NFL Analyst Daniel Jeremiah Breaks Down Drew Mestemaker as an NFL Prospect

Drew Mestemaker’s NFL Draft buzz has only increased since he lit the Ducks ablaze this past weekend.

As part of Oklahoma State’s 39-31 upset win against Oregon, Mestemaker threw for 317 yards and two touchdowns while running for another 109 yards and a score.

Following that performance ESPN/NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah dived into the tape to give his take on the Cowboys’ QB as an NFL prospect.

“The things you like about Mestemaker: first of all, 6-(foot)-3, 215 pounds, he’s got some size to him,” Jeremiah said. “He’s got a real, kind of unique delivery. He has a low carriage. He holds the ball a little bit lower, kind of Phillip Rivers-esque, which can lead to getting a little bit long at times, but the ball does jump out of his hand.”

Jeremiah pointed out a lot of plays in the 3.5 minutes he spent discussing Mestemaker.

Jeremiah pointed out Mestemaker’s 75-yard run to start the game before discussing a dig he stepped into to hit Justin Bowick, a comeback route he rifled, a play where Mestemaker was flushed out of the pocket before ripping a ball to Terrence Lewis for a first down.

And of course, Jeremiah loved the toughness Mestemaker showed when he went flying (nearly literally) into the end zone and the fact that Mestemaker pulled the ball and got the game-icing first down himself.

“He’s got kind of a little busy footwork at the top of his drop, can get a little bouncy at times, which can impact some accuracy occasionally,” Jeremiah said. “But does show touch. You saw it on a flea-flicker down the field. Shows the ability to connect his eyes with his feet and drive the football. Just impressed with that.

“I thought also you’ll see some subtleties at the position. You’ll see a subtle little shoulder roll to be able to get defenders to move and work back and just drive an incut, which was great to see. The velocity, there’s plenty of that. He’s got that in the bag. There’s no issues whatsoever.”

Some of this might seem a little nit-picky, but that’s what it takes when you’re sifting through these high-level quarterbacks.

Jeremiah mentioned Mestemaker’s low carriage a couple of times, which is why Jeremiah thinks Mestemaker had some issues with the first-half tips that led to two interceptions against Oregon.

“So the things he needs to work on here — talked about that low carriage,” Jeremiah said. “That leads to some tips. You see it in the red zone, you get a tipped interception that was a tough one there. And then another one where he’s got a free runner who’s gonna be a jumper right in his face, and he just throws right into it. That gets tipped and picked, as well. So, two unfortunate ones there. The first one, I wouldn’t put on him. The second one, he’s gotta be a little bit more aware.

“He will drift at the top of his drop. Needs to be a little firm, a little more crisp with his footwork going forward, and there’s some decision-making at times, where you see him be a little too aggressive. Just reign that in a little bit. There’s a poor decision, he throws a post into double coverage and got away with one there.”

But even with the negatives, Jeremiah sounds high on the redshirt sophomore who started his 17th game (including high school) this past weekend.

“He’s raw, make no mistake about it,” Jeremiah said. “There’s more development ahead of him, but when you combine the size, the arm strength, the athleticism, the toughness and competitiveness you saw from him as a runner, both to dive into the end zone and to pick up a game-sealing run at the end, I love that about him.

“So, the arrow is up. I think you’re going to continue to see better and better from this kid, but this is a huge win to put on his resume.”