Green Bay Packers: Brett Hundley vs. Matt Blanchard

Football season is upon us.

As the Green Bay Packers are reporting to training camp today, the long drawn out summer of waiting for the 2015 NFL season to start is coming to end. As well as providing an exclusive coverage of everything going on in training camp, Lombardi Ave will start giving a look at featured position battles between specific players. Today we will start at the quarterback position with what seems to be the third quarterback spot up for grabs between, former UCLA star Brett Hundley and former University of Wisconsin-Whitewater standout Matt Blanchard.

Overview on Position

We’ve been blessed as a fan base to have seemingly two first ballot hall of fame quarterbacks play back to back. Aaron Rodgers is in the prime of his NFL career right now after sitting for years behind Brett Favre, and will continue to dominate as long as he can stay healthy. His ability to throw the deep ball and scramble out of the pocket is unprecedented and Green Bay will again be led by his phenomenal ability and leadership again this season.

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The backup quarterback position seems to be taken by former University of Wisconsin quaterback, Scott Tolzien. Tolzien has been with the Packers since 2013 where he actually did receive some in game experience when both Rodgers and Seneca Wallace were hurt. He looked questionable at best in 2013 but since then, the coaching staff has noted that he has improved tremendously and seems to be the front runner to back up Rodgers this season after being the third string quarterback last season behind Matt Flynn who is now with the New England Patriots It is believed that the Packers will keep three quarterbacks on their roster this season, so lets look at the pros and cons of the candidates Brett Hundley and Matt Blanchard.

Brett Hundley

Pros

Brett Hundley at one time was thought to be a first round pick in the NFL draft, but after not improving his draft stock last season at UCLA, Hundley slipped to the fifth round where he was then acquired by Green Bay. Hundley brings star capabilities and some highly touted tools that are unique to most prospective quarterback’s coming out of college. He brings the capability of being able to make plays with his feet as well as being equipped with a strong arm. He also helped put UCLA’s football program back on the map with his play making abilities.
Hundley also brings in more experience in playing in bigger games coming from a Division 1 program, where Blanchard played Division 3 ball.

Cons

The falling draft stock certainly does not help his case and as an NFL follower you have to wonder what was the cause of such a decrease. His accuracy struggles which stem from his lack of footwork. He also has not shown the ability to stand in the pocket and struggles to make the big throw on a regular basis. The inability to throw on the run also hurt him and his draft stock as he looked shaky at best when rolling out of the pocket. His also lack of ability to read coverage’s will really hurt his progression in the NFL as he lacked the attribute throughout his tenure at UCLA.

Matt Blanchard

Pros

The biggest thing you can say about Matt Blanchard is that he is a pure winner. Although he played Division 3 football at UW-Whitewater he was still able to go 25-0 in route to winning three consecutive national championships. He threw for 44 touchdowns with only 5 interceptions while in college carying a very good touchdown to inception ratio. He also has the ability to make plays with his feet as he has run the 40 yard dash in 4.69 seconds. The biggest thing going in Blanchard’s direction right now is the fact is the coaching staff is leaning towards his direction for the position throughout multiple reports. He impressed everybody at the Packers mini camp in June to where head coach Mike McCarthy had high remarks for the kid. Jun 17, 2014; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Matt Blanchard walks to the practice field prior to the start of the minicamp held at the Carolina Panthers practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

"“I’ll just tell you what I told him when I met him in April,” said McCarthy in June. “I said, ‘Why the hell don’t you have a job?’ Just after watching his workout and watching film of his time at Carolina. I just think there’s a lot there to work with, as far as his physical talent. The young man’s a winner, and he’s in a good place."

Cons

Although coming from a D3 program is not the worst thing in the world, it is not in Blanchard’s favor as his competitor Hundley has experience playing in a premier conference in the Pac-12 which would seem to transfer better from college to the NFL. Blanchard looks unbalanced in the pocket while also making throws off his back foot at times. He also is not as physically gifted as Hundley and does not possess some of the tools Hundley has. Hundley’s ceiling and potential also have to be higher than Blanchard’s at this point as well.

The Bottom Line

Honestly, I wanted to use this part of the layout to give my opinion on who would make the team between the two prospects above but I sincerely have no idea for this one. Brett Hundley is somebody who has the ability to really blossom in Green Bay learning under Rodgers and developing in a quarterback utopia. He seems to possess more tools than Blanchard, but lacks the ability to read coverage and struggles in his decision making. He is going to have to have a tremendous training camp and preseason if he wants to be apart of this organization moving forward.

Matt Blanchard seems to be the front runner for the third quarterback slot right now but you cannot bank on that too much coming into training camp. Blanchard’s heart and ability to learn definitely steer him in the right direction. Although he does not have the ceiling Hundley has, he is the more stable option and will provide to be a kid that will not disappoint. Blanchard needs to keep impressing the coaching as he has done so far this summer.

I will leave it up to the readers, so what do you guys think?

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