Matt Corral is a polarizing QB prospect, to say the least. Some analysts love him and some don’t. He possesses some great raw talent but can make some pretty horrendous mistakes. He led Ole Miss’ offense to put up the most yards ever on a Nick Saban-led defense, but also threw six interceptions against Arkansas. Let’s dive into his scouting report to get a better feel for the kind of player Corral is.
Strengths: Matt Corral is an interesting prospect to watch. The first thing that jumps off the screen is his arm talent. Corral has nice arm strength, with the ability to launch the ball down the field with solid deep ball accuracy. He has a quick release and is twitchy as well. Once he makes his decision to throw the ball, it is out quickly, pops out of his hand, and has a nice, tight spiral to it. Corral also can make throws from various platforms and arm angles, which seems to be becoming more and more of a necessity for all QBs. He makes some nice tight window throws as well, using his quick release to throw darts to his receivers. Corral is also very mobile, moving around the pocket with ease, and has a really nice ability to make things happen and extend plays with his legs. He does a nice job keeping his eyes downfield when scrambling, while also keeping a lane open for himself to run. He is quick and fairly elusive as a runner in the open field, displaying the suddenness to plant his foot in the ground and make a cut, therefore causing defenders to miss. Throughout the season, Corral showed more willingness to slide in order to avoid hits as well, which is an important trait to have. However, he is a hard runner and is willing to take hits while getting the first down or touchdown at the goal line.
Weaknesses: Corral is a little on the smaller side, standing at 6’1″ and weighing 205 lbs. I would like to see him put on some more weight in order to withstand hits from NFL size defensive linemen. Although he has a lot of talent, there are quite a few things that he needs to work on in the 2021 season. Regarding his rushing ability, there are times (often while still in the pocket) when he will tuck the ball and run at the first sign of pressure and an open running lane. In these cases, I would like to see him use his athleticism to avoid the pressure but also keep his eyes down the field and look for an open receiver before he takes off. There are other times, however, when Corral holds onto the ball for way too long and gives up a bad sack or ends up throwing the ball away when he could have run earlier. His pocket awareness could also use some improvement. He also has a few passes batted down at the line of scrimmage by defensive linemen. Corral makes quite a few questionable decisions at times. He throws a good number of times into double coverage when he really shouldn’t, which resulted in interceptions or dropped interceptions. He also simply misses linebackers or defensive backs who are sitting underneath and in the 10-12 yard range while surveying the field and will throw interceptions to them as well. Look no further than his tape vs. Arkansas for these mistakes, as he threw six interceptions and could have had a few more if not for a few drops by defensive backs. He will hit the open receivers but, when there isn’t one wide open, he may force a throw. Corral can be late getting the ball out at times, which causes him to throw behind his receivers and fails to put the ball in the most advantageous places for them to make plays after the catch. Additionally, he does not have the best ball placement.
Bottom Line: A word I’ve seen used to describe Matt Corral is volatile, which I like a lot. There are times when he plays very well: launching the deep ball, hitting his WRs in stride, and squeezing the ball into small windows. That being said, there are times where Corral plays pretty poorly as well. He is very inconsistent and has a lot of things to fix. I can see Corral as a project QB, with a coach who will try to coach all of his mistakes out of him. He has the raw talent of a first-round QB but lacks in quite a few other areas to be considered one.
Edited By: Rupayan “Abs” Samanta.
