Christian Hackenberg has left the first round

Nov 21, 2015; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Christian Hackenberg (14) signals during the first quarter against the Michigan Wolverines at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O

It gets harder every week to defend Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg going in the first round. Of course, you weren’t going to be impressed with his numbers as you know how bad his situation is at Penn State. And you take a look at his traits and believe you are looking at the next great NFL quarterback.

At 6’4″, 228 pounds, Hackenberg is a good athlete with a cannon for an arm to make throws mosts QBs can’t. He can throw the ball 20 yards down the field, outside the numbers, between three defenders. There aren’t that many quarterbacks in the NFL that can make some of the throws Hackenberg can.

But on other hand, there are easy throws he should be able to make in his sleep he misses. There are many including the writer here that have excused Hackenberg’s issues with accuracy and consistency. We’ve blamed the 44 sacks he took last year and the 36 he’s taken this year saying, “He’s doing all he can with his situation.”

But can you blame the pass-protection when he one-hops a bubble screen?

Hackenberg certainly didn’t do himself any favors with his opportunity on Saturday against Michigan. He was 13-31 for 137 yards with a touchdowns and no interceptions in a loss on Saturday. On the season so far, Hackenberg has completed 53 percent of his passes for 2,129 yards, 14 TDs and just 3 INTs.

He did go six full games and 201 passes without an interception before the Northwestern game. That and his TD to INT ratio is something to hold onto for those that really like Hackenberg. But for the most part, the scouting world looks at him as a 2nd-round pick right now.

Outside of his size, athleticism and his big arm, he’s smart, understanding defenses as he makes checks at the line of scrimmage. He was smart enought to run Bill O’Brien’s complex system as a freshman. But the accuracy issue hurts because statistically, quarterbacks that are pick high with that type of completion percentage end up busts.

So should he stay in school another year?

Going in the second round could be best so he can work on his mechanics without the pressure of playing right away.

Either way, it doesn’t look like the first round is for him right now.