Film Room: JUCO Carson Proctor to join Hurricanes

The Miami Hurricanes have been quite busy piecing together a coaching staff and a roster under Manny Diaz. Diaz has hired Dan Enos to serve as his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Coach Enos comes to Miami from Alabama via Arkansas. While at Arkansas, Enos recruited in a walk-on quarterback named Carson Proctor.

Over the past two decades some JUCO quarterbacks have really worked out. Cam Newton dominated while at Blinn, guiding them to an 11-1 record and a nation title before heading to Auburn. Josh Heupel threw 28 touchdowns at Snow before winning a national title with the Oklahoma Sooners, and Aaron Rodgers was discovered at Butte after guided them to a 10-1 record as a freshman. However, I don’t think Proctor is that guy.

Proctor is a six-foot-four, 215 pound quarterback out of Vero Beach, FL. Proctor walked-on at Arkansas and eventually transferred to Coffeyville Community College. While at Coffeyville, Proctor played in 10 games in 2018. He threw for 1,117 yards while completing only 48% of his passes and averaging just 6.3 yards per passing attempt. Proctor threw 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions for the Red Ravens last year.

Proctor was the starting quarterback for the Red Ravens as the former three-star guided Coffeyville to a 5-6 record. Proctor was dominated by Garden City, Hutchinson and Butler- three of the more prominent teams on the Coffeyville schedule. Stats at the JUCO level don’t necessarily correlate to what players do at the FBS level but Proctor doesn’t look like more than a depth body that knows Coach Enos and his scheme.

Positives

Any time you can bring a kid into the meeting room that already knows the offense, every day drills, techniques and expectations- that’s never a bad thing. Proctor doesn’t have an NFL arm, hell he hardly has a Power 5 arm on a few of these throws, but he was a really good student in high school and Enos has now signed him twice. Someone like Proctor might be the calm and poise that the room needs with previously suspended quarterbacks in N’Kosi Perry and Cade Weldon, plus transfer-threat Jarren Williams and reality ego Tate Martell.

He’s played in two different systems and those seem to be a nice blend of what Miami plans to do in 2019. At Arkansas, the system was more tight end and fullback heavy, play-action passing from under center and shotgun, and zone based blocking with some key elements like power.

Mechanically, the GIF above is his best throw from his Coffeyville tape. He pats his feet rather than chopping them, he has the ball up a little higher than he normally does- which is a positive, his elbow comes through before the football and he has a nice follow through that’s more balanced than usual (feet square, not falling back, passing hand comes across his body).

This is the second beset throw of Proctor’s tape. He pats his feet, holds the ball a little low, but the elbow comes through first and he follows through better than usual. He looks mostly balanced and his hand comes across his body.

Does he remind you of anyone? His body type, poise, and delivery remind me of Ken Dorsey. Dorsey had the benefit of playing behind an all-world offensive line and throwing to future NFL stars like Santana Moss, Jeremy Shockey, Reggie Wayne and Andre Johnson. If only Proctor, et al had that same talent level around them.

Negatives

The accuracy numbers being so low are concerning. When he throws the deep ball he has to really put a lot into it and loses his form getting wild with his follow through. Proctor holds his hand low, closer to the number than the collar and this forces him to wind up to release the football. That extra time will throw off the timing of a route, and can lead to strip-sacks.

In the GIF above, Proctor completely loses his mechanics. Sometimes on fade routes QB’s will need to adjust their mechanics based on the trajectory of the throw. However, his elbow definitely doesn’t come through first, his throws with the majority of his weight pressed back on his back foot, and he has to wind up to make the throw, which is around 40 yards. Technically, per the book “Adapt or Die,” Proctor should be taking power off his throw and not having to put more into it.

Again, he’s not under the kind of pressure that should derail his mechanics but they completely fall apart on this throw. I think that his lack of consistency in mechanics could really hold him back.

Summary

More athletic guys with higher potential will have the edge, but Proctor’s knowledge of the system and the faith that Coach Enos has in him could allow him to give Perry, Williams, definitely Weldon and the possibility that Tate can’t even play in 2019 a run. Don’t be surprised if Proctor plays really well in the spring game and the rumors are how well he’s playing in fall camp leading up to the season.