Reading the Defense
Bryce Petty plays in an open offense at Baylor, which will raise some questions. Alone, an offense shouldn't be a knock on a prospect, but when you get no feel on one attribute of his game, it can be concerning. A majority of his passes consist of one read before letting go of the ball. When that first read is occupied? He'll make the action like he wants to throw, regather his arm, but not his feet, and then wait until the read is open. It really looks funky. It's like an awkward pump fake, followed by his body freezing up. A majority of those passes also end up with poor accuracy and/or too much air underneath them, with one notable interception. When he leaves the pocket, keeps his eyes down field.
Deep Ball
Petty will have some seams throws where he just drops the ball right into a bucket. What's more impressive about him in that aspect, than say Tajh Boyd from the 2014 class, is that the balls don't hang in the air. The issue I have with his deep ball is he isn't disciplined enough. Too many throws were sent deep by him just hoping that the cornerback would mess up at some point, resulting in an incompletion.
His arm isn't great, but it's not bad, either. On a scale of one to ten, with five being average, he's probably right on seven. The only time you really see urgency from him to fired off a ball is on passes under ten yards in the middle of the field. Baylor ran this odd tight end slip (lined up at HB in the backfield), and a pop concept thrown at the 9-11 yard line. Those are the passes were you really see the velocity from Petty.
How He Passes the Ball
His motion is fine with me. His feet are an issue after the first read is covered, as he just freezes them. When throwing short to the right, he doesn't close his shoulder enough at times, leading to an over-correction by the arm, and a pass too wide for the receiver to contend for a catch. When he has time to gather, though, he's got a great ball 99% of the time. On the deep throws he makes well, his footwork and upperbody are lined up great.
Accuracy/Ball Placement
Against Kansas, he threw what was probably his best pass in 2013. With two men on his target, Petty saw the receiver opening up before he actually did, then threw him in stride. Not many times was Petty allowed to make throws like that in his offense. He's also very good at placing inside breaking routes and slants.
vs Pressure
One of the biggest unknowns to me is how he'll deal against an NFL pass rush. With so many of Baylor's sets involving four or five receivers, Baylor never really faced a pass rush that looks similar to what the NFL will throw out. The fact that he locks onto the first read, clutches, and freezes is going to be very concerning. Against Oklahoma, the first dozen or so plays show how rattled he can be, before placing a perfect pass, getting his confidence back.
Overall
Bryce Petty is a solid prospect. I think he's closer to 6'2" than 6'3", just based on how he measured up on the screen compared teammates, but he's still going to have the "looks the part" thing going for him. Not a magnificent arm. Has foot speed, which some teams may like. Accuracy is very solid when he gets his shoulder right, and his footwork isn't frozen on one-read. A system guy who makes it a hard evaluation, but definitely someone who flashed.
Grade
Top 75
