3 NFL Storylines to Watch in Week 7
Brett Hundley Can Save the Packers' Season
The 2015 NFL Draft featured two quarterbacks at the very top of the entire class with Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, but not much else. In the third round, Garrett Grayson and Sean Mannion were selected, while Bryce Petty went in the fourth. The Denver Broncos got a terrific value with Trevor Siemian, one of the very last selections of the draft.
But in between all that, the Green Bay Packers took an extremely athletic yet very raw quarterback prospect from UCLA in the fifth round: Brett Hundley. And it's always notable when the Packers draft a backup quarterback because they have a track record of grooming many of them into eventual starters: Matt Hasselbeck, Aaron Brooks, Aaron Rodgers, and (to a lesser extent) Matt Flynn.
Now that the aforementioned Rodgers suffered a broken collarbone, it's up to Hundley to help propel the Packers forward. Based on the limited action we've seen of him in the preseason, Green Bay is doing a nice job smoothing out the rough edges that had scouts worried prior to the draft. In parts of the three years of exhibition games, Hundley has 9 touchdowns to only 2 interceptions.
In addition to a loaded arsenal of pass catchers (Jordy Nelson, Davante Adams, Randall Cobb, Martellus Bennett), Hundley's athletic profile provides a lot of optimism that he has a legitimate chance to succeed as a starting quarterback. Per PlayerProfiler, Hundley is 6'3" and 226 pounds with extremely large hands (yes, that matters). Hundley is also a 98th percentile SPARQ-x athlete with a college QBR that places in the 81st percentile.
It was rumored that the Packers nearly traded Hundley on the second day of this year's draft, which means other NFL teams clearly value him. Based on his background, athleticism, preseason performances, and surrounding cast, we should all do the same.
