2023 Senior Bowl Scouting: QB Brennan Armstrong, Virginia

Brennan Armstrong is a left-handed quarterback who entered college as a safety. He’s grown tremendously as a passer, almost a different player in 2021 than in 2020. The 2022 season has so far been very difficult for Armstrong, as the new coaching staff is having trouble implementing their scheme on the field. Armstrong has not taken the adjustment well, regressing to the 2020 version of himself. It’s unclear if he has belief from the staff or if they are waiting for him to graduate. Either way, we’ve seen Armstrong’s brilliance on tape and NFL teams (and the Senior Bowl) have already taken notice.

HT: 6011
WT: 215
Year: Super Redshirt Junior
High School: Shelby (Shelby, OH)
Rating: 3-star (0.8710)

We have to have a real conversation about Brennan Armstrong pic.twitter.com/RLBtuO7lsD
— Tyler Forness (@TheRealForno) May 4, 2022

Brennan Armstrong scouting notes

Pros:

Adequate arm strength. Can push the ball downfield well. Very confident in his arm and abilities. Has the arm strength to handle 40+ passes per game and not suffer any real drop off.
Throws some excellent touch balls. Knows when to throw with touch and when to throw with velocity.
Shows the ability to throw with very solid accuracy across the field. Very up-and-down. Struggles to get the ball out accurately against pressure. Shows a lot of promise with his deep ball accuracy. Doesn’t throw accurately off platform. Give him time and he will make good throws. Struggled tremendously to get the ball where he wanted it in 2022.
Shows the ability to layer the football over defenders and into soft spots in zone. Flashed some excellent placement with the ball. Does a really good job throwing the ball away from defenders. Doesn’t often place the ball into dangerous places. Surprisingly throws well through windows.
Solid ability outside of the pocket.
Very athletic quarterback. Tough runner with some explosive ability. Ball security is an issue – hangs the ball out poorly while running. Has good speed and will outrun a lot of linebackers.
Shows some interesting improvability. Very much a player who’s involved in the game.
I think he can read things pre-snap relatively well, picked apart Illinois man coverage scheme very well. I’m not sure he understands zone concepts very well.

Cons:

His release is very low, but he gets the ball out quickly. Will get balls batter at the LOS through traffic. Live more often than not. It looks very awkward but gets through it.
Doesn’t show a lot of natural pocket positioning during his initial drop. It forces him to try to leave the pocket early when facing blitzes.
He wants to bolt the pocket very quickly.
Very stiff drop. Looks tight in the pocket. Stance is very wide, needs to try and narrow it by a foot.
Foot speed could be a little faster.
I don’t see a lot of play extension from him on tape. The ability and potential is there.
Still learning coverages. Has to be faster to get the ball out at times. Will still stare at a receiver waiting for him to get receivers open. Needs to learn to use his eyes to manipulate defenders better. Just makes bone-headed decisions too often.