Matt Waldman shares his pre-NFL Draft scouting report on Chicago Bears QB Tyson Bagent, a player who graded higher than early-round picks Jordan Love, Zach Wilson, Desmond Ridder, and Will Levis. 

This is a sample report from the 2023 Rookie Scouting Portfolio.

QB Tyson Bagent RSP Scouting Profile

RSP Ranking: QB6

Jersey: No. 2

Height/Weight: 6-2/213 School: Shepherd (WVA)

Comparison Spectrum: Kirk Cousins – X – Kevin Kolb

Depth of Talent Score: 78.65 = Contributor Tier: Starter execution in a limited role; diminishing returns beyond that scope.

RSP Accuracy Charting:

 

Games Tracked (Opponent/Date/Link):

• Slippery Rock ‘22
• Colorado School of Mines ’22
• IUP ’22
• Southern Connecticut State

 

Elevator Pitch: Bagent has the physical tools to start in the NFL. He also possesses the baseline accuracy and aggression to attack downfield. He needs time to refine mechanical and conceptual details such as his drop and release footwork, reading leverage of man coverage, and making mature decisions with situation football.

Bagent’s ideal developmental play would be intermittent playing time to learn from mistakes and re-calibrate his boundaries as a decision-maker at this level of football. It’s doubtful this will happen, but he’s a compelling enough prospect to earn a backup role within 1-3 years that could lead to intermittent playing time.

Even without the intermittent playing time, Bagent has the tools to develop into an NFL quarterback of note and it makes him worth monitoring during the next few years.

Where is the player inconsistent? Bagent has shown that he will throw the ball away to end a play that’s breaking down, but he doesn’t do it nearly enough.

What is the best scheme fit? With extra detail to refine his drop game, he can play from center or in a spread system with RPOs. He’d be a nice fit in a play-action system with a sprint passing game

What is his ceiling scenario? Bagent acclimates to the speed and complexity of the NFL game and matures as a game manager who knows his limitations and doesn’t put his team at risk when it’s not necessary. If he does this and refines his technical skills as at thrower, he can start in the NFL

What is his floor scenario? Bagent makes too many mistakes early on and doesn’t develop a good balance of confident aggression that doesn’t cross over too far into reckless behavior. This either makes him gun-shy or mistake-prone and teams label him a small-school player whose game can’t make the leap. Even at his floor, I think he could still be considered a practice-squad option if he can perform consistently on a bigger stage.

Physical: He possesses good quickness for a quarterback at any level.

Technical: He can clean up his three-step drop footwork at lower speeds. He has lapses of accuracy where it appears his front toe isn’t aligned with the target and maybe a driver involved with the lapses. He could cultivate better weight transfer during his releases, which may be another factor.

Bagent is used for quick punts and he showed against Colorado School of the Mines that he can quick kick from the 50 and drop the ball inside the 10 with a roll that can be downed inside the 5. He needs more hang time for defenders at this level to reach the ball before it rolls to the end zone.  

Conceptual: There may be a tendency to retreat from edge pressure rather than climb a pocket that has room to climb. Bagent fell retreating from Slippery Rock’s edge pressure when he had room to climb. Watch to see if this is a repeat issue.

Bagent is better at accounting for the leverage of zone defenders and throwing receivers open than when to target advantageous leverage of a defender playing man-to-man.

He doesn’t work off-script or at either end of the field with maturity. He leans too much on what’s possible rather than defaulting to what’s the most probable outcome. In other words, he takes unnecessary risks rather than managing the game.

Intuitive: He forces decisions/throws that I think have to do with him being relied upon to lead this offense. He must refine his decision-making so he’s clearer at recognizing the difference between an athletic effort and an unrealistic effort. This is always a difficult line to walk, but one he will have to recalibrate coming from his division to the NFL.

Build: He’s built well enough to start in the league and perhaps add another 10-15 pounds.

Drops: Bagent has a three-step drop that finishes with his feet at pad width for his setup. With slower versions of his three-step drop, he takes an extra step before the three-step drop pattern that can be eliminated from the process. When executing a three-step drop at a higher speed, there’s no wasted movement. He has an efficient five-step drop. His one-step and two-step drops are efficient.

