Matt Corral has been impressive so far this year. Here’s why the Ole Miss quarterback has skyrocketed his stock in the 2022 NFL Draft.
At this time last year, Matt Corral was just coming off a mediocre redshirt freshman season in which he rummaged together just 1,362 passing yards and 6 touchdowns on 178 attempts. However, his name quickly became known to the public after a solid season in 2020.
Last year, Corral impressed with his quick release, improved accuracy, and ability to make plays down the field. However, decision-making and costly turnovers were an issue as the Ole Miss quarterback threw 14 interceptions in 10 games.
Still, his high completion percentage and eye-popping yards per attempt were enough to catch the attention of the national media. However, I don’t think there were many who thought he would have such an electric start to his 2021 campaign, and he has recently elevated his stock in the 2022 NFL Draft as a result.
Corral’s NFL Draft stock is soaring
Though we are just three games into the season, Matt Coral has arguably been the most impressive quarterback in the nation this year. Corral has managed to throw for 9 touchdowns and 0 interceptions while driving the ball down the field for an eye-popping 10.4 yards per attempt, according to Sports Reference. His 12.3 adjusted yards per attempt is perhaps even more impressive.
Corral hasn’t only been shredding defenses through the air, he’s been beating them on the ground as well. The athletic quarterback has 158 rushing yards (4.8 yards per attempt) and 5 rushing touchdowns in his first three games.
The cherry on top of all of this is his outstanding 186.9 passer rating he has recorded early in the season. To put this into perspective, if Corral is able to keep this up all season, his passer rating would be more than 15 points higher than any season Andrew Luck or Trevor Lawrence ever had in college.
While Corral may not be able to maintain the remarkable pace he is currently on, he has an impressive skill set and now the statistical production that could have him skyrocketing up draft boards – much like we saw with BYU’s Zach Wilson last April.
At 6’1” and 205 pounds, Corral is a bit undersized for the position. Fortunately, that means far less to most teams now than it did just a few years ago, and we have seen that some of the smallest starting quarterbacks in today’s NFL have managed to be some of the best.
Sadly, the schedule takes a brutal turn moving forward. Ole Miss travels to face the best team in the nation this week in Alabama. This will be a game that all NFL scouts have their eyes on. If Corral can turn this into a contest and make plays against the stingiest defense in college football, he will have a great case to climb near the top of the list of quarterbacks next year.
October 2nd is going to be a huge day for Matt Coral as this game could make or break his stock in the 2022 NFL Draft. However, as of now, the Ole Miss quarterback has been one of the fastest-rising prospects for next year.