Nobody needs to preach patience to Matt Scott.
After waiting behind Nick Foles to become the University of Arizona’s starting quarterback his senior season with the Wildcats he now finds himself watching the clock as the NFL draft nears.
As he showed time and time again last fall when he threw for 3,620 yards and 27 touchdowns, Scott’s staying even-keeled through it all.
“I’m really not paying too much attention to where or when I’m going to be drafted,” Scott told Brad Cesmat in a recent interview on ‘Big Guy on Sports.’ “Just kinda hoping for the best and taking it day-by-day.”
Scott’s draft stock has skyrocketed after impressive showings at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis and his pro day last month in Tucson where he threw around 85 passes, 20 more than most quarterbacks throw during the workout. Scouts came away impressed with his stamina and bulked up frame. He’s gained around 20 pounds of muscle since the end of last season. Scott also fits the role as a duel threat quarterback which many teams are looking for after the recent success of Cam Newton and Collin Kaepernick.
“The way the league is evolving where you’re seeing quarterbacks with athleticism coveted at a premium,” NFL Network draft analyst Bucky Brooks told Cesmat last week. “He’s going to get a chance…to be a guy that can maybe be a package player who can come in, run the zone read…his value has certainly increased after people have looked at him and the career he had at Arizona.”
The 6’2, 213-pound Scott said he has enjoyed visiting various cities and meeting with teams around the league in recent weeks. He was most impressed with his first trip to Philadelphia and said he “talked football” with Eagles head coach Chip Kelly for about 20 minutes. Kelly saw Scott in-person on the field when he was coaching at the University of Oregon last fall.
The low-key Scott said he doesn’t have any big plans around the draft and will be home with his family in Corona, California.
“I probably won’t be around the TV too much,” he told Cesmat. “I’ll probably go out and do something, hang with my brothers. I’ve got three older brothers so we’ll go to the park or shoot some hoops. Maybe go to the batting cages.”
He’s received the most interest from the Eagles, Cardinals, Chargers, Seahawks, Bills, Redskins, and Jaguars.
