Overview
Position: Quarterback
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 225 pounds
School: Washington State Cougars
Combine Performance Data
Vertical jump: 26.5 inches
Broad jump: 8 feet, 7 inches
Luke Falk 2018 NFL Draft Profile
There were rumors that Luke Falk was going to leave Washington State for the NFL after his junior year in 2016. He denied he ever considered it, but perhaps considering the depth of this year’s quarterback draft class, and the senior season he had, he may wish he had left at that time.
Falk originally comes from Logan, UT. He moved to Southern California to attend the heralded Oaks Christian High School for football but struggled there, and after a year he returned to Logan. The moving back and forth cost him DI scholarship offers. At one point he was down to Wyoming and Idaho until Mike Leach at Washington State called. He redshirted his first season in Pullman. From there, the numbers took off.
In 2014, as a redshirt freshman, he appeared in only six games but threw for 1,859 yards with 13 touchdowns against seven interceptions. He won first-team All-Pac-12 honors in 2015 while averaging 380 yards per game and throwing for 38 touchdowns and only eight interceptions and a 69 percent completion rate. Falk threw for another 38 touchdowns in 2016 eye-popping 4,468 yards while completing 70 percent of his passes.
His final year, 2017, was where things got a little sideways for him. His completion percentage dropped to 67 percent, still better than most quarterbacks in the country, but below his usual marks. He threw for “only” 3,593 yards and had 30 touchdowns with 13 interceptions. Part of the problem was revealed at the Holiday Bowl in December. Falk missed the game with a broken left hand (his non-throwing hand). What he had not told anyone was he had broken the hand in week two against Boise State and continued to play the remaining 10 games anyway.
Strengths
- Good size/height;
- Quick, compact release;
- Good read through progressions;
- No limit on throws per game – threw as many as 70 passing attempts in games at WSU;
- Balance is good, including on deep throws.
Weaknesses
- Mobility is average;
- Never took snaps under center at Washington State;
- Gets fooled by zone coverage;
- Sacked 125 times during his college career – has it impacted his pocket poise?
- Needs to add weight/strength.
NFL Comparison: Kirk Cousins
Teams With Need At Position: Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Arizona Cardinals, New York Jets
Projection: Third-Fourth Round
Bottom Line
Falk showed no repercussions of the broken hand at the NFL Combine in March. He had a live arm and showed the ability to go deep with accuracy that Washington State fans were used to over four years. Still, this is an exceptionally deep draft when it comes to quarterback and he has taken fewer snaps under center than most. While the term “system quarterback” is greatly overused, (every quarterback has a system built around them), few have thrived under a coach/system more than Falk. He will have to broaden his horizons for the NFL, and it is easy to see him being the sixth or seventh quarterback taken.
