughness to ignore an oncoming defender, absorb the hit and still get off an accurate pass.
Tyler Wilson will appeal to scouts as a safe prospect with no boom/bust potential as well as a prospect that fits well into most offensive systems. As demanding of a position that QB is in the NFL, a strong senior bowl week could solidify him as a first round pick.
The redshirt senior put up good numbers in his final game against LSU despite a 20-13 loss. Wilson completed 31 of 52 passes for 359 yards, one TD and one INT. Though he’s not normally known as a scrambling QB, he also added 38 yards on the ground. Wilson’s season wasn’t what many expected overall, but he still has the size and the arm to be a high pick.
One thing you can’t question about Wilson is his toughness. Aside from the concussion that kept him out 2 games, he has played through multiple injuries this season and has looked determined to win, despite his team having a disappointing season.
Wilson had a very disappointing season this year and he isn’t a perfect prospect, but he has a NFL arm and is one of the best leaders at the quarterback position in this class. He’s extremely tough, and he’s going to be easy to play for because he’s willing to take a hit to deliver a throw. He played behind a terrible offensive line this year and it showed in the win/loss column and in his stat line. I still think he’s going to go in the first round, most likely in the top 15 picks. I don’t know if he’s going to be a franchise quarterback, but I think he can be a quality NFL starter.
I was a torch bearer for Wilson to begin the season. I fell in love with him throughout the course of the 2011 season. Clearly, he has been hampered by injuries and the coaching change. I still see Wilson as worthy of a first round selection with his blend of arm talent, sneaky athleticism, and toughness. Arkansas can’t protect Wilson and he’s developing some bad habits because of it. If he reverts back to 2011 form during the second half of the season its conceivable that Wilson could still land in the top 15 of the 2013 NFL Draft.
The Bills are ready to move on from Ryan Fitzpatrick and would like to break in a new quarterback along with their new coach. It looks like Wilson or North Carolina State’s Mike Glennon will be the third QB picked.
Two of the top quarterbacks in this year’s draft class are West Virginia’s Geno Smith and Arkansas’ Tyler Wilson. If the team at the top of the draft board — likely to be the Kansas City Chiefs — decides to draft a quarterback, either one could end up being the No. 1 overall pick.
Going through the process of researching this article, we’ve learned that it is still very early for the NFL mock drafts to start really heating up. After the bowl games are over and the senior bowls are played, we will start seeing an astounding amount of articles written on the topic. There is very robust NFL mock draft/player prospect/pro evaluation sub-culture on the internet.
Tyler Wilson certainly has the size, the skills, the stats and the intangibles to be a very high NFL draft pick.
It remains to be seen what what the disappointing season has done to his draft stock. The only real hit on his stats in 2012 is the increase in interceptions, but honestly, he was running for his life back there this season.
The consensus at this (early) point seems to be that Wilson is still in late first/early second round area of the draft, but a good showing at the Senior Bowl and a good Combine performance could boost his stock.
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