Detroit Lions predictive seven round mock draft

Round Four: Kyle Lauletta, quarterback, Richmond

Kyle Lauletta put himself into the NFL quarterback conversation with an impressive performance at the Senior Bowl. He doesn’t have the eye-popping speed of Lamar Jackson, but Lauletta’s explosiveness and agility were elite at the combine. He was among the top performers in the vertical and broad jumps as well as the 3 cone and 20-yard shuttle. Lauletta moves well within the pocket and often shows the burst to avoid pressure and distribute the ball.

Lauletta is accurate on throws between the hash marks. He hits receivers in stride regularly. When on the run, he remains accurate, and he runs with his eyes downfield. Lauletta scrambles to keep the passing play alive more often than to run. On short passes to the outside Lauletta’s arm strength is acceptable, but certainly not a plus. He throws the ball with good anticipation. He throws as the receiver is coming open rather than waiting for them to come open before starting his wind up.

It is on deep outside throws where Lauletta’s deficiencies as a passer come to light. He puts a great deal of loft under his deep balls, and will often overthrow an open target when he is forced to throw with extra effort. On bubble screens and deep balls, Lauletta’s lack of arm strength gives defenders just a little extra reaction time. There are times in his tape where that becomes a problem for the Richmond offense. His receivers are occasionally set up to take big hits as they bring the ball under control.

Lauletta did benefit from a talented receiver group relative to the level of competition in the FCS as well. He was a good leader at Richmond, and he was voted a team captain multiple times. He has experience under center well as in the shotgun which will decrease his development time slightly. The Detroit Lions met with Lauletta at the Senior Bowl.