Ball Security: Bagent carries the ball low and loose from his frame as a runner. He bumbled in the green zone at the end of the half against Slippery Rock down by 3 with 0:05 seconds when stripped at the SR 3-yard-line.

Play Fakes: Bagent provides a full extension into the belly of the back when executing a read. His exchange and emphasis of the exchange with the extension and timing of his play fakes on boots is believable. He will drop his pads, bend his knees, and give an added punch with the extension.

Pump Fakes: Bagent will use the pump fake to freeze pursuit when breaking the pocket. He uses one hand and has partial motion with moderate violence to the movement. He also has a one-handed, full-motion pump fake with moderate violence. He’ll also use a two-handed pump when opening to one side during his drop.

Release: Bagent has an over-the-shoulder release. His throwing motion with his upper body is efficient. He brings the ball from chest height to a position just behind his shoulder and then follows through over the shoulder at a point just above helmet height.

The midline of Bagent’s back foot is aligned with the target and he turns the big toe of his front foot to face the target as he begins his follow-through. When he has lapses with pinpoint accuracy, the big toe isn’t aligned with the target and this leads to Bagent throwing behind the receiver because the toe is pointed inside the target’s break.

After two games I haven’t seen much transfer of weight from the back leg to the front and I wonder if this leads to targets arriving higher than optimal or if there’s another mechanical reason for this to happen with him.

He has quick feet to pivot to a side and deliver a quick throw on screens and the shortest of routes to the perimeter in open space. He has a three-quarter release when forced off-platform to deliver around edge pressure to the flat.

Accuracy (No Pressure)

On-Platform Accuracy: He can split the Honey Hole of Cover 2 at a distance of 28 yards, pinpoint.  Bagent can do more to place the ball where his vertical receiver can make the catch protected from the oncoming safety—even if the actual placement is pinpoint.

His placement with back-shoulder targets can be further outside so the catch isn’t as easily contested.

Opposite-Hash Accuracy: He can deliver 30 yards opposite hash with area code accuracy to man coverage on the go route.

Decision-Making: Bagent will hold the shallow zone defenders with a look to the flat before working over the top to the receiver and hit the sail to the honey hole of Cover 2. He’ll do this during his drop and at the top of his drop, opening his frame to the shallow route.

Bagent will go from sideline to sideline or seam to seam and then check to the middle of the field. He’ll layer throws between zone linebackers with the placement to throw the receiver open.

He must do a better job of reading the leverage of a man defender playing inside of an out-breaking route and in position to cut off the ball. He repeatedly had targets nearly cut off from trail leverage in the short and intermediate ranges of the field. This has happened in two games thus far.

He displays anticipation with intermediate boundary routes as a thrower. He knows where his check-downs are located and can make a late turn and throw from a compressed pocket and hit the open receiver.

Bagent has to be more cognizant of whether he moved the linebacker with a look-off of a potential screen before throwing the ball to the middle of the field to the secondary option. CSM’s LB dropped an interception at the CSM five in a 3-0 game.

Sense Pressure: He spots edge pressure post-snap and gets the ball out on time. He spots interior pressure pre-snap and post-snap. He anticipates when his protection package will require him to deal with an unblocked blitzer up the middle. He has some plays on tape where the defense disguises blitzes and Bagent communicates the right assignment to his back and makes a post-snap ID of the actual blitz before working to the best solution that wasn’t necessarily his first pre-snap look.

He often knows where he needs to go as a passer when dealing with an unblocked edge defender that’s his to handle, but he has to know when the angle of the pressure puts him in a position to throw the ball away rather than attempting to prolong a bad/risky situation.

Maneuvering From Pressure: He is willing to take a hit to deliver the ball to an open receiver. Bagent will spin and roll from unblocked edge pressure after it gets within two steps of him in the pocket. He’s nimble enough to execute a schemed throw-back that hinges on a spin and roll to the left followed by a pivot and climb between edge defenders to deliver the ball to the opposite side of the field. He can sidestep pressure with good control to deliver an accurate target downfield.

Bagent can reduce the shoulder, climb from pressure 1-2 steps from him off the edge, bait them close, and then fire a target with area-code accuracy 33 yards from the pitch to an open receiver in the middle of the field against zone. He repeatedly baits edge pressure, climbing only when the defender is a step away. He can deliver a 36-yard stride against man coverage to the opposite numbers off the rhythm of a climb from edge pressure. His climbs are efficient and he can stop shy of climbing into oncoming pressure and get the ball out accurately.

