2016 NFL Draft: 49ers Quarterback Big Board
By Jerod Brown
Vernon Adams-University of Oregon
Remember that this is an analysis of what the 49ers will look for in a quarterback moving forward. For my preference, Adams isn’t the best quarterback in this draft. But he also isn’t as undeveloped as some consider him to be. Should Adams be consider in the first three rounds? I don’t believe so. The fifth or sixth round seems more reasonable to me.
The 49ers, and especially general manager Trent Baalke, seem to covet bigger quarterbacks that meet the prototypical NFL size measurements. The team wants a tall quarterback with a thick frame that can withstand the type of hits that might come in a Chip Kelly offense.
They likely believe that Adams’ size–he is 5’11” and 200 pounds–puts him at risk to be injured when constantly taking NFL defender’s best shots.
If the 49ers can put some of the size concerns aside, they’ll recognize some of the impressive plays Adams has made as a college quarterback.
There is no doubt that Adams shows an impressive ability to extend plays when they initially seem to be a mess. Additionally, while some quarterbacks extend to run, Adams is routinely looking to extend plays so that he can settle his feet and find downfield targets.
Although he isn’t built nearly as large, Adams is similar to Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in that both players are comfortable in a collapsing pocket before finding the space to deliver clean passes.
Adams only played one season in the Pac-12 conference and teams will be conservative when expecting the success he had to immediately translate to an NFL team. If Adams is given an opportunity to develop with a coach that supports the things he does well, he could become a very productive starter in a year or two.
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