Chicago Bears: 2020 NFL Draft profile, James Morgan
By Ryan Sikes
Let’s review a couple of plays from the Miami game.
Both of these plays we are about to review occurred back to back within the game but illustrate the Jekyll and Hyde traits of Morgan.
The pre-snap formation on this play looks like this:
Focusing on the top of the screen, Morgan’s receivers to his right were running a deep fly route and medium out route towards the middle of the field. On this particular play, there are also two backs lined up next to Morgan, one to assist with blocking and the one to his right running a wheel route.
With the secondary playing man coverage, Morgan takes a look at his receivers on the right for one that has potentially beaten his man. It appears that shortly after the ball is snapped, he has his man open in the middle of the field but elects not to throw to him for whatever reason.
Miami’s linebacker does a nice job of faking the blitz but recognizes the running back running the wheel route. Fairly well-covered, Morgan forces it over to his running back – off his back foot – resulting in a very poor throw, and frankly, one that should have never been thrown.
Facing a third and seven on the next play, Morgan and the FIU offense have a four-receiver set with just one back next to him in the pre-snap formation. His receivers to his right are running similar routes as the previous play, and the slot receiver is running a medium curl route.
With the linebacker showing blitz, Morgan’s running back does a nice job of assisting with the pass rush, which buys him a huge pocket. If you watch the defensive line, the left defensive tackle ends up coming around the right side in an effort to confuse Morgan. He very nearly gets to him before Morgan steps into his throw and delivers a strike to the slot receiver.
Final Thoughts
These are just a couple of examples of Morgan’s arsenal, but I feel they exemplify what kind of NFL quarterback he can be. With an improvement in his footwork, he can be a very good quarterback and, again, should help his issues with accuracy.
Next. This quarterback is worth a late-round gamble. dark
Now the question is, will he be available when the Chicago Bears are on the clock in the fifth round?