Jake Coker

Coker took a long and winding road from beginning his college career at Florida State in 2011 to leading Alabama to the national title in 2016. It took five years and losing his grip on a starting job at two powerhouse programs before Coker eventually entrenched himself. Even as a senior, he had to overcome being benched after starting the first two games of the season. He came off the bench against Ole Miss in what proved to be Alabama's only loss during the regular season. He regained the starting job the following week and steadily emerged as the leader of the offense. Coker was a three-star recruit coming out of Mobile, Ala., where he switched from running a wing-T offense to a pro-style offense as a senior at St. Paul's. He promptly led the school to the semifinals of the Alabama state playoffs. He played in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star game before enrolling at Florida State, where he redshirted in 2011. He saw brief action in 2012 as a backup to EJ Manuel, completing 3 of 5 passes for 45 yards on the season. Poised to take over the starting job as a redshirt sophomore, Coker was beat out by true freshman Jameis Winston. He played in seven games in 2013, completing 18 of 36 passes for 250 yards on the Seminoles' national championship team. With Winston entrenched as the starter, Coker decided to transfer back to his home state. After sitting out the 2013 season due to NCAA transfer rules, Coker was again poised to emerge as the starting quarterback - this time for Alabama. However, he was again beaten out during fall camp, with Blake Sims winning the job and Coker saw limited time in backup duty, completing 38 of 59 passes for 403 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions.

with just one year of starting duty under his belt (and on a team full of superstars, at that), coker is a bit of a gamble but the physical traits are there to develop. he will have to show significant improvement in his accuracy overall to develop into a starter in the nfl, but his size and experience in a pro-style offense could earn him a realistic shot at making a roster.

--Dane Brugler (1/11/15)

generally steps into his passes, but possesses enough arm strength to deliver them when defenders around him limit room space. at least average deep ball passer, typically throwing too far when missing his target. takes something off and throws with touch with necessary, often giving his playmakers opportunity to make plays on 50-50 balls.

Above average athlete for a quarterback of his size, showing some lateral agility, balance and vision to weave through traffic to buy time in the pocket or when scrambling. Good decision-maker. Rarely throws the ball into double-coverage, showing good awareness (given his relative lack of game experience) of check-down options. Experienced in a pro-style offense, competing against elite talent.

strengths

Looks the part of an NFL quarterback with a tall, broad-shouldered frame and a strong arm. Has a fluid over-the-top delivery and creates good velocity with his throws with a snappy follow-through.

statistics and success greatly influenced by elite skill-position talent around him, which often broke tackles to generate extra yardage and scores. only average only ball placement, often forcing receivers to adjust to his passes.

IN OUR VIEW

weaknesses

Has a good, but not great arm and the velocity is somewhat mitigated by an elongated throwing motion with a wind-up. Wasn't often asked to throw with a great deal of anticipation in Alabama's offense, typically reading defenses at the line of scrimmage and staring down his primary receiver until he became open.

Was a three-star prospect coming out of St. Paul's Episcopal School in Mobile, Ala.

ranked the No. 18 pro-style quarterback by Rivals.com and No. 44 signal-caller by Scout.com

rated a three-star prospect by 247Sports

switched from running a wing-T offense in his junior season to a pro-style offense as a senior and completed 94-of-153 passes for 1,508 yards and 16 touchdowns while also carrying 61 times for 355 yards and five scores

led St. Paul's to the semifinals of the Alabama state playoffs and a 10-2 record in his final season (2010)

No. 17 on the SuperPrep Alabama 43

selected to play in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star game as a senior

rated the No. 70 pro-style quarterback by ESPN

also an exceptional basketball player who led St. Paul's to 17 wins as a junior while averaging 17.4 points per game

named the Mobile County Class 5A basketball player of the year as a junior and was invited to the state of Alabama's North-South All Star basketball game

averaged 21.9 points and nine rebounds per game as a senior for a team that made it to the Class 5A Area1 finals

coached by Dan Drum and Jimmy Perry at St. Paul's.

2015

passing
ATT	YPA	PCT	YDS	INT	TD	COMPLETIONS
393.0	7.9	0.669	3110.0	8.0	21.0	263.0

rushing
YPC	TD	YDS	CAR	LONG
0.9	2.0	68.0	74.0	26.0