"Gritty, arm talent king that can flash machine like precision one series and then shaky confidence and processing on the next."
Strengths:
Arm talent king with accuracy, good mobility and grit. Special throw talent with velocity or touch and can alter angles and throw from awkward sets. Good footwork and smooth, easy mechanics.
Mobile out of the pocket and can be a running threat with solid size. Flashes a substantial clutch gene and can generate rare plays when needed. Mature team leader.
Weaknesses:
Inconsistent inside a murky pocket. Process gets laggy under pressure. Has mobility but too often isn't an elusive scrambler. Accuracy deep down field can get sketchy. Wildly inconsistent in clutch situations.
Overall:
Stroud has had an almost ideal environment for a QB at OSU, with high round pro receivers, solid OL and a solid offensive scheme around him. In structure he's a lights out passer that can make every throw and often delivers picture perfect, undefendable passes.
Under pressure, he's not near as consistent and his QB rating drops precipitously. He can stand in and deliver a strike but he's also shown jitters and poor confidence under duress. He's an adequate runner and scrambler but too often lacks decisiveness as a ball carrier.
Stroud does possess special grit, however, and can make spectacular plays in critical moments. The catch is the inconsistency in those critical situations. It's that fluctuation that's really the crux of his evaluation as a potential franchise QB.