{"id":7822,"date":"2017-08-16T12:00:30","date_gmt":"2017-08-16T16:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosoncfb.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=7822"},"modified":"2017-08-15T19:29:05","modified_gmt":"2017-08-15T23:29:05","slug":"luke-falk-draft-projection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2017\/08\/16\/luke-falk-draft-projection\/","title":{"rendered":"Luke Falk Draft Projection"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luke Falk<\/a><\/strong> is well on his way to breaking numerous Washington State and Pac-12 records during his senior year in Pullman. He has goals for this season, most of which are related to team success. Falk is a team player, and isn\u2019t thinking about individual accomplishments. But if he has a stellar senior season, he could vault up draft board and make himself some money.<\/p>\n

Although the 2017 draft just took place, it\u2019s never too early to start examining 2018 draft prospects. Teams are already examining Falk\u2019s pro potential, but he does have another year to put on tape before becoming a professional.<\/p>\n

Luke Falk Draft Projection<\/h2>\n

1st<\/sup> round pick:<\/h3>\n

Falk will need to improve upon his junior season to get selected in the first round of the 2018 draft. There are a lot of talented quarterbacks in this draft class, so he\u2019ll need a strong season to vault up teams\u2019 draft boards. Most teams will see Falk as a developmental quarterback because he plays in Mike Leach\u2019s<\/strong> system, so that\u2019ll probably keep him from being an early first round pick.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d be a great fit on a team that has an aging quarterback that he can learn from before being thrown into the fire. One example of such a team would be the Arizona Cardinals. Carson Palmer<\/a><\/strong> isn\u2019t getting any younger, and is coming off of a shaky 2016. Even if he bounces back in 2017, they\u2019ll probably want a quarterback of the future. Falk has the accuracy, poise, and anticipation that teams look for. If he can improve his pocket awareness and arm strength, he could become a 2018 first round pick.<\/p>\n

2nd<\/sup>-3rd<\/sup> round pick:<\/h3>\n

Most draft experts projected Falk as a day two pick in 2017 before he decided to return to Washington State for his senior season. If he puts up similarly impressive numbers and doesn\u2019t improve his arm strength and pocket awareness, he\u2019ll likely be a day two pick. This is a perfect area for developmental quarterbacks with starter traits to be drafted. Falk has starter upside, but may project best as a career backup.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
PULLMAN, WA – SEPTEMBER 17: Quarterback Luke Falk #4 of the Washington State Cougars. (Photo by William Mancebo\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s worth taking a shot on his skill set because of his accuracy and ability to anticipate throwing windows. He does this better than some starting quarterbacks. But his arm strength and college offense may concern teams. Falk is the best quarterback prospect that Mike Leach has ever coached. Leach allows Falk total control of the offense, which is something that he doesn\u2019t do for all of his quarterbacks. But it might take time for Falk to learn an NFL playbook, so teams might not want to spend a first round pick on him. In all likelihood, Falk will be selected in the second or third round.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

4th<\/sup>-7th<\/sup> round pick:<\/h3>\n

Every year there are quarterbacks that are projected to be day one or day two picks that fall to day three. This isn\u2019t a career killer, as proved by Dak Prescott<\/a><\/strong> of the Dallas Cowboys. If you are talented enough to be a starting NFL quarterback, you\u2019ll get your chance to prove it no matter where you\u2019re selected. Although it\u2019s unlikely that Falk will be a day three pick, it\u2019s not impossible.<\/p>\n

Falk would need to struggle this season or suffer an injury to fall to day three of the 2018 draft. If he starts throwing interceptions at a high rate, that could cause him to slide down draft boards. He doesn\u2019t have elite physical tools, so becoming a turnover-prone quarterback could be extremely detrimental to his draft stock. He has been careful with the ball thus far under Mike Leach\u2019s tutelage, and it\u2019ll have to continue if he wants to be a high draft pick.<\/p>\n

Falk could also fall down draft boards if he suffers an injury this season or in training for the NFL draft. Chad Kelly<\/a><\/strong> was a great example of this during the 2017 draft. He was projected as an early to mid-round pick, but fell to the last pick of the draft due to a torn ACL (and off-field concerns that Falk doesn\u2019t have). It\u2019s unlikely that Falk will struggle this season, but he did lose his top two receivers from last season. He\u2019ll have to continue to improve if he wants to avoid falling to day three of the 2018 draft.<\/p>\n

Undrafted free agent:<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s extremely unlikely that Falk will be undrafted. He\u2019d have to be injured, because even a bad season won\u2019t keep him from being drafted. If he suffers a career ending injury or suffers a long-term injury near the draft, then he might go undrafted. He\u2019d likely need to struggle this season prior to the injury to not get selected. Falk comes from a gimmicky offense and doesn\u2019t have a huge arm, but he has enough traits that coaches look for in quarterbacks to get a shot.<\/p>\n

Main Photo<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
BOULDER, CO. – NOVEMBER 19: Washington State quarterback Luke Falk stays loose on the sidelines during an injury timeout in the second quarter against the University of Colorado at Folsom Field Saturday. (Photo by Steve Nehf \/ The Denver Post)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Luke Falk Draft: Luke Falk is well on his way to breaking numerous Washington State and Pac-12 record during his senior year in Pullman. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2072,"featured_media":7920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1479,4],"tags":[1853,79,71,730,34,92],"class_list":["post-7822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials","category-pac12","tag-2018-nfl-draft","tag-college-football","tag-football","tag-luke-falk","tag-pac-12","tag-washington-state-cougars"],"modified_by":"Lauren Beasley","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2072"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}