Bill Parcells is a legendary hall of fame coach who was regarded as a top talent evaluator.

One thing Parcells will be remembered for was a clear set of rules he had for drafting quarterbacks.

Sure the game has changed massively since Parcells’ hey day but listening to the Move the sticks podcast recently Daniel Jeremiah made a compelling argument that Parcells’ core values still hold some weight.

To be clear, Parcells’ methodology ignored the game tape and physical traits of players. The central theme behind Parcells’ rules is to narrow the field down to those who are accurate, make good decisions, are mentally tough, are part of a winning culture, and finish what they start.

The Parcells’ Rules

• 4 Year player
• 3 year starter
• College graduate
• 30 career starts
• 23 career wins
• + 60% completion percentage
• 2:1 passing touchdown to interception ratio.

Sure we can rattle off a list of quarterbacks Bill Parcells would never have drafted following his own methodology such as Pat Mahomes, Josh Allen, Kyler Murray, Aaron Rodgers. Further in to the past he wouldn’t have selected Tom Brady, Cam Newton, Matt Ryan.

Current NFL players who would have made the Parcells’ list would include Lamar Jackson, Derek Carr, Dak Prescott. Casting the net a little further back, he would’ve identified Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees and Andrew Luck.

Clearly there are hits and misses in those lists but the reason this is interesting is that recent evaluation misses such as Zach Wilson and Trey Lance would not have been considered under this methodology. More over, the underdog story of last season, Brock Purdy would have been. Throw in to the mix the fact that some of this preseasons top performing rookie QB’s fit the model, maybe Coach Parcells methodology still hold some weight today?

In next years draft, headline QB’s largely will come from other conferences but with a year to play, I wanted to dig into how the draft eligible SEC QB’s stack against the Parcells’ rules and see if we can identify the next Brock Purdy success story.

Jayden Daniels – LSU

• 4 year player – YES
• College graduate (graduated at ASU) – YES
• 3 year starter – YES
• 30 career starts (43) – YES
• 23 wins (28) – YES
• +60% completions (64.5%) – YES
• 2:1 Touchdown interceptions ratio (49:16) – YES

KJ Jefferson – Arkansas

• 4 year player – YES
• College graduate (undergraduate degree in sports management) – YES
• 3 year starter (coming this year) – NO
• 30 career starts (24) – NO
• 23 wins (16)  – NO
• +60% completions (65.5%) – YES
• 2:1 Touchdown interceptions ratio (48:10) – YES

Devin Leary – Kentucky

• 4 year player – YES
• College graduate (North Carolina State sports management undergraduate degree) – YES
• 3 year starter – YES
• 30 career starts – YES
• 23 wins (13) – NO
• +60% completions (60.2%) – YES
• 2:1 Touchdown interceptions ratio (62:16) – YES
  

Joe Milton – Tennessee

• 4 year player (senior) – YES
• College graduate (American culture degree from Michigan) – YES
• 3 year starter – NO
• 30 career starts (9) – NO
• 23 wins – NO
• +60% completions(57.8%) – NO
• 2:1 Touchdown interceptions ratio (17:6) – YES

Spencer Rattler – South Carolina

• 4 year player – YES
• College graduate (retuned this year citing wanting to complete his degree) – NO
• 3 year starter – YES
• 30 career starts (30) – YES
• 23 wins (23) – YES
• +60% completions (68.4%) – YES
• 2:1 Touchdown interceptions ratio (58:24) – YES

Jaxson Dart – Ole Miss

• 4 year player (senior) – NO
• College graduate – NO
• 3 year starter – NO 
• 30 career starts (19) – NO
• 23 wins (10) – NO
• +60% completions (62.3%) – YES
• 2:1 Touchdown interceptions ratio (29:16) – NO

Will Rogers – Mississippi State

• 4 year player – YES
• College graduate (May 2023) – YES
• 3 year starter (coming this year) – NO
• 30 career starts (32) – YES
• 23 wins (19 wins) – NO
• +60% completions (70.7%) – YES
• 2:1 Touchdown interceptions ratio (82:24) – YES

The Parcells Power Rankings

1. Jayden Daniels (7/7)
2. Spencer Rattler (6/7)
3. Devin Leary (6/7)
4. Will Rogers (5/7)
5. KJ Jefferson (4/7)
6. Joe Milton (3/7)
7. Jaxson Dart (1/7)

What can we take from this?

The SEC quarterback generating the most draft hype going in to this season is Joe Milton at Tennessee. He currently only ticks off three of the seven rules on Parcells’ list. Whilst he won’t get a full seven given his lack of games played, I would want to see him get over the 60% completion threshold otherwise I think you could have legitimate concerns about him as a prospect.

Jayden Daniels ticks all the boxes. The LSU Tiger is arguably the SEC’s most draft ready prospect. Get ready to hear his name more frequently as we head towards draft season especially if the Tigers make a legitimate run at the SEC Title.

In a previous post I asked the question, why is nobody talking about Will Rogers?

Rogers currently ticks off five of the seven rules outlined by Bill Parcells and should tick off the remaining two boxes this year. He will complete his third full year as a starter and will hopefully clock up 4 or more wins to bring him to the 23 win threshold Parcells outlined. I continue to believe the Bulldogs quarterback is the conferences most slept on prospect.

Jaxson Dart only ticks off one box on the Parcells list and the former USC Trojan is likely nothing more than a late round / UDFA dart throw. Pardon the pun.

A lot can change in a year

Of course a lot can change in a year and scouts and front offices will not ignore what these guys put on tape. This is of course such a huge part of the scouting process. Prospects with the physical traits like Milton are tantalising and people will always gamble on being able to unlock that potential. The game goes beyond a simple set of pre defined rules. But it will certainly be interesting to see if there is any correlation between the final Parcells’ Power Rankings in a years time and the prospects future NFL careers and successes.