Could The Patriots Be Looking For Crums On Day Three?

***Update: Crum Returned to College for the 2021 season to improve and develop.*** see updated stats at the bottom and please remember this was the scouting report for after the 2020 season.***

Crum came out of nowhere in 2019 and caught the attention of many. It was said he had a better deep ball accuracy than Joe Burrow. As he led Kent state to their first bowl victory. 

Although Crum started a few games before 2019, it wasn't until 2019 that Crum would become the starter, running Kent State's pro offense. 

Crum finished his career completing 68.7 percent of his 483 attempts for 4214 yards, with 35 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. He was sacked 67 times in college. 24 of which came in his freshman year, where he only started 2 games.

Crum also finished with 12 rushing touchdowns and a 4.3 yard average on 316 carries. With season longs of 58, 42, 38, and 19. Showing pro teams that he's not a typical statue for a guy who's destined to be more of a pocket quarterback.

Crum has above average arm strength, more of a catcher than a center fielder's arm, with enough zip to get the ball into those tight windows. He throws the deep ball with touch and can hit guys over 50 yards deep. Excellent mechanics, teams won't have to waste a lot of time correcting. 

Impatient but accurate and intelligent. Kent's offense was a lot of flats, quick slants, curls, drags, crossing routes, and comebacks. Has good timing and anticipation, cerebral when not under pressure. Needs to finish follow through of throwing motion when under pressure.

Robert Simpson wrote about crum, "Shows pinpoint short accuracy when throwing in rhythm, placing the ball well in tight windows away from defenders."

Crum is a literal rocket scientist (seriously), and uses that intelligence well on the football field. Excellent presnap work but it's the after the snap that needs some development.

Although he doesn't make a lot of mistakes, he appears to hear footsteps and gets rid of the ball to either the first or second read, instead of going through the progression when he has time. This could be due to the line he played with at Kent State. More confidence in his line could see him finish his reads and get even more accurate.

Crum can sometimes stare down his target in the pocket tipping his hand, which can hurt the offense but at the same time he fools defenders when on the move allowing him to make plays with both his arm and feet.

Deceptive speed like Rodgers, capable of fooling defenses with RPOs and rollouts. Very wiry and can change direction without losing speed, should ace the three cone drill.

Even though it appears Crum hears footsteps, he's not afraid to take hits and will fight for extra yards. Trying to bully smaller defenders with his 6'3" frame. Crum could use to add 20 pounds, being only 201 pounds.

Crum served as the holder in 2018. He also punted for Kent on more than one occasion over his career. So he's not afraid to play out of position and can help the special teams if needed. Which will be great if he ends up a backup in 2021.

As typically with Kent quarterbacks, he is expected to fall to the sixth or seventh round as Kent gets no respect. Scouts admitted with regret that he was overlooked by bigger schools and has been compared to Ryan Fitzpatrick. 

One scout said if he don't make the NFL, he'll start in the CFL. Crum is a low risk, high reward selection on day three but could be worth grabbing on day two, potentially making him a medium risk project.

Crum would fit well with the Patriots if running their Brady offense. On paper, Crum is probably the third best fit after Jones and fields. Crum is more mobile than Brady and although he might not have Newton's arm strength, he's a better passer than Newton and will allow the Patriots to keep the designed option runs and RPOs

Crum can do everything Newton was expected to do and has shown the potential to be more productive with the below average weapons the Patriots fielded in 2020, due to the offensive line and his ability to anticipate timing routes, while also having better vision.

Especially if they have him sit behind a veteran for a year and he could definitely take on Jarrett Stidham for the starting job in 2022, if Stidham is still with the team. The 2021 draft could see the Patriots reach for Mac Jones in the first and a Crum in the fourth as a security blanket.

Update: Crum returned to college taking advantage of his extra year of eligibility. Here's what that did.

Crum has a bowl game Monday December 21st, 2021. So far in 2021 Crum played in 13 games and completed 64.5% of his 355 passes. That led to him throwing for 2941 yards with 16 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. He was sacked 33 times. Crum also averaged 4.3 yards per carry for 147 attempts, giving him 633 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. And for the special team fans out there, he had 1 punt for 30 yards.

So far Crum finishes his career completing 66.8 percent of his 837 attempts for 7133 yards, with 52 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He was sacked 100 times in his college career. He averaged 4.3 yards on 463 carries for 2001 yards and 23 touchdowns. He had 1 catch for zero yards. He punted 3 times for a 20.7 yard average. 

I'm not seeing fumble totals. So if someone wants to let me know those statistics that would be appreciated. He's been invited to the east west shrine bowl. I'm considering writing an updated report on him. The kid has potential as long as he goes to the right team and not a quarterback purgatory like Chicago.