Saturday Blitz
Fansided

Washington State Football: 3 reasons to pick Anthony Gordon in NFL draft

By Steven Hamner

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 29: Anthony Gordon #18 of the Washington State Cougars throws the ball against the Washington Huskies in the fourth quarter during their game at Husky Stadium on November 29, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 29: Anthony Gordon #18 of the Washington State Cougars throws the ball against the Washington Huskies in the fourth quarter during their game at Husky Stadium on November 29, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
PHOENIX, ARIZONA – DECEMBER 27: Quarterback Anthony Gordon #18 of the Washington State Cougars drops back to pass during the second half of the Cheez-It Bowl against the Air Force Falcons at Chase Field on December 27, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Falcons defeated the Cougars 31-21. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA – DECEMBER 27: Quarterback Anthony Gordon #18 of the Washington State Cougars drops back to pass during the second half of the Cheez-It Bowl against the Air Force Falcons at Chase Field on December 27, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Falcons defeated the Cougars 31-21. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

2. Accuracy

Any time a quarterback has a completion percentage above 70 percent, that is considered elite. Any time a quarterback has a completion percentage above 70 percent and had 689 attempts, regardless of the offense the quarterback plays in, that would be considered almost unheard of.

Anthony Gordon had a completion percentage of 72 percent on 689 attempts, which made him one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the country.

Here is another stat to put that into perspective, only five quarterbacks in all of FBS college football that had enough passes to be eligible for this list had a completion percentage of above 70 percent. Two of those quarterbacks were Tua Tagovailoa and Joe Burrow, who will almost certainly be the first two quarterbacks taken in this year’s draft. As far as accuracy goes, Gordon is right up there with the two best quarterbacks in the draft.

While the Air Raid offense is much different than the offenses that Tua and Burrow played in, completing passes at that high of a percent is extremely difficult. Yes, in the Air Raid there are a lot of screens, short crossing and hitch routes that serve as their “run” game and are high percentage passes, but you still have to complete them and Washington State still took plenty of shots downfield.

Fast forward this clip to 1:30 mark.

Here is a great demonstration of his accuracy as he throws a perfect ball vs. man on the outside.

Home/Washington State Cougars