Analyst: Minshew 'one of best kept secrets' in NFL Draft

Former Washington State quarterback Gardner Minshew will most likely not be one of the top five quarterbacks taken in the 2019 NFL Draft, but that doesn't mean the reigning Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year didn't help himself at the just completed NFL Draft Combine in Indianapolis.

In addition to possessing the second biggest hands among all quarterbacks at the Combine (10-1/8 inches), Minshew demonstrated good athleticism with a 33.5-inch vertical leap and a broad jump of 9-1/2 feet. Both numbers ranks among the top five of the 17 quarterbacks at the combine.

He also threw the ball decently even though his deep passes didn't connect. But his happy-go-lucky personality, which quickly won over Washington State fans last season as the victories mounted, seems to have been embraced by NFL folks, some of whom are well known to take themselves and their high paying jobs way too seriously.

Minshew's NFL.com draft profile awards him a grade of 5.16 and a "better than average" chance of making a NFL roster.

"He's one of the best kept secrets in this draft with what you see on tape and how he was able to perform in interviews," Brady Quinn of CBS Sports said about Minshew on Monday. "

So, did Minshew boost his draft stock? Maybe. We won't know the final answer to that question until late April when the 2019 NFL Draft unfolds in Nashville. Right now, Minshew is widely projected as a mid-to-late round draft pick, much like Luke Falk was a year ago.

However, one draft analyst believes Minshew could go as early as the third round based on his performance both on and off the field at the NFL Combine.

"People loved him from his interviews and they love his personality," Quinn said. "You put on the tape and he's an accurate passer. He's smart. He understood the offense Mike Leach wanted to run in a short period of time when he got to Pullman.

"He's the type of player that reminds you a little bit of Baker Mayfield when you see his attitude, his confidence. He goes out there and competes. He is similar in size (to Mayfield). I'm excited to see where he goes. Not a lot of people are talking about him. But there is a chance he goes in the third or fourth round, maybe even a little bit higher."