Clayton Tune 2023 NFL Draft profile: Scout report for the Houston QB

Clayton Tune, Houston: 6’3”, 215 pounds; RS SR.

A top-1000 overall recruit in 2018, Clayton Tune stepped in for the injured D’Eriq King for the last two games as a true freshman at Houston and then took over yet again for seven contests in year two.

He improved his total and efficiency numbers every single year with the Cougars, while being a team captain in each of the final three and making first-team All-AAC in 2022, with his best numbers yet: 67.3 completion percentage, 4,074 yards and 40 touchdowns versus 10 interceptions, plus a drastic jump on the ground, with another 544 yards and five TDs.

Clayton Tune scout report: Strengths

Clayton Tune #3 of the Houston Cougars runs out of the pocket as he is pressuredc wby D.J. Woodbury #40 of the Temple Owls

+ Clayton Tune generally throws the ball with anticipation and plus ball-location.

+ Confidently drives passes towards the single receiver in the boundary on deep curl, comeback and out routes.

+ Excels on those into-the-bucket throws, making his receivers fade down the field to create that late separation and window for the ball to be caught.

+ Frequently rips intermediate-to-deep in-breaking routes in-between zone defenders.

+ Loves to throw those corner routes from the slot and is capable of hitting them to either side of the field, with enough arc to get it over the head of the flat defender.

+ Can alter the trajectory and touch he puts on the football when coming back to deeper routes down the field, where he has to throw guys open to some degree.

+ Put together three straight seasons with a big-time-throw rate of 5.6% of better and turnover-worthy play percentage of 3.0% or less.

+ His shoulders are always pointed North, both hands are on the ball and he doesn’t mind hanging at the top of his drop, with bouncing feet.

+ When asked to actually read out concepts and work through progressions, Clayton Tune does so in a pretty disciplined fashion.

+ Understands how to protect his receivers by not leading them into contact and throwing it low, so defenders can’t dislodge the ball from them with big hits.

+ Really glides laterally in order to buy a little extra time whilst staying in a throw-ready position.

+ Even deep into the play-clock, if there’s space for him to navigate, the feet are constantly moving, he still crosses over as the gains depth and lets his back-heel lead the maneuvering.

+ Routinely moves up and back in the pocket to take away angles by the rush and give his targets enough time to break open.

+ Showcases the willingness to stand in the face of pressure, re-set quickly and deliver the ball without letting defenders running at him affect the motion significantly.

+ Clayton Tune saw an insane 59 of his 621 catchable targets dropped over the last two years.

+ Shows plus feel for rushers having an angle on him and when it’s time to take off.

+ Has some surprising escapability, with more shiftiness than you’d expect, while not going down easy.

+ Showcases the creativity to see secondary plays develop and the ability to put the ball towards where his receivers are heading whilst releasing off-platform.

+ Understands how the threat of him moving around can affect defenders and how to open up targets for himself on secondary plays.

+ Gets back downhill and the shoulders turned enough to deliver the ball anywhere on the side he’s rolling towards.

+ When he’s given a lane, Clayton Tune has some pretty good wheels and surprised with running a 4.64 at the combine, along with a three-cone drill and both jumps in the 87th percentile or better.

+ You see reduce his surface area and some tacklers slip off him, leading to 25 forced missed tackles and 35 first downs gained across 128 rush attempts.

+ Doesn’t take many unnecessary hits, sliding once he’s picked up the first down regularly.

+ Showcases desired leadership qualities and feels comfortable in high-leverage moments, leading several crucial two-minute drills throughout his time with the Cougars.

Clayton Tune scout report: Weaknesses

Quarterback Clayton Tune #3 of the Houston Cougars passes the ball during the game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders

– Clayton Tune tends to stare down his receivers and has to show better eye-discipline to not lead ancillary coverage defenders towards his targets. Particularly on the longer-developing stuff over the middle this was an issue – went 39-of-71 for 681 and three touchdowns vs. six interceptions (66.7 NFL) throwing between the numbers in the intermediate range (10-19 yards).

– Certainly benefitted from a wide-open spread offense that creates large windows and gives him space to attack. Having a speed demon like Tank Dell running by or stretching defenses vertically, as well as just consistently being able to separate, who accounted for over 2,700 yards and 29 touchdowns over the past two seasons combined.

– I thought Clayton Tune's accuracy on the move was ROUGH during Senior Bowl week, which especially stood out on day three during red-zone full team plays. He also badly missed a simple bubble screen on some two-on-threes and sailed a seam ball later during team portion on the second day.

– Other than the 56 screens he threw last season – off which he gained nearly 700 yards – Tune’s time-to-throw at 3.2 seconds just won’t fly in the NFL.

– As good as his fundamentals are on schedule, if defenses are able to make him feel pressure, his eyes tend to look down. As soon as Clayton Tune starts to move around, that second hand comes off the ball and you it swing around quite a bit, leading to seven fumbles across 597 combined drop-backs and designed runs.

Clayton Tune scout report: Grade

Clayton Tune #3 of the Houston Cougars rushes against the Navy Midshipmen

Clayton Tune is another guy from a college offense, that makes it tough to project how much he can grow out of due to what they did schematically. The amount of screens he threw and how often he would hit the primary read after reading things out is a luxury he won’t be given at the NFL level.

You see the arm talent to deliver to all areas of the field, put the ball into tight windows and throw his receivers open when they seem covered.

Unfortunately, his eye-discipline isn’t where it needs to be and when he did start to feel the rush coming in certain games, he would abandon ship and put the ball out there for defenders to swipe at.

Watching the tape, Clayton Tune's ability to elude pressure and create plays outside the pocket were definitely better than I gave him credit for based on the TV broadcasts and what he showed down in Mobile.

You combine that with his efficient movement skills within the tackle box (if you can teach him to operate in an offense that demands some more full-field reads), but maybe you have an extensive route-tree he can work with his X-receiver early on, whilst getting comfortable. We may be looking at a guy with spot-starter potential.

Grade: Fifth round

You might like other 2023 NFL Draft Scouting Reports: Tyree Wilson (EDGE), Texas Tech; Will Anderson Jr. (EDGE), Alabama; Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR), Ohio; Zay Flowers (WR), Boston; Jordan Addison (WR), USC; Jordan Addison (WR), USC; Quentin Johnston (WR), TCU; Zach Charbonnet (RB), UCLA; Bijan Robinson (RB), Texas.

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