2018 NFL Draft: Luke Falk draws comparison to Kirk Cousins
Washington State quarterback Luke Falk is a potential first-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, and he's drawing comparisons to the signal-caller in D.C.
Kirk Cousins wasn't the Washington Redskins first pick to lead the franchise to glory, because he wasn't selected until the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft. Last season, Cousins threw for 4,917 yards and 25 touchdowns in a successful encore to his 2015 breakout campaign, and he seems to be in line for a huge payday soon.
Luke Falk has yet to play a snap in the NFL, but Washington State's star quarterback is also no stranger to piling up gaudy numbers. In 2016, he completed 70 percent of his passes with 38 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and Falk is one of the most intriguing quarterbacks in the 2018 NFL Draft class.
There's no doubt that Falk enters the 2017 college football season with less fanfare than fellow conference star Sam Darnold, but he's right in the mix with the likes of Lamar Jackson, Mason Rudolph, Josh Rosen, and Baker Mayfield as possible first-round selections in 2018.
More from NFL Spin Zone
NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah is one of the best media scouts in the business, and he took an early examination of Falk's film. After praising Falk for his poise and ability to survey the entirety of the field, he criticized Falk for his lack of arm strength. The WSU star has averaged just 7.1 yards per attempt in back-to-back seasons despite a high completion percentage, so the basic box score stats also back up the more important observations on film.
Jeremiah compared Falk to Cousins, who is one of the NFL's more productive — but also polarizing — quarterbacks. It's an interesting comparison, partially because Cousins was a fourth-round pick who outplayed his draft status, whereas Falk is regarded by many as one of the top five quarterbacks in a strong 2018 class.
I actually thought of Cousins as a comparison for Rudolph, whom I am atad lower on than most in the early evaluation process. So it's interesting to see Jeremiah give the Cousins comparison to a different quarterback in this year's crop.
As always, make sure to keep in mind that Jeremiah's evaluation of Falk is subject to change, because it's early in the process and we haven't seen if Falk can change his game in his redshirt senior year.
