Dave Clawson: Sam Hartman Is An NFL Starting Caliber QB

Dave Clawson: Sam Hartman Is An NFL Starting Caliber QB

Will more people join the Sam Hartman hype train prior to the 2023 NFL Draft? As we’ve gone over in the stock report notes, if one guy can become the Derek Carr of this class, it would appear Hartman has a shot. However, Hartman does appear lost in the shuffle at the moment with other names like Hendon Hooker emerging on the scene.

Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson was asked about his quarterback this week. Clawson made no reservations – Hartman is an NFL quarterback and the best one he’s ever had.

“I think he is,” Clawson said. “Absolutely. So you know, now I’m not an NFL coach. But if you look at the throws he makes in terms of his arm talent, his escapability, his decision-making (and) his touchdown to interception ratio. You know, I watch a little bit of NFL and you know, there’s not a lot of great quarterback play across the board there. And again, I just don’t think if you look at his productivity, you can say that that’s just based on a system so yes, I do believe Sam will be an NFL player and I thought that way about John Wolford. Not a lot of people agreed and he’s been in the NFL for four or five years now and has a Super Bowl ring. So I certainly would put Sam up there in that category in terms of the quarterbacks we’ve faced in my history here have been successful in the NFL, I would certainly compare Sam favorably to a lot of them.”

“I don’t know if there’s an offensive system in the country that works without a good quarterback,” Clawson said. “I think we have a great system. I think our offensive coordinator Warren Ruggiero and our offensive staff do an unbelievable job of preparing our players every week and designing a scheme that is unique and fits Wake Forest. But to think that you could just stick any quarterback in there and perform is ludicrous. Sam is a very talented quarterback and you know, we’ve scored a lot of points. And, you know, we’ve had John Wolford and Jamie Newman and Sam and you know, all of our quarterbacks have been high level players. 

“But what Sam has done here the last two years has allowed us to take it to a whole nother level. So you know, again, I love our system, but to dismiss it and to think that it’s just what Sam’s doing as a product of our system is selling him short. He’s the person right now that makes our system go.”

On the season, Hartman is completing 64.3% of his throws while sporting a 21 to 3 TD to INT ratio through six games. The 23-year-old should be viewed as a real quarterback prospect heading into the draft. How high remains to be seen.