Drafting Buccaneers: Players to Watch at the 2017 Shrine Game
QUARTERBACKS
East Quarterback Cooper Rush, Central Michigan Chippewas
Rush is a 6’3” quarterback with nearly 13,000 yards passing and 90 touchdowns through his four-year career at Central Michigan.
His best season as a Chippewa came in 2015 when he completed over 65% of his pass attempts and threw for nearly 4,000 yards and his second-highest scoring total paired with the fewest interceptions (11) in a single season for him.
He’s going to be best known by the casual fan as the quarterback who completed the pass which started the improbable – and illegal – Hail-Mary-Hook-and-Ladder to defeat Oklahoma State early in the 2016 season.
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On tape, Rush played from under center a good amount at Central Michigan and has the experience and poise which all but guarantees him a shot on someone’s roster.
He’s a late round prospect with good mechanics overall, despite a slower passing motion than preferred and average arm strength.
If he’s sitting in the seventh-round the Buccaneers may take a shot at him to compete with Ryan Griffin this off-season.
West Quarterback Zach Terrell, Western Michigan Broncos
Every Buccaneers fan knows about Corey Davis from Western Michigan, but not a lot of attention has been placed on his quarterback Zach Terrell.
The redshirt Senior had over 3,500 passing yards this season with 33 touchdowns and just four interceptions. These numbers brought his career numbers to more than 12,000 yards, 96 touchdowns and 31 interceptions.
2016 being his best year the 6’2” passer finished with a MAC Championship leading his Broncos into the Cotton Bowl against the B1G Wisconsin Badgers.
Despite the loss in the big game, it was a great season for Western Michigan and Terrell touched the ball on every offensive snap along the way.
As a late round prospect in what is considered a less-than-stellar quarterback class, this player stands tall in the pocket mostly out of the shotgun, and shows good touch along with the arm strength to fire in short and intermediate routes with relative success.
As a developmental project, if the Bucs go Corey Davis in the first-round like so many fans want, bringing in his quarterback would be an intriguing off-season story line.