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Green Bay Packers thrilled with Brett Hundley’s preseason

By Keegan Matheson

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The Green Bay Packers have gotten some encouraging early returns this preseason from their 2015 draft class. The trio of Damarious Randall, Quinten Rollins and Ladarius Gunter have given the cornerback position a jolt of hope, but rookie quarterback Brett Hundley has put together the strongest preseason performance on the roster.

Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers coaching staff were impressed with Hundley’s mental game early in the offseason, but his success has materialized on the field much quicker than expected. Yes, it’s the preseason. Yes, Hundley was playing against the second string defense. But the instincts and mechanical changes made by the UCLA product have forced me to reevaluate the quarterback that Ted Thompson traded up to acquire in the fifth round this past offseason.

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Hundley finished the preseason with a 129.6 quarterback rating, topping all other quarterbacks who attempted over 30 passes. He turned a 69.2 completion percentage into seven touchdowns with just one interception, numbers that mirror his impressive college production. In 2014 with the Bruins, Hundley completed 69.1% of his passes with 22 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. The difference between those two stat lines, however, is night and day.

Despite his obvious physical gifts, Hundley slid in the draft due to his uncertain projection as an NFL passer. He was often labeled with the dreaded “system quarterback” tag, and understandably so. His UCLA statistics were heavily padded with quick flips to running backs, or short passes to slot receivers on designed plays.

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My primary issue with Hundley as he left the college game, and it was a big issue, was the footwork. Without being required to scan through multiple reads and attack defenses consistently at the intermediate and deep levels, Hundley was rarely forced to set his feet, square his shoulders and drive through a pass. Often times he needed little more than a flick of the wrist, and the receiver was gone.

Therein lies the beauty of Hundley landing with the Green Bay Packers. If he’d been drafted to a QB-needy team, perhaps the potential of seeing the field in year one or two would force him to cling to old habits. Ones that brought him success in college. Instead, Green Bay’s depth chart allows for head coach Mike McCarthy to rebuild Hundley from the feet up.

Saturday night’s game against the New Orleans Saints was another step forward for the rookie, but his 236 yards and four touchdowns aren’t what fuel my optimism. Again, it’s the feet. Hundley’s brain and feet were naturally connected as he worked in and around the pocket, allowing him to succeed with a second or third option several times throughout his 16 completions.

Hundley still has miles to go in his development, but without this footwork firmly in place, step two will not be possible. Scott Tolzien has looked confident himself, and is likely to be Rodgers’ primary backup this season, but Hundley could easily make Tolzien unnecessary in 2016. I find the talk of him being Rodgers’ “long term replacement” beyond bizarre, but if he continues to develop, Ted Thompson will receive some phone calls.

With the preseason wrapped, the ideal scenario now becomes 11 months of behind-the-scenes work leading up to another showcase in August of 2016. Some have suggested using Hundley as a two-point conversion specialist, but doesn’t taking one of football’s top players off the field while attempting to gain points seem a little counterintuitive? Regardless, Hundley has fast-tracked his development timeline over the past month, and the rest of the NFL is taking notice.

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