After an award-winning career, former Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia attended the Senior Bowl to perform for scouts. Reactions have been mixed, but one analyst offered a blunt evaluation.
Diego Pavia’s NFL Outlook Takes a Hit After Todd McShay Breakdown
During his FBS career, Pavia threw for 10,255 yards and accounted for 119 career touchdowns. He garnered two Offensive Player of the Year awards in separate conferences. Conference USA and the SEC. Despite this, Todd McShay, on his eponymous YouTube channel, makes the case against the Vanderbilt signal caller.
“I don’t think Diego Pavia can play quarterback in the NFL. Let’s just get it out of the way. You watch him during team sessions, and you watch him during some of the seven-on-seven stuff, and there are some fun things to watch, man.
“He really does sense when pressure is coming, where it’s coming from, knows how to get the ball out, even though he’s shorter-framed, throwing over bigger offensive linemen, and finds those windows. You watch him just like the one-on-one, seven on sevens, having to drive the ball, and NFL throws; it’s not the same as the other guys.”
While McShay lauded Pavia’s presence of mind and agility, he raises an issue that many defensive coordinators have probably discussed. The lack of arm strength in the NFL matters. Granted, scouts and teams do value accuracy over velocity. However, even at Vanderbilt, Pavia struggled with throwing over the middle for a couple of reasons.
First, at a listed five-foot-ten, he lacked the frame to look over the interior linemen. Next, he struggled with throwing the ball downfield, over the second-level defender’s head into the hands of his target. In the NFL, linebackers can outrun some running backs. As a result, their athleticism presents a challenge in pass coverage.
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While Pavia’s height is one of McShay’s concerns, there are examples of shorter quarterbacks succeeding in the NFL. Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray have enjoyed successful careers despite being under 6 feet tall. However, both can make every required throw on the field, including deep passes down the seam, post, or to the sticks, which sets them apart.
Pavia’s Senior Bowl struggles do not diminish his productivity at Vanderbilt. With him as quarterback, the Commodores ranked No. 2 in PFSN’s CFB Offense Impact Rankings, just behind national champion Indiana.
To get noticed at the highest level, Pavia may need to join a team where he can learn as a backup, or consider playing in the Canadian Football League, which values mobile quarterbacks due to its wider, longer field.
