MOBILE, AL — A few things were made abundantly clear during the first Senior Bowl National Team practice run by the Jets coaching staff. First, the practice pace — even accounting for the first day made slower by installs — was excruciatingly slow. Second, the way the ball comes off Carson Strong’s hand is different than both Desmond Ridder and Kenny Pickett. His play style and his arm talent would make him an interesting fit in Tampa Bay, should the Buccaneers choose to attack the position early in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Carson Strong put together a solid first day at Senior Bowl
To say Carson Strong was impressive would be an overstatement, but as this practice was envious of the pace a sloth moves, it would have been tough for any player to impress. Strong’s arm has long been his calling card, and that shined compared to Ridder and Pickett.
Ridder has similar juice when the ball leaves his hand, but his passes lack the consistency from a placement perspective that Strong offers. The Nevada QB will need to build rapport with some of the receivers in Mobile, but that should improve as the practices go on. His deep ball was inconsistent because of that, but his passes to Wolf Pack teammate Romeo Doubs downfield yielded better results.
Strong fits what Bruce Arians likes in QBs
Strong isn’t in the new mold of mobile quarterbacks that has begun sweeping the league, but he’s what Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians seems to covet in signal-callers. Arians has always found a way to push the ball downfield with his quarterbacks. Tom Brady’s aDOT (average depth of target) rose 1.5 yards when he left New England for Tampa Bay.
Strong looked good during the seven-on-seven period of practice. He kept his upper and lower half in sync and quickly went through his progressions. He also did a good job attacking out-leveraged defensive backs downfield. Although none of the quarterbacks necessarily jumped off the page, that is the nature of this class as a whole.
At 6-foot-3, 226 pounds, the Nevada QB is a sturdy pocket passer who isn’t a Ben Roethlisberger clone, but you can see some similarities if you squint. Arians worked with Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh.
Strong’s knee remains a sticking point
It’s bound to come up in every interview in Mobile. Strong’s knee is a huge topic of conversation. He injured it in high school and then had arthroscopic surgery during the offseason. It affected his recruiting process but didn’t alter his availability while playing a Nevada.
If medical professionals at the Scouting Combine give him a clean bill of health, he could be a late Round 1 option. And with Brady’s retirement, it would be interesting to see the Buccaneers target Strong.