We are breaking down the Notre Dame football prospects ahead of the NFL Draft which begins on Thursday, April 28th in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Today we’ll take a look at a quarterback who only spent 1 season with the Irish and has increased his visibility to the NFL world quite a bit since transferring in from Wisconsin.

SPECS

Name: Jack Coan
Position: QB
Height: 6-3 (per the NFL Combine)
Weight: 218 (per the NFL Combine)
40: 4.90 (7th out of 8 QB)
Vertical: 33 (4th out of 8 QB)
Broad: 115 (4th out of 7 QB)
3-Cone: 6.95 (2nd out of 7 QB)
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.39 (6th out of 8 QB)
Hometown: Sayville, New York

STATS

YEAR COMP ATT YDS TD INT
2017 5 5 36 0 0
2018 56 93 515 5 3
2019 236 339 2727 18 5
2021 253 386 3150 25 6
TOTAL 550 823 6428 48 14

BIO:

Coan set Long Island passing records at Sayville High School but never made it past a middling 3-star ranking from the recruiting services. He’d eventually commit to Wisconsin after a Junior Day visit in March 2016 and stayed in Madison for 4 years making 18 starts in a 2018-19 window. Approaching the 2020 Covid season he decided to shut down his season following a foot injury suffered during fall camp.

Following the wake of Ian Book’s departure, Coan was able to transfer to Notre Dame and win the starting job. He would play roughly close to expectations raising his passer rating only slightly compared to his lone full season of starting at Wisconsin.

STRENGTHS:

Good size for the NFL game. Adequate to good arm strength overall. With time in the pocket, Coan has a good rhythm to his throws. Very good accuracy to most parts of the field. He can make a living with quick throws to the far side of the field showing good zip while also driving the ball down field with pretty good results. Sells play-action really well. Displayed quiet but strong leadership at Notre Dame. Coan overcame adversity and played through pain to lead the Irish to a major bowl game.

WEAKNESSES:

A lack of mobility will be exploited in the NFL. Allows himself to be a target in the backfield after his initial drop. Too often slides directly into pressure and lacks pocket awareness. Coan can stand tall in the pocket and make a late throw but limits his game by being unable to escape the pocket regularly. Throws okay on the run when it’s designed but won’t wow scouts with his improvisational skills. Not an overly strong arm for his size. Despite his age, he hasn’t played a ton of college football.

OVERVIEW:

For most of the 2021 season I didn’t think Coan was on track to be drafted. Even at the conclusion of his only season with the Irish I didn’t feel like it was in the cards. However, Coan really seemed to increase his stock in a big way during the Shrine Bowl. This time last year, I barely had Notre Dame’s Ian Book sneaking in the draft and he ended up going an incredible 114 picks higher than I thought!

I’d be surprised if Coan becomes a NFL starter but there’s no shame in missing that target. He has a lot of tools to be a competent backup with a ceiling of playing in the league for 5 to 7 years.

PREDICTION:

6th Round, 180th Overall to the New York Giants

The Giants have hired new head coach Brian Daboll (a native of West Seneca and former Western New Yorker I have to shout that out) and are heading into year 4 of the Daniel Jones experience. The franchise has a 5th year option on Jones and I’m going to go out on a limb and say that is unlikely to get picked up.

The more immediate concern is Jones coming off neck surgery with the rights to Davis Webb and Brian Lewerke on their roster. They did sign Tyrod Taylor to a 2-year $11 million deal during free agency for more depth. Some places have New York picking up a quarterback in the mid-rounds as more insurance for 2022. They don’t have a 7th round pick so my prediction for Coan would be the Giants’ last pick of their draft. They should probably focus all of their other picks on making their team stronger around the quarterback. I think Coan could be a somewhat decent backup option long-term with the maturity to not be terrible if he’s thrown into the fire in 2022 and calm enough to bounce around the practice squad.