I have been doing player reviews from all the quarterbacks at the Steve Clarkson Dream Maker QB Retreat in San Diego over the weekend. Here is Austin Kendall:
The Good: Kendall struggled a little with his footwork early in camp but as the day progressed he got much better and smoother in his drops. By the time the receivers were running speed outs (the QBs had to throw right to the sideline marker and let the receiver get to the spot instead of throwing to the receiver) Kendall was doing well. He still has a quirky throwing motion but he was firing the ball out there and getting it to receivers. There’s no question he can throw an accurate ball.
Kendall seemed most comfortable dropping back in a drill where the quarterbacks were instructed to go 1-2-3-throw, instead of 1-2-3-reset feet-throw. A lot of guys had trouble not resetting their feet and just throwing on their fourth step. Kendall seemed to be nice and smooth through that drill and throwing nice routes to receivers.
Early in the day, Kendall struggled a little bit with his feet but as the day went on that was worked out with no issues. He can hit receivers. He can put the ball on the money through all the routes and didn’t seem to have any issue with accuracy. Those were definitely positives on the day.
The Bad: There is no getting around the fact that Kendall has a sidearm release and he dips the ball during his throwing motion. That could affect how quickly he gets the ball out and if there are blitzing linemen if he can get the throw around them. It is a quirky release that might need to be worked on.
He also didn’t show tremendous arm strength during the deep ball throw. The quarterbacks were to throw from the opposite 40 and literally just chuck it as far as possible. Kendall’s first throw went 55 yards.
By comparison, LSU commit Feleipe Franks went 78 yards. Tate Martell went 63. Cal commit Max Gilliam went 66. It could have been by that time Kendall’s arm was tired but it was something to at least consider in my notes.
The Good: Kendall struggled a little with his footwork early in camp but as the day progressed he got much better and smoother in his drops. By the time the receivers were running speed outs (the QBs had to throw right to the sideline marker and let the receiver get to the spot instead of throwing to the receiver) Kendall was doing well. He still has a quirky throwing motion but he was firing the ball out there and getting it to receivers. There’s no question he can throw an accurate ball.
Kendall seemed most comfortable dropping back in a drill where the quarterbacks were instructed to go 1-2-3-throw, instead of 1-2-3-reset feet-throw. A lot of guys had trouble not resetting their feet and just throwing on their fourth step. Kendall seemed to be nice and smooth through that drill and throwing nice routes to receivers.
Early in the day, Kendall struggled a little bit with his feet but as the day went on that was worked out with no issues. He can hit receivers. He can put the ball on the money through all the routes and didn’t seem to have any issue with accuracy. Those were definitely positives on the day.
The Bad: There is no getting around the fact that Kendall has a sidearm release and he dips the ball during his throwing motion. That could affect how quickly he gets the ball out and if there are blitzing linemen if he can get the throw around them. It is a quirky release that might need to be worked on.
He also didn’t show tremendous arm strength during the deep ball throw. The quarterbacks were to throw from the opposite 40 and literally just chuck it as far as possible. Kendall’s first throw went 55 yards.
By comparison, LSU commit Feleipe Franks went 78 yards. Tate Martell went 63. Cal commit Max Gilliam went 66. It could have been by that time Kendall’s arm was tired but it was something to at least consider in my notes.
