Ranks Calzada 11th, with some pretty good analysis for pros and cons.
11. Zach Calzada.: 6’4, 210
Texas A&M → Auburn
Player Skinny
A Strong-armed passer with above-average mobility. Ultimately, he’s a boom or bust QB who needs to refine his full-body mechanics. But, he has clear talent slinging the pill. He throws a nice fastball , but it would be wise if he dabbled with some off-speed offerings moving forward. No other SEC QB logged a worse Drop Rate this past season, and his wayward heaters certainly played a part in his high clip. Overall, he donned ball placement issues and a proclivity to test tight windows to compensate for his targets’ lack of speed and inability to separate. His per-opportunity accuracy numbers totally disappoint. But he still came through with plenty of big time throws beyond ten yards downfield. His weight-adjusted figure hints he was one of the conference’s high-end talents. And while he threw nine picks, his Interceptable Pass Rate was one of the better ones within SEC play.
Player Sample: Strength of Slate (12th: average)
8 2021 SEC conference games
Even with the drops and duds, Calzada’s results flirted with mediocrity. And while he wasn’t the most vertical passer, rocking an Interceptable Pass Rate and Depth Adjusted Accuracy% on the good side of the conference average are figurative merit badges for his dropback game.
Even though Calzada’s downfield results appeared middling on the surface, his process was golden. Both his deep and midrange accuracy figures placed inside the SEC’s Top4 and rarely did he give defenses a stab at takeaways. He did have an “all or nothing” approach with his homers. But again supported by his top-notch Interceptable Pass Rate, either his guy was catching it or nobody was.
Though Texas A&M’s line found a groove paving run lanes as 2021 progressed, they stayed rusty all season maintaining pockets. Calzada saw pressure on a third of his dropbacks; but thanks to his athleticism and poise, he turned in the SEC’s 5th-best Sack Rate and Pressure:Sack Ratio in league play. But, pressure clearly affected his operation. The green passer never found sustained success with defenders barreling towards him.
In structure, Calzada projects to be an admirable quarterback. He maintains decent verticality, doesn’t overly press, and displays effective ball placement. Assuming those pesky drops are fixed – think how insane it is over a fifth of these attempts found his target but resulted in an incompletion – he might be one of the SEC’s big surprises this fall. But, his strong arm must keep dealing downfield dimes without serving up gifts for secondaries.
