Paxton Lynch hype-train comes to a halt

Nov 21, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Memphis Tigers quarterback Paxton Lynch (12) throws the ball against the Temple Owls during the first quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Derik Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

The Paxton Lynch hype train was brought to a screeching halt on Saturday.

You have to watch out for those prospects that come out of dead nowhere in the middle of a season. One win over an overrated Ole’ Miss team started the hype-train on him and had scouts going to see him. Then a loss to Navy slowed the hype-train down on him a bit and Saturdays loss to Temple has stopped it altogether.

I’m not saying Lynch is horrble but the reason why it started in the first place the rest of the quarterback prospects were getting exposed. California’s Jared Goff went through a so-so stretch, Penn State’s Christian Hackenberg has disappointed and Michigan State’s Connor Cook is… meh. No one even knows who Cardale Jones is anymore so the media needed a new it-boy.

He’s 6’6″ with outstanding athleticism so making Lynch the new it-boy was actually a good idea. The only thing about that is he had to keep playing this season and if he’s really not that guy, it will be exposed. We all know that NFL teams prefer big quarterbacks, especially when they have the rare foot quickness and athleticism he has for his size.

But if that were all it took, Colin Kaepernick and Robert Griffin III would have ascended to superstars. Not that Lynch is so much like them as his Spread Offense has more deep to intermediate passes with progressions than the other two. And while he does have the ability to gain yards as a runner, Lynch is more comfortable from the pocket.

But he doesn’t have the ability to throw in the run the other two QBs and Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota has. Lynch’s completion percentage from inside the pocket is an impressive 72.4 percent, but it’s just 38.9 percent when scrambling right and 45.5 percent when rolling out to the left.

Despite his size, his arm talent has often come into question among scouts as his football stays in the air too long at times. He also winds up on his delivery at times and doesn’t place the ball as consistently as he should. Then of course, since he didn’t come from Power-5 conference shool, he doesn’t have enough big wins on his resume.

He and his Memphis Tigers’ win over Ole’ Miss was huge and that’s why he was able to come out of nowhere. But shortly after, he lost to Navy and Saturday against Temple, he had a pedestrian 156 yards passing with no TDs in a loss. It doesn’t look like there’s going to be an it-boy in this year’s quarterback class.

Perhaps the media will create one during the offseason workouts.