He can climb and sidestep a pair of defenders and throw on the move to this left with a defensive tackle in his face, getting the ball over the man’s hands and into the arms of a receiver in the intermediate flat against man coverage. Climbing and sliding is a common combo for him to work efficiently away from pressure in a pocket

Bagent will make pre-snap adjustments with receiver alignments and shifts to get further confirmation of the defensive coverage.

Accuracy (Pressure)

On-Platform Accuracy: He has the touch to deliver a seam route up the middle of the field to his back for 31 yards. He can deliver the sail route with edge pressure hitting him in the waist and generate pinpoint accuracy at 29 yards. He can deliver the deep post 45 yards from the pitch with pinpoint accuracy with an interior defender bearing down.

Off-Platform Accuracy: He can deliver a 12-yard crosser from a compressed pocket up the middle without turning his feet to the target and reach the receiver with area code accuracy. He’s athletic enough to make a late climb to split a pair of defenders breaking into the pocket and deliver a shovel pass off-platform with pinpoint accuracy while getting tackled.

Mobile Accuracy: He can deliver 18-25 yards downfield while sliding to his left from pressure in his face to his left and throwing to his right.

Decision-Making: Although he can buy a lot of time at this level of football, Bagent must be more cognizant of wise decision-making in the red zone and throw the ball away after exhausting multiple options and having free space to throw the ball away if he’s worked from one side of the field to the other and there’s not a clear path to run to the end zone in a game situation where ensuring a scoring drive is better than a touchdown or bust.

I’ve only seen Bagent throw the ball away when he’s seen a flag thrown and the play will be called back after he’s left the pocket. He needs to throw the ball away more often. I’ve seen one legitimate throwaway other than these situations only once in three games.

He makes some questionable choices under pressure, especially in the end zone or backed up in his own area such as prolonging plays he shouldn’t (see above) or targeting a receiver in traffic with a high-risk off-platform throw between defenders where he has an open player in the flat with an easier target. He needs to throw more balls away. He throws balls in the middle of the field while under heavy pressure that reach the receiver’s area but are dangerous based on the traffic and the less-than-pinpoint accuracy of targets while under heavy pressure.

Scrambling: Bagent’s efficiency of movement and quickness make him good at avoiding multiple points of pressure and pairing pocket movement techniques to buy time in and outside the pocket. He baits pressure within 1-2 steps and can create separation without outrunning his blocker’s leverage advantage on their opponents—maintaining the integrity of the pocket.

Bagent must become more cognizant of the backside pressure’s potential pursuit and know if he’s spinning and rolling to the open flat that he won’t have time to stop, reset, and fire. He can only target options where he can deliver on the move.

Running: Bagent can flip his hips as a runner and earn quick changes of direction when bouncing a run. He’s quick enough to move the chains as a runner. He finishes runs in the open field by sliding. He has the short-area quickness to take the corner against defensive linemen. He has good curvilinear speed to bend around blockers.

Durability: Missed one game.

Pre-NFL Draft Fantasy Advice: Because he’s a small-school player, his draft capital will dictate whether he’ll be worth stashing on a practice squad or even drafting late in a two-quarterback starting lineup as a stash to a healthy bench. The fact that Bagent was a Senior Bowl participant indicates that he’s on the NFL’s radar. Only one of last year’s Senior Bowl quarterbacks didn’t get drafted and that’s because Carson Strong’s knee was a significant concern.

Boiler/Film Room Material (Links to plays):

• Pass placement
• Pressure management
• Pass placement II
• Pocket management
• Touch/Placement vs. pressure
• Game management needs work
• Patience under pressure
• Subpar pass placement vs. squatting coverage
• Placement between defenders
• Tyson Bagent Highlights

And of course, if you want to know about the rookies from this draft class, you will find the most in-depth analysis of offensive skill players available (QB, RB, WR, and TE), with the 2023 Rookie Scouting Portfolio for $21.95. 

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If you’re a fantasy owner and interested in purchasing past publications for $9.95 each, the 2012-2022 RSPs also have a Post-Draft Add-on that’s included at no additional charge.  

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