Sean Clifford 2023 NFL Draft Profile
It seems like Sean Clifford was at Penn State forever but somehow his eligibility ran out. The former Penn State quarterback is making the jump to the NFL, but does he actually have a shot of making it? What does Clifford really bring to the table? Let’s check out his 2023 NFL Draft profile!
It’s been an up and down journey for Clifford thus far. At one point in time, it had looked like Clifford was going to lose his job to hot shot freshman, Drew Allar. Clifford, of course, finished his collegiate career on a positive note helping guide the Nittany Lions to a Rose Bowl victory over Utah. Without that Rose Bowl, I’m not sure Clifford would even have a case to be picked. He still may not have a case to be picked.
Clifford, 24, finished the 2022 season with a career high 64.4 completion percentage and 24 touchdowns. The Penn State quarterback has his fair share of mishaps but seven interceptions is a number you can live with. The pure passing probably still isn’t NFL caliber but it’s moved in the right direction over the course of his collegiate career.
The positive is that Clifford fits the modern NFL. He’s not exactly the most fleet of foot but there is rushing ability here. You would probably be surprised on the surface to realize that Clifford had 402 rushing yards and five scores in 2019. The only issue is that there are plenty of times where Clifford completely bailed on a play and just looked to run. It wasn’t just look to run. Often times defenses knew whole heartedly that Clifford was going to just take off and run. His 2.6 yards per carry mark in 2022 is a reflection of that.
His one dimensional style won’t work at the NFL level. Maybe this is unfair but Clifford looks like a spitting image of Trace McSorley. In this case, Clifford may be a touch better but I don’t believe there is a drastic difference from the last two Penn State quarterbacks. McSorely shouldn’t have gotten drafted at all but, of course, Baltimore’s brain dead front office wasted a 6th rounder on him. That’s likely what we’re looking at with Clifford.
I have Sean Clifford as an undrafted priority free agent that should get plenty of looks in the preseason to prove he belongs on an NFL roster. Outside of that, I’m not sure there’s much else here to discuss.
